The Bark River Golog brings the traditional machete of Indonesia to the North Woods of America. One pound in weight, the 17 5/8″ bushcraft knife has been reduced in size but not in strength–it’s forged from chrome vanadium tool steel nearly a quarter inch thick. The narrower width of this forward weighted blade, with a cutting length of 11 1/2″ cuts back on weight but not on efficiency.
Bark River calls this knife one of the best bushcraft tools on today’s market. For specialties you could find something better, but for all around utility in a lightweight tool, that seems a fair statement. The traditional north country tool for heavy camp work was the ax, and for full sized log work you’d still need one. For lesser tasks, like pole huts in a summer camp, the Golog can be used for stripping bark like a draw knife, chopping and trimming flats on poles, or even rough cutting framing notches.
Clearing trails and fire lanes is easy work with the Golog, which has a well designed handle that keeps the blade in hand even when it rebounds from frozen wood. The black micarta handle slabs are climate proof, durable and stable in all weather.
The thick steel of the Golog will even stand up to the hammering of a wooden mallet, which you’ll probably need now and then to drive the blade through when splitting the occasional stubborn chunk of firewood.
