Couple of weeks back I took some time off to head into the northwoods for a few days.  As usual, the main purpose was to take a few knives and try them out.  As the readers of the blog are aware, I'm more of a user then a collector and it's important to me that a knife does what it's designed to do!  When someone asks me if a knife is a good performer, I like to speak from experience.  I have absolutely nothing against a good looking knife, but my knives had better be up to the task at hand.

I'll admit, I probably over do it a bit when it comes to packing, but you never know what you'll come up against.  So just for the fun of it, I emptied my pockets, pack, camp kit and came up with these.  Actually, I overlooked the glove box which had a Great Eastern Muskrat and a CRKT M16.



I headed to the Arrowhead region of Minnesota which sits way up in the northeast corner of the state on the shores of Lake Superior.  Here's a photo to give you an idea of some of the weather we encountered.  Not only was it rainy, but it was cold.  (just wanted you to know it wasn't all fun and games!!)



Last year, I'd written a report on the Fallkniven A1 and the Cold Steel SRK Carbon V and what I thought of the two knives.  This year, in the continuing quest for the perfect camp knife, I included a Bark River Gameskeeper II with an Antique Ivory Micarta Handle.  I was really tempted to take a Bravo-2 or a Fallkniven A2, but decided the Gameskeeper II more approximately fit the same size profile as the A1 and the SRK. 

While the Fallkniven A1 (bottom) has an aftermarket sheath from JRE (which is superb!) all three knives have good secure sheaths it's probably a matter of personal preference as to which is best.
 

	Fallkniven A1	Cold Steel SRK	Bark River Gameskeeper II
Steel	Laminated VG10	Carbon V	A2 Tool Steel
Handle	Hard Rubber	Hard Rubber	Ivory Micarta
Tang	Full	Full	Full
Weight	11.1 oz	8.8 oz	7.8 oz
OAL	11.0625"	10.75"	10.315"
Blade Thickness	0.225"	.0218"	.213"
Point Tapers	1"	1.25"	Very slow taper
Ricasso	.3"	.870"	.805"
Belly Depth	1.3"	1.185"	1.105"

As you can see, the 3 knives are really close in a lot of the key areas with the Gameskeeper II being the definite lightweight.  Laid out side by side, they're a pretty well matched set.  One of the big differences is the upswept skinner type point on the Bark River.  While not my personal preference in a blade profile, but functional.



It's a bit misleading in the photo in that the Bark River looks like it's got a deeper belly then the other two, but it's actually a bit shallower.  The Bark River doesn't have the 'clip' blade or a false edge but does have a nice long Ricasso that I prefer like the SRK and the guard while short is functional.    Also, the Gameskeeper (bottom) has a very gentle taper (without the false edge) to the tip resulting in what should be a very strong point for prying.



I put it through the 'normal' cutting and chopping tasks and was really happy with the performance.  The one detail I really noticed was the definite weight advantage the Fallkniven had when it came to chopping.  As I said in the previous article, it's amazing that a couple of ounces can make that much difference but it sure does.  And while the Micarta handle is not particularly slippery, the grips of the rubber handled SRK and A1 did feel a bit more 'secure' in the wet weather. 

When it comes to splitting, the Bark River holds it's own against the 'competion'.  The thicker the blade, the better the splitter, but the Bark River is so close to the other two knives, there really wasn't a huge difference.



One interesting note was when it came to shaving some kindling.  I couldn't decide if it was the convex grind on the Bark River Blade or the fact it hadn't been used as much, but the Bark River did a great job of shaving holding a much more agressive angle.  Both the A1 and the SRK did best when their blades entered the wood at an angle and then preferred a less acute angle with the shaving motion.  The Bark River dug in and just seemed to want to continue the diagonal cut right through the stick.



I know there are a few people that don't care for maintaining the convex edge as it can be difficult to figure out how to touch them up without changing the convex to a flat grind.  I won't get into it here, but it's really not that difficult.  Like all blades, don't let the blade get too far gone before you hit the strop and you'll find it's not a problem. 

That brings to mind the blade steel differences in the three knives.  The Fallkniven has a laminated stainless blade that holds and edge very well.  The Bark River has an A2 carbon steel blade that holds an edge possibly even better while the SRK had a Carbon V blade which was proprietary to Cold Steel.  In my estimation, the primary difference is that while the Fallkniven may end up with a small nick in the blade, the edge on the Bark River has a tendency to 'roll over'.  I'm not talking about normal use, but when you come up against something hard like a piece of gravel.  It seemed to be much easier to dress the blade on the Bark River to bring the edge back while the Fallkniven took a little more effort if you wanted to eliminate the nick.  This seems to also hold true on the SRK.  Could be me, but it seems like Stainless may be more prone to nicks while carbon steel 'bends' and that may well be due to the difference in hardening processes.

The final challenge came whittling around a knot in a piece of pine.  All three knives did a great job, but again, the Bark River seemed to be a bit more aggresive in getting the job done.  I'm really wondering if the convex grind doesn't have something to do with this. 



So what's the verdict????

Well, all three are fantastic knives each with it's own strengths and shortcomings. 

• The Fallkniven wins the chopping contest based primarily on the extra weight. 
• The Fallkniven also had a very slight edge in the wood splitting due to the slightly longer blade.
• The SRK and the Bark River both get points for their long Ricasso's which is really important if like me, you like to crowd the blade with your first finger when you're doing 'detail' work. 
• Both the Fallkniven and the SRK get my vote for their rubberized handles particularly in wet conditions. 
• All three have excellent blade steels but I may give a slight edge to the Bark River for edge retention.
• While I didn't put them to a destruction test, I'd have to assume the Bark River has the strongest blade tip based on the taper.
• Considering sheaths, I'd give the nod to the Bark River and second choice to the aftermarket on the Fallkniven (love that firesteel loop!!).
• The SRK wins when it comes to price, the Bark River comes in the middle with the A1 being the most expensive of the 3

I'll admit a slight bias toward the Bark Rivers as I've owned several and have used a Northstar for a number of years that's performed great for me doing kitchen duty, filleting and lighter camp chores.  The Barkies are a helluva a knife and have definitely served me well.

These are three great knives.  If you're on a strict budget, the SRK is one heck of a bargain.  I'm not a big fan of their sheath, but it does the job just fine.  The Bark River holds an edge extremely well and the Fallkniven is just a flat out workhorse.  If anything, I think this clearly demonstrates that their are some really fine knives to be had that don't require raiding the kids college fund!  And remember, when it comes to price, all three of these knives represent a lifetime investment.