It’s pretty expensive ($400) but quite beautiful and comes with a good steel and solid construction. Has anyone tried it though? There’s no tests of it online and just a couple of brief reviews, while it also doesn’t seem to have been mentioned on the forum.
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Anymore tried the Böker Bowie 121547 N690?
- Thread starter y53p
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Would be interested in that one too. I looked at this one for quite some time, but I had no luck with bokers knives in the past, so I didnt pull the trigger on this one yet, especially at this price point.
Their magnum line isn’t great as they’re mostly Chinese knives. This one however isn’t from that line, it’s made in Germany with premium materials and a seemingly very sturdy construction. I would honestly buy it if it was the only option but I’m on the fence between it and the Extrema Ratio AMF. Same price, same steel, same blade length and thickness, both made in Europe, both full tang bowie style blades, with the AMF being a more modern spin on the bowie knife, taking the shape and overall construction of the old Gerber BMF.
Love them both, honestly can’t decide but I think I’ll go with the Extrema Ratio AMF just because I haven’t seen the Böker being tested anyway and there are basically no thorough reviews about it, hence not letting me know what its limitations are, which is something to know when buying such an expensive knife. Hopefully I can get my hands on it someday, if it’s still available in a few months, maybe do a review on it.
I've the Boker Arbolito el gigante, was reasonably priced here in the UK for what you get - a large well made knife with a decent steel and a lovely leather sheath. I've not "hard" used it but it's nice and cuts well, chops fine for what it is and holds an edge as you'd expect for a mid range steel. It's a nice knife/Bowie.
What I'm trying to say is that the Boker bowies in that steel are excellent!
What I'm trying to say is that the Boker bowies in that steel are excellent!
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Bowie N690
The design of the traditional Boker Bowie was based on original drafts from the early 19th century and equipped with an extremely stable, 6.4 mm thick blade made from N690 . The name of the knife goes back to James "Jim" Bowie, the...
www.boker.de
Made in Germany.
N690 has roughly the edge retention of ATS-34 and 154CM. Not the alloy I would be looking for for a chopper, but it's an outstanding melt alloy.
7 3/4" long blade, 12.8 inches overall. 1/4 inch thick. About a pound of steel in that .
I would say $400 sounds like a reasonable price for that.
Sure is a pretty thing. Not sure what I would use it for, but it is pretty. And I've had good luck with Solingen-made Bokers.
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That things nice looking! You don't see too many of the more expensive Bokers around here. You could get a real nice custom for that price though.
ChrisB507
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It's pretty...pretty expensive for a Boker. If you're looking to spend that kind of money on a Bowie I would look at Randall Made Knives. Though they are not using any "current" super steels, they've been making quality knives for about 80 years and have a number of bowies around $500.
I looked at Randals a few times, would’ve loved to get one of their pieces, but they aren’t available anymore, out where I’m from at least (the ones that are available range from €500 for the smaller models up to €1000+ for the larger models).
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Now, as a kind of early chrismas gift to myself, I got the el gigante too (micarta version). Was hard to find one in stock where I live, but I did and it was way less than half the price of the solingen made N690 Bowie.
While I have been disapointed with Boker's QC in the past more than once, this time everything worked out quite well. Overall fit and finish is really good. Only the ricasso area is about half a milimeter off left to right, but you have to really look out for it. Everything else is stellar. Leathersheath is top notch too. Carry is amazing and you can draw super fast. Even the retention/safety strap is on the spine side of the knife, very well thought out. Also I want to mention the tapered (!) tang, you don't see this a lot around in production knives. The knife is a giant beast, but feels like a feather due to the perfect balancing.
For bowie collector who collects production knife in this price class, I would highly recommend. For a user, too. Mine will be used for sure, love it!
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It's one I've looked longingly at a few times. It's not very practical, but if you're a fan of Bowie knives then yeah sure it should be something to consider. Joker also make some big Bowie knives too.
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The Joker Bowies are excellent from what I've seen, I own one with a 10" blade and antler handle, really well done knife. Cudeman has some good ones too, the 106 and 107 held up great from my use and testing.
