BORING STORY TIME, SKIP IF NOT INTERESTED: I love how Bernie works. Even if most people don't see its potential, having a bernie ready to protect your bums (and those of every other player in the server) while you are fighting a deerclop with 0 sanity is a true lifesaver. You literally don't have to worry about the nightmares during long fights, and can prevent you getting ambushed by nightmares while you are not paying attenction.
Sadly you have to waste 1 inventory slot to carry Bernie with you at all times. I know you could leave him in the base.. but usually:
a) Someone takes him without knowing how it works
b) You store in a chest. Someone notices it and places it on the ground. As soon as players go insane they just ignore the nightmares and watch as Bernie gets eaten alive instead of going to help.
c) Despite you never going insane , other people will blame you if you use the sewing kit to repair Bernie because "it's a waste". It's my bear okay!? 
Furthermore Bernie is not unique to Willow. Everybody can take him. This means that once a Willow dies, just like her lighter, people can still use her items. Basically one could spawn as willow, suicide and leave the server while still helping others. How would a Woodie main feel if any other character could chop as fast as him?
MY SUGGESTION (Important part 
): So.. unless we all learn that Bernie is made just to buy you some time against nightmares and he still needs help , i feel like Bernie needs to be reworked. How about devs making it "attached" to Willow like a backpack, so that everytime that someone's sanity drops below 30% it magically "spawns" under Willow and stays there until she picks him up again (or.. hits him to despawn him like you would despawn Abigail or Shadow puppets). Another solution would be to make Bernie a special backpack for Willow only that can be placed on the ground to work as usual.
I understand that Willow's mechanics are not going to be reworked because she's way too strong compared to other characters ( ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ sarcasm ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ) but at least rework her items!