Böker Magnum Knife: Worst Blade I've Seen

C

Confederate

Joined
Sep 5, 2005
Messages
2,826
Well, what do you expect, you might say. Cheap knives, cheap blades.

Good point, except that I have a number of Smith & Wesson knives and even Maxums (bought long ago) that I can get bleeding sharp. The Maxums don't keep their edge very long, but the S&Ws are surprisingly better. Anyway, I picked up the Böker Magnum Power Trooper ($24.95) at a local surplus store. It has a 5-inch 440A stainless blade and it was a spontaneous purchase. Besides, I thought, I'd bought a number of similar S&W knives that turned out to be much better than expected. Maybe this would be, too.

Alas, regardless of what I do, I can't seem to get an edge on this thing. I've tried the Spyderco Sharpmaker and can feel the steel coming off, but the edge just doesn't appear. I have a Maxum SKLARGE that also has a 5-inch barrel and I can cut paper strips all day long with that one. I've also used it to cut up a bunch of empty cardboard boxes in the basement for my wife, and it performs adequately. I assumed I'd be able to get a similar capability from the Magnum series.

Anyway, based on this one, I have to say that the Böker line is a large step down from the junkiest knives I have. It's about on par with some of my Gerbers, which I got rid of.

01MB219_1.jpg


Magnum Power Trooper, an attractive knife that falls flat.

SKLARGE.jpg


The Maxum SKLARGE, also with a 5-inch blade. It's a junk knife, too,
but my wife's used it to cut vines, dig up weeds and cut up cardboard
boxes without issue. It also takes a wicked edge—enough for a quick
emergency use. It's much better than the Magnum Power Trooper.

--
 
ya got a dud. Contact Boker see what they would do
FWIW all 3 of my gerbers are :thumbup::)
far from the worst ive ever seen that honour goes to the little american flag-Camaro plastic scaled lockback that my sons buddy showed up with one day, hey can you clean and sharpen this for me! Yikes
ivan
 
So you're implying that all Boker [magnum] knives are worth less then junk? That's quite the generalization, and utterly false. My $27 dollar Boker Trance has at the very least a shaving sharp edge, and is as solidly built as any knife costing many times it's price. As solid as my kershaw random leek, certainly.
 
So, you cannot sharpen a knife so it is junk?


Interesting.


OTOH, if you already have several S&Ws, Maxam, and other junk knives, why not just save a bit longer and get something decent?
 
Why is everyone jumping on him? Confederate posts quite a bit on cheapies, so I trust his input on this. He's not saying that all Bokers are junk, just his opinion on the Magnum line.

Here's my opinion. The Magnum line is a mixed bag. It includes a few things made from Boker's own designs (the CLB stuff bearing the Magnum logo), and a lot of generic stuff branded with the Magnum logo. A lot of stuff in the Magnum line can be found under other names (United, etc.). I know a lot of BudK's "Timber Wolf" Knives disappeared from that line and turned up a while later in the Magnum line with huge price increases ($10 for the TW, $40 or $50 for the Magnum).
 
It's worth noting that Boker is one of those rare companies that offers a complete lineup ranging from dirt-poor garbage up to top-dollar exceptional blades. You just have one of the garbage models. ;)
 
Well, maybe I did get a dud.

Hardly worth returning, though. It's also not like it's described in the catalog. This one's got a steel handle and is quite heavy. The present model has G-10 scales.
 
tdrussell said:
So you're implying that all Boker [magnum] knives are worth less then junk? That's quite the generalization, and utterly false. My $27 dollar Boker Trance has at the very least a shaving sharp edge, and is as solidly built as any knife costing many times it's price. As solid as my kershaw random leek, certainly.
Click to expand...

Böker Trance is not from the Böker Magnum line, its from the Böker Plus line.
And its sweet :thumbup:

The Magnum line is the budget line, the plus line is not.
Böker should re-brand the Böker Magnum line into a separate brand called Magnum.
 
Tripton said:
So, you cannot sharpen a knife so it is junk?
Click to expand...
All my other "cheapie" knives sharpen up fine, Tripton. So, as a matter of fact, the fact that I can't sharpen this knife indicates that the steel has not been adequately treated. This means at least this one is junk. I have Cold Steel knives with 440A blades, and they're some of the sharpest in my collection. They also keep their edges—something most other 440A blades don't do.
 
In looking through the '08 Magnum lineup, that Powertrooper really caught my attention, not that I would expect a lot from it, but I like the long, lean design. Hey Confederate, I, for one, appreciate your thourough reviews on some of the less expensive knives, otherwise I would simply pass over them and maybe miss a good work knife, one I didn't mind getting rough with. In fact it has been your posts on the CS 6" Ti-lite that has me seriously considering it, along with the big Rajah! Keep up the reviews, for if you write it, they will read it.
 
