Northwoods Bear Lake

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.
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m0nk
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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by m0nk »

Well I'll be! Jet, how many thumbnail pics did you have to click on before you found that little nugget of knowledge? Does KSF always leave an easter egg like that for their upcoming releases? By the way, welcome to AAPK! If there was any kind of entrance fee to this group, you certainly would have paid it with that post! ::tu::

I hereby nominate Jet to be the AAPK official KSF NW release watcher who is duty bound to notify the rest of us when he finds advance intel on NW runs. Do I hear a second to this nomination?

Lee
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m0nk
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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by m0nk »

RalphAlsip wrote: Greg, I will have some pictures to show in a few days. ::ds::

Well don't keep us in total suspense Ralph! Which one did you get?? Even if you don't have pics yet you can at least reveal what handle cover you scored...

Lee
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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by RalphAlsip »

m0nk wrote:Which one did you get?? Even if you don't have pics yet you can at least reveal what handle cover you scored...Lee
Lee, I'm happy to oblige. I had a similar situation to what FarSide experienced. I had 2 browser sessions open hoping to win just 1, but I actually got both of them. It is feast or famine with me in these scrambles. I didn't get a Fremont from the last drop with the same strategy. Anyway, I got 1 of the 4 mammoth and a Kudu. Here are links to the knives on KSF's web site.

https://www.knivesshipfree.com/northwoo ... -ivory-02/

https://www.knivesshipfree.com/northwoo ... u-bone-24/
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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by robbobus »

Wow that mammoth is sweet. And worth a good deal more than you paid I would wager. I got a nice stag.
Screenshot_2018-07-11-15-02-15.png
Screenshot_2018-07-11-15-02-18.png
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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by m0nk »

RalphAlsip wrote:... I got 1 of the 4 mammoth and a Kudu. Here are links to the knives on KSF's web site.

https://www.knivesshipfree.com/northwoo ... -ivory-02/

https://www.knivesshipfree.com/northwoo ... u-bone-24/
Wow!!! That's a huge haul. It's a big hit on the credit card today, but you sure didn't assume much risk in that investment. Well done indeed!
::woot::

Lee
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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by robbobus »

And here is a pic of a spear Bear Lake beside a Fremont.
20180711_223936_HDR_Film3-1.jpg
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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by RalphAlsip »

Rob, your stag is really nice. I browsed through the stag selection while they were still showing and my impression was that the stag in this drop was uniformly very nice. Kudu is new to me so I thought I would try for one. A few of the Kudu were really colorful. I'm happy with the Kudu that I got especially in the short amount of time available to make a decision. Here is one that I where I captured the link, but did not buy.

https://www.knivesshipfree.com/northwoo ... du-bone-37
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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by kootenay joe »

Power went out here at 1250 hrs which is 10 minutes before 4 pm EST. Came back on about 3 hrs later.
kj
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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by gsmith7158 »

RalphAlsip wrote:
m0nk wrote:Which one did you get?? Even if you don't have pics yet you can at least reveal what handle cover you scored...Lee
Lee, I'm happy to oblige. I had a similar situation to what FarSide experienced. I had 2 browser sessions open hoping to win just 1, but I actually got both of them. It is feast or famine with me in these scrambles. I didn't get a Fremont from the last drop with the same strategy. Anyway, I got 1 of the 4 mammoth and a Kudu. Here are links to the knives on KSF's web site.

https://www.knivesshipfree.com/northwoo ... -ivory-02/

https://www.knivesshipfree.com/northwoo ... u-bone-24/
Jerry I was operating from my phone so when I saw that there were only a few mammoths available I decided to go straight for the stag. I got one of those then jumped back in and surprisingly scored one of the kudu bone.
------------------

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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by Railsplitter »

JET79 wrote:
JET79 wrote: ... it's my first Northwoods. I will be home on the day the little bays hit so gonna try and shoot for whatever bone those will be in. That Kudu bone looked awesome by the way.
Congrats Jet! And what's this talk about a run of Little Bays? Are you in the secret society who has inside knowledge of the upcoming NW ::skeptic:: releases??

Lee

haha, I wish Lee. If you go to knives ship free / Northwoods / Northwoods archives / click on the little bays and it says

Update
NORTHWOODS KNIVES: LITTLE BAY

Check this page at 5pm Eastern time, Tuesday, August 8th.

Micartas are limited to 1 per cart.

has a pic of one in giraffe bone and black micarta but doesn't say for sure thats what they will be or not.[/quote]

It's driving me crazy because I'm at work and this computer has a security block on the KSF website. Are you sure this is not last year's info? August 8 , 2018 is on a Wednesday but it was on a Tuesday in 2017.
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Cletus Awreetus
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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by Cletus Awreetus »

at the risk of jinxing myself for future drops, I gotta say this was the easiest buy I've ever made since the NW drops become so frantic. for a minute it felt like the marketplace had revolted and I was the only one there. got a kudu and a stag in completely uneventful fashion. when I was finished I refreshed and there were still a ton of BLs available. upon a 2nd refresh reality kicked in. by the 3rd or 4th refresh, they was gone!
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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by Railsplitter »

Now that I'm home from work I can use my own computer and I see that the Little Bay release on August 8th does not have a year stamp. It reads exactly as JET79 posted it.

I did some searching and there was in fact a Little Bay drop on Tuesday August 8th, 2017. It's likely that KSF forgot to remove that comment before they archived the Little Bays. I wouldn't get too excited about a Wednesday August 8th, 2018 release but anything's possible.
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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by robbobus »

The covers all look great. I was going to try out the kudo but I love stag and cannot understand paying a further premium for the kudo. Looks great tho and looking forward to seeing more pics.
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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by JET79 »

Railsplitter wrote:Now that I'm home from work I can use my own computer and I see that the Little Bay release on August 8th does not have a year stamp. It reads exactly as JET79 posted it.

I did some searching and there was in fact a Little Bay drop on Tuesday August 8th, 2017. It's likely that KSF forgot to remove that comment before they archived the Little Bays. I wouldn't get too excited about a Wednesday August 8th, 2018 release but anything's possible.

ah bummer I didn't even think to check the calendar on that... ::dang:: well that was short lived, looks like I gotta find some other dues :D
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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by m0nk »

Jet, tell you what, just post some good knife pics and talk about knives, and I think that's all anyone will expect of you here.

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
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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by JET79 »

m0nk wrote:

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. :D
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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by RalphAlsip »

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.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/-/183323610018 ... 675.l10137

https://www.ebay.com/itm/-/173406541105 ... 675.l10137

PS: I hope these links work. A recent eBay "enhancement" makes it difficult to review completed auctions.
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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by Cletus Awreetus »

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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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by gsmith7158 »

Cletus mine came in today but I'm just the opposite. I think my stag is less than outstanding and I prefer the Kudu.
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------------------

Greg

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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by Cletus Awreetus »

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..-
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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by kootenay joe »

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. :wink:
kj
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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by Cletus Awreetus »

"There, i justified not getting one. :wink: "

there you go kj, with the money you saved you can score that Gladiator you've been jonesing for!
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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by kootenay joe »

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.
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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by gsmith7158 »

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. :D
------------------

Greg

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Re: Northwoods Bear Lake

Post by Cletus Awreetus »

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. :D"
you could clean his claws with it and tell him about your lightning fast knife buying trigger finger! :lol:
-the problem with society today is, no one drinks from the skulls of their dead enemies anymore..-
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