On Friday March 20th, while much of the knife community was focused on Blade Show Texas, news broke that Bark River Knives was ceasing operations immediately. While it was not made official until the 23rd, once the employees were informed on Friday, the cat was out of the bag.
Mike Stewart posted the following to the Bark River Knives Facebook Page:
LET’S MAKE THIS OFFICIAL .This is a Long Read but Important.
BARK RIVER KNIVES IS NOW CLOSED.
All business was concluded on Friday Afternoon March 20th 2026.
This Closing was long overdue – I should have done this over 2 years ago.
I need to say that all of this is 100% totally my responsibility.
As you have seen from the tons of posts I have been taking the heat since Friday.
There are many factors that lead to this but ultimately I’ll take the Blame.
Please do not Blame Lesley Stewart or Jim Stewart for any of this.
In addition to my Mismanagement the Choice to use an Alternate Chinese Steel was my choice – not anyone else’s Blunder.
Over the last 25 years we have made well over a million knives.
This blunder of mine only effected a few models
Here is the List of them.
Camp Bolo.
Fox River Skinner.
Highwayman 4.
Mini-Manitou.
Gladstone Hunter.
Bitterroot Caper
The Last two Club Knives as well.
We tested the steel it had almost the same edge retention of CPM 154.
It had the same toughness as CPM 154
It had even more Stain Resistance than CPM 154.
All of these were reground with our Convex Geometry.
All were reshaped them to a Bark River Shape
All were processed in our Shop by our Crew.
All of the handle materials were materials we currently use
All of them were etched just like all our models
All were inspected and boxed like all of our models.
By doing over 5 operations on each knife – they meet the criteria of Made in U.S.A.
Yes the steel was mis-marked.
Let me be clear that None of our Dealers knew about any of this and are 100% Blameless for this situation.
It is 100% my Fault.
Let me also clearly state that all other Bark River Knives have been made with the Steel that is marked on the blade – This use of import steel was only for a very short period of Time to keep our Employees working.
IN OTHER DEVELOPMENTS.
Jim Stewart will be opening his own Knife Company
100% Independent of Bark River Knives.
Jim has agreed to take over all of the Warranties that would normally go to Bark River.
When he is ready I’m sure he will make the Official Announcement.
I will not have a hand in his new Company.
All I can do at this point is Offer a Very Sincere Apology and with much regret fade out of the knife industry that I have spent the last 50 years in.
I want to thank all of the Folks that have Reached out to me privately to offer their support. It has meant a lot to me.
I wanted to wait to post this until our Dealers had a chance to react and post their positions.
I also wanted to make sure that all of our Employees were paid for working last week. I did that this morning.
My recent Health Problems and Lesley’s Health Problems did play a part in all of this but I am not using that as any kind of excuse.
It seems as if Mr. Stewart and Co. were taking kit knife blanks from China, re-profiling them, stamping them CPM154, Made in USA, and putting the Bark River logo on them. I am no lawyer, but that certainly seems to meet the layman’s definition of Fraud. Something that Jim Stewart seems to confirm as well in his own Facebook Post.
OutdoorAnalyst was the first person to post to Youtube on Saturday, and he posted a followup today.
The suddenness of the announcement is only so surprising as company founder Mike Stewart has long had a reputation that was less than stellar. Stewart, the one-time co-Founder of Blackjack Knives was convicted of Fraud following the collapse of that company.
The 2000 bank fraud case against Michael Stewart (founder of Black Jack Knives) ended in a guilty plea, though it did not stop his career in the knife industry. Stewart eventually moved to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and founded Bark River Knives in 2001, which remains a prominent company today. ()
Follow-up on the 2000 Case:
• The Outcome: Stewart eventually pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud related to the Murphy-Wall State Bank in Pinckneyville, Illinois. He was sentenced to a term of imprisonment (reports vary, but typically cited as around 18 months) and ordered to pay restitution.
• The Defense: During the proceedings, Stewart’s defense often emphasized the “rolling” nature of the company’s financial struggles, characterizing the fraud as a desperate attempt to keep the business afloat and pay employees rather than a scheme for personal enrichment.
While he plead guilty to just one count, the list of people he screwed over is long and distinguished.
Mike founded Bark River in 2001, and by 2006 there were already rumblings that something was amiss at the company…
Of course, consumers and retailers are on the hook for this malfeasance. Two of Bark River’s larger retail distributors are KnivesShipFree and DLT Trading Co.