I've found the Boker Magnum line to be a very good value for the dollar, with an increasing number of decent designs worthy of consideration.

I think there's always a temptation to sneer at low-end knives as somehow beneath us. I think pragmatism outweighs this kind of snobbery.
 
Confederate said:
All my other "cheapie" knives sharpen up fine, Tripton. So, as a matter of fact, the fact that I can't sharpen this knife indicates that the steel has not been adequately treated. This means at least this one is junk. I have Cold Steel knives with 440A blades, and they're some of the sharpest in my collection. They also keep their edges—something most other 440A blades don't do.
Click to expand...

If it was a simple matter of a poor heat treatment then it should be very easy to sharpen but unable to hold an edge. Are you sure you're getting to the edge? try the black marker test IMO. If you're removing material from the edge you should be able to sharpen just about anything even if it is defective. I would use a coarse bench stone and put an entirely new edge on it, the sharpmaker is a great system for keeping knives sharp but it is not very efficient at removing steel.
 
I bought this Boker Magnum Stiletto for less than $20.00 cdn., including shipping, etc. out of the USA.

The blade is made in China 440A (looks pretty similar to the OP's blade, but not blacked) and is reasonably sharp out of the box. Haven't tried sharpening it, or using it for that matter. Bought it just because it was cheap and looked OK.

I don't have high expectations of $20 knives, and for all intents and purposes the knife is better than I was expecting for what I paid for it. It is unfortunate that the OP doesn't feel the knife is good enough even to open boxes, even if it is a cheapy.

As already mentioned Boker offers a very low end line of knives, and this knife is representative of that line.

If I ever have a stuation where I'm certain my knife will be either lost or damaged, this will be my knife.

BokerMagnumStiletto.jpg


Kevin
 
the kid said:
Böker Trance is not from the Böker Magnum line, its from the Böker Plus line.
And its sweet :thumbup:

The Magnum line is the budget line, the plus line is not.
Böker should re-brand the Böker Magnum line into a separate brand called Magnum.
Click to expand...

I know, i just wanted to be sure the OP wasn't pulling all of Boker into this. I got what i was looking for. :) It is interesting indeed that Boker products fall over such a long range of quality...i agree, it would do them some good to split things off into different brands, not just Boker Magnum/Plus etc.
 
Confederate said:
All my other "cheapie" knives sharpen up fine, Tripton. So, as a matter of fact, the fact that I can't sharpen this knife indicates that the steel has not been adequately treated. This means at least this one is junk. I have Cold Steel knives with 440A blades, and they're some of the sharpest in my collection. They also keep their edges—something most other 440A blades don't do.
Click to expand...

Ok. I do wonder though, what about it's treatment would you consider to be inadequate that would cause it's inability to take an edge?

I do not follow.

I think most people have junk knives...but I wouldnt consider Boker to be any worse than a plethora of other Asian blades.

Could very well be a dud. Still, someone would have to explain to me why it would be unable to take an edge.


Maybe let someone else try and sharpen it?



(FYI, if you want 440A, I'd look at none other than a Kershaw that is a few years old.)
 
I have some switchblades from Italy made from 420 stainless. Bought them years ago primarily for fun. I tried putting an edge on two of them. One took an edge and the other didn't. My brother tried, too, but couldn't, but he's no longer around...here.

I don't want anyone to think that all I have are cheap knives. I have some splendid knives, but I tend to prefer the mid-range Cold Steel knives. I've got about about seven or eight S30V blades, a number of 154CM/ATS-34 knives (including the CRKT S-2, which holds a wonderful edge). And I carry cheapies places where I might have to unexpectedly ditch them. The Magnum Power Trooper I bought on spur of the notice just seemed to be a great toy, and, as I said, my Cold Steel 440As have been really nice knives, I thought, man, if I can just get this thing as sharp as I can my Recon I or my Night Force, it'll make a great glove compartment knife—also one I can do rust tests on.

If I knew anyone who could sharpen knives, I'd ask them to try. Given the cheap price I paid for the pig sticker, I'm not crushed. Just a bit disappointed. I have more use for a knife that doesn't hold an edge long than I do for a knife that won't take an edge. Still, I'm calling Böker tomorrow just to see what the story is on the handle. I can't imagine that anyone would put out fake Magnums, but it's possible I suppose. They've got fake S&Ws.

--------------
 
I love the S&W folders. I have three Extreme opps that take and hold a terrific edge.
 
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