Böker Fitz

[HFinn]

I have been searching a small knife suitable to be used as a front pocket fixed blade knife. The Böker Fitz seemed to fit the role, so I ordered one and got it today. The neck knife might not be a traditional one, but this modell came with a stag handle and a leather sheath. I also asked the moderator if this could be presented on traditional forum and his answer was positive.

The knife came well packaged, this box was inside a white cardboard wrap and the bubble envelope:

And these were inside the box. More on the sheath later.

The knife was otherwise nicely finished, but the handle scales are not the same size as the tang. I knew this would be so. The tang edges are rounded so it does not hurt the hand. Blade is 440 C and sharp. No need to start sharpening out of box.

I think this needs a beaded lanyard to give somthing to the pinkie to rest on. Good grip anyway.

I am pleased about the knife itself, but the sheath is a major setback. It is made of leather, but there are no liners inside it. This makes the sheath dangerous. It is easy to punch the blade through the sheath and wound yourself. I will make either a plastic liner inside the sheath or a new sheath, or both. This new one might be a dedicated pocket sheath with no belt loop.

So this turned into a project. Let's see what I will come up with. And sorry for the fotography, I dont have a better camera these days.

 

[HFinn]

I also found out that the quality of the leather is bad, it loses color very easily. So a new sheath is a must.

 

[Capn]

Neat knife & thanks for your insights.

 

[Peregrin]

Nice looking knife. It's too bad about the sheath. I'll never understand why a manufacturer or maker would provide an unsafe sheath.

 

[puukkoman]

Knife looks nice.

It's too bad you're not happy with the sheath.
On the other hand, I have used un-lined leather sheaths my whole life, both on my belt and in my pockets, with no danger or ill effects, and have never punched a blade through any leather sheath. In my experience, you'd really have to exert some monster-strength pressure to force a blade through a leather sheath of any decent thickness. Out of curiosity, what exactly are you doing with it that makes the blade want to punch through the leather so easily?

 

[HFinn]

Knife looks nice.

It's too bad you're not happy with the sheath.
On the other hand, I have used un-lined leather sheaths my whole life, both on my belt and in my pockets, with no danger or ill effects, and have never punched a blade through any leather sheath. In my experience, you'd really have to exert some monster-strength pressure to force a blade through a leather sheath of any decent thickness. Out of curiosity, what exactly are you doing with it that makes the blade want to punch through the leather so easily?

The material of this sheath is quite soft. With harder or stiffer leather there would be no problem. My son (when much younger) ruined one leather sheath by inserting a puukko blade badly in the sheath and pushing it home. The blade went through the leather like hot knife through butter (it was a sharp knife). By blind luck he did not cut himself badly.

 

[puukkoman]

The material of this sheath is quite soft. With harder or stiffer leather there would be no problem. My son (when much younger) ruined one leather sheath by inserting a puukko blade badly in the sheath and pushing it home. The blade went through the leather like hot knife through butter (it was a sharp knife). By blind luck he did not cut himself badly.

Yikes! Sounds like some very soft leather!

 

[HFinn]

I made a simple pocket only sheath. Taking a lenght of suitable plastic tubing I heated it with a hot air blower, then pressed it around the blade. After it had settled I glued and stiched a piece of leather round the plastic liner. The sheath has larger surface than the original, but retains the knife well and feels much safer than the original and has less bulk. And the shape keeps the whole thing upright in the pocket.

 

[brownshoe]

I had the same experience with a different (non-traditional, so I can't say what it was) Boker Plus product. Poor, ineffective sheath, that made the knife functionally un-useable. Mine had a useless grind and such poor ergonomics as to be almost unuseable as a knife. My advice to all is don't buy BokerPlus products unless you can return it w/o question or handle it in person before buying. Their BokerPlus line translates to "buyer beware."