DLT has the following statement on their website:
What happened to Bark River Knives?
Bark River Knives closed its doors as of Friday, March 20, 2026. DLT Trading is a dealer of Bark River Knives products and is not a partner, affiliate, or stakeholder in the Bark River Knives business. We are not involved in their day-to-day decision-making, operations, or manufacturing processes. DLT Trading learned of the closure at the same time as the general public, with no advance notice.Which Bark River Knives models have been identified as deceptively labeled?
Three Bark River Knives models (sold through DLT Trading) have been identified as Chinese-manufactured blanks that were labeled and sold as “Made in the USA.” Employees at the Bark River Knives facility have confirmed that foreign-origin markings were removed from these blanks and that the knives were finished and presented as if they were fully manufactured at the BRK facility in Michigan.
Of the affected models, DLT Trading only sold the following:Fox River Trailing Point — stated as 154CM
Mini Manitou — stated as CPM-154
Camp Bolo — stated as CPM-154
If you purchased an affected model (not listed here) through a different dealer, please contact that dealer directly for further information.
DLT Trading did not manufacture, source, or inspect the raw materials used in these Bark River Knives products. We relied on the representations made by Bark River Knives regarding steel type and country of origin, as did every other authorized retailer. Please note that DLT Trading is considering sending knives from all other batches, excluding the three knife batches, for independent testing at Niagara Steel. We will keep you posted.
What is DLT Trading doing with its remaining Bark River Knives inventory?
DLT Trading currently holds a large inventory of Bark River Knives. We are actively evaluating how to handle this inventory and will communicate any decisions publicly as they are made.What about Bark River Knives’ warranty claims?
DLT Trading has no further information at this time. We are not a direct warranty partner of Bark River Knives and have no affiliation with their warranty, steel, or manufacturing processes. Once we become aware of information that may benefit knife owners, we will update this page accordingly.Did DLT Trading know about the steel or labeling issues before the closure?
No. DLT Trading had no knowledge of any deceptive steel sourcing or mislabeling practices by Bark River Knives prior to this information becoming public. We are an American company, and we like to support local American businesses to the best of our ability across our platform.Where can I ask questions or share feedback?
We remain open to hearing from the knife community. You are welcome to share your comments and questions in our DLT Insiders group on Facebook. We will not censor comments in that group as long as the language used does not violate Facebook’s terms of service.
A Final Word from DLT Trading
DLT Trading will do everything within our ability to ensure the outcome of this situation is beneficial to the knife community. We are processing this news alongside you. Our responsibility now is to take in information, listen to concerns, and base our business decisions on the facts available to us. We will not act reactively without having the full picture. To the employees of Bark River Knives, you remain in our thoughts and prayers, and we sincerely hope this matter is resolved quickly.
I don’t see exactly what they are proposing as a remedy for their customers, but I have heard it is in the form of Store Credit, which is in fact what KnivesShipFree is doing…
From r/knives (reddit):
That is great customer service, especially since they are left holding the bag for a lot of inventory, and now offering store credit to those affected. I hope that when the lawyers get done, they receive at least some compensation.
We often suggest companies like KnivesShipFree, SMKW, BladeHQ, etc. We prefer them over Amazon because the safeguards against counterfeiting are stronger. However, when it is the knife company itself that is not acting in good faith, there is little the retailer can do, while the ball of excrement rolls downhill to the consumer.
From a consumer point of view the fallout will be a bit more nuanced. The biggest issue is when a consumer buys a knife, they are doing so on faith. Faith that the person they are dealing with is an honest actor themselves, and that the shiny piece of steel is what they are saying it is, rather than a mystery metal of uncertain origin. That is before we begin to address the prefabricated Chinese blanks.
Unfortunately, as has been true since Roman times… “Caveat Emptor” (let the buyer beware).
Bark River has a significant online following, and not everyone is piling on the Stewarts. The fanboys have been going after people in the comment section of posts.
However, most of the snark has been against the company, as it rightly should be.
You can find all of these and more on the Bark River Knives Problems page.
AI might be taking over the world, but at least we can laugh as it does so.
This is a developing story, and I will update as necessary. I will also be covering it in this upcoming month’s (May) issue of KNIFE Magazine.
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