The Northwoods Knife brand name originated in Gladstone, Michigan when a man named Dave Shirley adopted it as his knife company's name in 2004. Dave was well known for collaborating with popular knife companies to have knives made to his specifications for resale well before 2004 & beyond. KnivesShipFree bought Northwoods from Dave & has continued to team up with respected makers to produce knives marked with the Northwoods brand name.
Although the BL release was over in about 7 minutes by my clock, it did seem strangely to go in slow motion. Maybe that's just the temporal distortion that comes with having seen a couple of these, and knowing how fast one has to move to score. And I guess I should admit that I did make a half-hearted attempt to grab a couple of stags, but they got cart sniped. Kind of a relief since I'd hate to have had that conversation with my wife later: "Uh, honey, I sort of spent $170 on a pocket knife today...(gulp)"
Lee
Haha, and they say we can't multi task cause that same thought was running through my head while I was trying to get a stag myself.
robbobus wrote:Wow that mammoth is sweet. And worth a good deal more than you paid I would wager.
I see where 2 of the 4 mammoth Bear Lakes have already been flipped on eBay for $500+ profit - even before the original buyer has taken possession. The original purchase price was $225 and the eBay flip price is over $725. On one hand this makes me feel good about my knife purchase, on the other hand I detest this type of behavior. The good fortune from this transaction atypical to my knife transactions. I recently bought a beautiful old knife and within a month saw one nearly identical sell for 1/3 of what I paid for the one that I bought. Right now I can't imagine a scenario where my mammoth Bear Lake would hit the market.
mine arrived today and I hate to say it but, I think the stag looks much nicer than the kudu...which I had such high hopes for. the kudu is nice, but what GEC's been doing with stag on the last few NWs is amazing.
**your links worked fine for me Ralph! thx
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-the problem with society today is, no one drinks from the skulls of their dead enemies anymore..-
I'm sure the kudu is much more collectible too. I think I'd better sleep on it.
Greg, are you keeping both? I'm only keeping 1, picked up an extra for a buddy whose first choice was kudu but he's happy with either. I just need to decide which one to keep. Since I doubt I'll make a user of it I'd think kudu is more bankable. the stag sure is pretty though.
-the problem with society today is, no one drinks from the skulls of their dead enemies anymore..-
Too bad the Bear Lake didn't come with a better blade. It is the 'weak point' of the knife. Those with experience using knives know that a straight edge does a few things very well and other types of cutting very poorly. It is a 'specialty' blade. A dedicated EDC needs a more 'all purpose' blade because who knows what the day will bring.
There, i justified not getting one.
kj
The Mammoth Bear Lake that sold for $730 has dark muddy brown-black mammoth, not attractive. I had a GEC with mammoth that was dark and it does not give the same sense of satisfaction as lighter colored mammoth. But even if this had great mammoth $730 is not a value that will be maintained.
There is a cult like following of GEC & Northwoods who seem to experience an ecstatic rapture should they score one with highly coveted handles. Money and market value have no influence.
kj
Cletus Awreetus wrote:I'm sure the kudu is much more collectible too. I think I'd better sleep on it.
Greg, are you keeping both? I'm only keeping 1, picked up an extra for a buddy whose first choice was kudu but he's happy with either. I just need to decide which one to keep. Since I doubt I'll make a user of it I'd think kudu is more bankable. the stag sure is pretty though.
Cletus I'll probably keep them both. I usually don't sell to many in fact as difficult as the Northwoods are to get at retail I haven't sold any. That Bear lake is kind of a puny feeling knife in hand. I'd hate to run up on a bear at Bear lake with just that.
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Greg
IF YOU AIN'T BUYING OR LOOKING AT A KNIFE THEN YOU AIN'T LIVING.
Always looking to buy good quality Empire knives.
I have several of these and haven't made a user of one yet. Primarily because ebay and PT Barnum have convinced me that each and every one will produce, on down the road.
" I'd hate to run up on a bear at Bear lake with just that. "
you could clean his claws with it and tell him about your lightning fast knife buying trigger finger!
-the problem with society today is, no one drinks from the skulls of their dead enemies anymore..-
Here is my Bear Lake, giraffe bone. I really like this knife both blade and in hand feel, and tip end is easy to control. You could cape with this knife.
I would like to find the mammoth version of this knife.
kj
Here are pictures of the Kudu bone example I received. It was #24 in the July 2018 release. I like the material. The surface is smooth to the touch and it has visual depth and texture which probably comes from the dye settling into the pores in the bone. I had never heard of Kudu until this release of the Bear Lake. Just today I noticed another maker using Kudu.
Here are pictures of the Mammoth Bear Lake that I received. It was #2 of 4 that were in the July 2018 release. As others have mentioned with regard to the blade, my preference also would have been for a spear blade.
RalphAlsip wrote:Here are pictures of the Mammoth Bear Lake that I received. It was #2 of 4 that were in the July 2018 release. As others have mentioned with regard to the blade, my preference also would have been for a spear blade.
Amazing Mammoth. Equally amazing is you were able to score one. Congrats.
RalphAlsip wrote:Here are pictures of the Kudu bone example I received. It was #24 in the July 2018 release. I like the material. The surface is smooth to the touch and it has visual depth and texture which probably comes from the dye settling into the pores in the bone. I had never heard of Kudu until this release of the Bear Lake. Just today I noticed another maker using Kudu.
Ralph, those are some nice nice pics! Both your kudu and mammoth pics are very good. According to the KSF site, kudu is "Porous bone filled with resin". Which means it's a stabilized bone, so it probably won't move much if ever. How did you take those pics, what backdrop and camera did you use? I'll understand if those are trade secrets, I'm just fishing for knife photography tips.
m0nk wrote:How did you take those pics, what backdrop and camera did you use?
Lee, I am happy to share my picture taking process - please check your PM's.
The link below provides a really good tutorial. It takes about 15 minutes to read and is very practical for people who want to take nice product photos, but don't want to be a professional photographer and don't want a professional photography studio.
The two I received. Was only going for one, but thought I lost one, and went for another one. You don't have time to correct your cart .
Now its eenie meenie miney mo, think one's gotta go. Think I'm liking the Red Micarta more for some reason
FarSide wrote:The two I received. Was only going for one, but thought I lost one, and went for another one. You don't have time to correct your cart .
Now its eenie meenie miney mo, think one's gotta go. Think I'm liking the Red Micarta more for some reason
FarSide wrote:The two I received. Was only going for one, but thought I lost one, and went for another one. You don't have time to correct your cart .
Now its eenie meenie miney mo, think one's gotta go. Think I'm liking the Red Micarta more for some reason
Bear Lakes.JPG
Those are both very nice!
Thanks. Indeed, they are both nice.I really like the size of the Bear Lake. I was sure I wanted a Fremont, but now that I have seen comparison pics I prefer the Bear Lake. Really is a mini Fremont with the end cap they used this time.
New with the old. Flush in all 3 positions. Good walk and talk. The spear point is close on 1/4" longer in blade length. One other noticable change is in the grind. The flat grind goes higher closer to the spine. Check the NORTHWOODS lettering, on the old is mainly on the flat, quite a bit of the logo lower into the blade's grind now. Likely less regrinds forthcoming.
That one is top shelf. 
Michigan was 3 days quicker sipping time.