Review: Bark River Fox River Featherweight might be your best EDC knife

Sometimes the best knife is a small one. After all, survival tools must be lightweight, compact and easy to carry or they might be left behind. This may be the knife you’ve been looking for.

by Leon Pantenburg

The Fox River line of Bark River Knives and I go way back. One of my first BR reviews was of the original Fox River and I loved the knife. Then along came the Bravo EXT-2, followed by the Fox River EXT-1  This latest addition to the Fox River line is the Featherweight, a small, easy-to-tote Everyday Carry Knife.

The Fox River Featherweight may be the EDC or backpacking knife you’ve been looking for.

All my knife reviews start in the kitchen. The Featherweight works so well as a paring knife, it may never get out! The well-designed blade and handle combine to work very well for my wife. The quality steel, thin blade makes the knife a slicing machine. If for nothing else, that makes this knife a keeper.

But the Featherweight is also a great size for an upland and small game hunting knife. It will also clean fish just fine. Here is how it handles.

I didn’t have a chance this season to use it on a deer (to field dress a deer, you must first kill one!) or other big game animal yet. But it fits nicely in my daypack or on my belt when hiking. So here we go:

Here are the specs (courtesy of DLT Trading and based on a standard black canvas micarta variant): 

1. Overall Length: 7.25″ (184mm)
2. Blade Length: 3.25″ (83mm)
3. Blade Thickness: 0.092″ (2mm)
4. Blade Steel: 3V
5. Handle Thickness: 0.72″ (18mm)
6. Tang: Full
7. Weight: 2.57oz
8. Country of Origin: USA
9. Sheath: Leather

Here’s how the knife worked out:

Handle: My right palm measures about four inches across. The Featherweight’s handle length is four inches. I can get a good four-finger grip on it, but my fingers get a little squished using a hammer grip. A pinch grip (with my trigger finger on the blade spine) works very well. This is the grip I frequently use when skinning a deer or elk, and the Featherweight will work very well at the skinning rack. (Here is how to measure your hand for handle fit.)

Blade Length: The best blade length depends on what the knife is being used for. For an EDC or small game knife two to three inches is about optimal.

Steel: I love CPM 3V steel and have waxed poetic about it (maybe too) many times! My knives in 3V steel have been used hard on many hunting, canoeing and fishing trips, and I consider the steel wrung out.  For a user knife, you can’t go wrong with either 3V or A2 steels.

Point: The point helps determine how well a knife will perform. In a drop point, the spine (the unsharpened side of the blade) runs straight from the handle to the tip of the knife in a slow curved manner, creating a lowered point. IMHO A drop point is one of the best do-it-all choices on the market.

Grind: All Bark River blades are convex ground. IMHO, that is the most effective grind for what I do.

Weight: 2.57 ounces is nothing. You won’t know you’re carrying it or that the knife is in your pack. That means the Featherweight will get taken along and if you need a survival knife, the only one you have is what you’re carrying.

Backpackers need a lightweight, efficient knife.

Full tang: The tang of the knife runs through the handle, making for the strongest possible option. I prefer full tangs whenever possible.

Then there’s this:

The handle, at 0.72 inches, is a smidge slender for my tastes. A handle diameter of 0.82 inches is about right for me. But handle diameter shouldn’t  be a deal breaker, because it could be bulked up with tennis racket tape. But the Featherweight’s standard grip fits my wife’s and daughter’s hands just right. Other than that nit-pick, there isn’t a thing about the Featherweight I can find to complain about.

Do you need a Featherweight?

Well, you need a solid knife that you can take anywhere that works for you. The Featherweight as is a prime candidate to be that knife.

You can also order my book “Bushcraft Basics: A Common Sense Wilderness Survival Handbook” at your local independent book store: