Manitou Cru-Wear Stacked Leather

We couldn’t describe the Manitou better than Mike Stewart himself:

“The Manitou was a very unique Knife.  It was designed to replicate the task orientation of the old original Marbles Expert.  Basically a very thin edge knife for doing fine tasks but on a larger frame knife so that it was comfortable in sustained use.  The knife was not for Chopping or Batoning or Cutting Bones.  In the Original Marbles printed Catalog there was a footnote from Webster Marble saying that if you wanted a heavy use knife to get one of his other models.  The Name Expert was the key – the knife was meant for Experts in Hunting and the Outdoors.  Smaller wood tasks are fine – making Fuzz Sticks are fine – Skinning – Butchering – De-Boning (without hitting the bone) are all good examples of the original intent of the use of the knife.  Keep in mind that the old Marbles knives were 1095 at about 55RC.

We had folks ask us to make the Blade .156″ instead of .187″ thick.  Here is why you need to trust us.

The Bark River Manitou uses .200″ finished thickness.  the Blade is Actually .156″ on the Spine from the ricasso forward.  You have the best of both – the thicker and tougher tang and Ricasso but…the blade itself is distal tapered down to .156″ and then further tapered to .075″ about an inch from the point.  We also broke the spine with a very very thin swedge that is not apparent unless you look for it – it actually adds to the ability of the blade to be lighter and faster.

Bottom Line…The knife is comfortable in the hand because it is not thin in the handle and the blade cuts like a laser.

We are Going with CPM Cru-Wear on this next Release The Rockwell will be 60.  Cru-Wear can be used in a very thin cross section without it being weak or brittle.”

– Mike Stewart – Founder and Owner of Bark River Knives