I’m sure the knife aficionados here are already aware of these guys but many of the rest of us may not be.
Just goes to show not everything is what it is stamped or advertised to be.
So here goes;
Ah…they’re probably going to be facing several lawsuits…If the fed decides to come after them per infraction, they will be absolutely screwed…
What a shame. The Bravo 1 is a damn good knife, too.
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It’s a terrible situation all around, I’m on multiple knife forums and this is really blowing up . BRK had been regarded as a higher end fixed blade knife company with all sorts of different designs and handle scale materials. I’ve come close to buying one many times over the years, but my need for more fixed blades has waned. Definitely very surprising and disappointing. The employees knew and were sworn to secrecy or else be terminated. This is going to get very ugly.
It’s a shame. I have 3 different models and I like them all, I really like the convex edges, handle materials, and ergonomics. None of mine fall in the current list of ‘fakes’.
I have been getting lucky.
I got a Survive! Knives GSO 4.1 while he was still sending them out, and a Bravo 1 before this scandal dropped.
Fortunately, there are still a lot of trustworthy knife makers and some great knives we can still purchase.
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Now you’re left having to decide “did they lie then, or are they lying now?” Meaning - can you believe what he said when he admitted he’s a liar?
Which is the position in which he’s left every BRK customer…
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Running a huge catalogue of models and not paying your suppliers was always going to end in tears. Using cheap steels and selling them as high end is a pretty unforgivable scam, a premeditated crime.
I read the huge thread on BladeForums and this isn’t the first instance of cheap steels being branded as expensive ones, one guy bought a knife in A2 (prone to staining and rust) way back in 2003 and said it had remained as shiny as a slab of AUS-6 since the day he’d bought it. Because it very probably was.
Sad as it is to lose an iconic maker such as BRKT, my personal experience with Mike over a top end materials custom build left such a bad taste I’d never have considered getting another.
When your business is struggling as in ‘writing on the wall’ struggling, you resort to desperate measures, like this company did, to save some bucks (as was admitted). Was it worth it? Nope. When you sell a higher end product, you had better be transparent about materials, specs etc. Like Fenix using a cheap LED and saying its a Luminus or Cree. I’d be less surprised if this was from a chrap brand like Ozark Trail or one of the conglomerates. The fallout will be messy. Hope they got good insurance!
I’m honestly surprised, cause back when I was into knives, BRKT didn’t really have an extensive catalog. Obviously, this was probably between 15-20 years ago, but their catalog definitely was far from what I’d call large. In a way, it kind of reminded me of Blind Horse Knives, which I discovered is no longer around.
This wasn’t desperate measures, the guy’s a conman and liar taking steel from his supplier to produce a run, then using Chinese steel for the run while he fulfilled other orders with the genuine stuff. It’s been going on for years, the Chinese steel is only part of the story of his bad business practice.
Here’s a Highwayman, retail over $400.
I’m worried this could change things for the worse in the knife community. Will everyone second guess what they are actually spending their money on, now that a company that “typically” looked pretty good from the outside, turns out to be this kind of fraud??
What an ugly black eye this is for the enthusiasts.
I think it’s going to increase how wary folks are of makers who exhibit untrustworthy behaviors… From what I’ve seen & heard (I’m not an expert!) there have been other warning signs over the years, like a lack of respect for the business/customer relationship.
Which makes this all the more egregious an act - if you’re that stressed over your bottom line, actively cutting corners & working to cover it up - you’ve clearly known what you were doing is not just wrong, but illegal…
I can’t imagine he’s done his family members any favors with this admission & attempt to claim all the blame… Even if they survive any legal issues down the road, I don’t know how trustworthy they are looking to the community.
Jim Stewart is another story, it’s available to read by a very well connected member called Somber on BladeForums, and it involves inappropriate sexual behaviour and minors. There is some damning stuff (text screenshots) being published too. Another guy, Mike Grasso, who had a bolo named after him was also involved.
So, Jim reckons he’s going to start his own knife company off the back of BRKT. The apple didn’t fall far enough away from the tree for that, and if the pedo rumours are true, then I wish him the worst of luck.