Boker Congress question

5

5-Shot

Joined
Mar 10, 2014
Messages
32
Hi, new guy here so be tolerant. I stumbled across this used Boker Congress for a single digit price on the internet and just couldn't resist. I assume it's some low budget loss leader. and that's OK, but I'd kinda like to know a little more about it. First of all, I was surprised that it has carbon steel blades. The scales appear to be blue bone. There are no etchings on the blade and the knife is 3.66 inches long when closed. Other than an usual sharpening pattern by the previous (not shown in photos) all seems well. In spite of tireless research I have been unable to find this knife's duplicate on the WWW. What is it?







Thanks,
Ed
 
Hi, and welcome! The zero-tolerance limit has already been reached this week, so don't worry, luck is on your side and we'll treat you fine :rolleyes:
I'm no Boker expert (there's quite a history behind those tang stamps), but the knife seems legit to my eye, and Boker has quite a reputation for their Congress pattern slipjoints (apparently, it's among the best, and more popular, models in their lineup). Your knife doesn't look very recent though, so hopefully others will give you some assistance. Meanwhile, I suggest that you browse this thread:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1102196-Let-s-Congress

and the three other threads linked in the first few posts. You will probably find some close relative to your Congress.
Sidenote: if it's your first traditional knife (and even if it isn't), for a single digit price, I think you did very good :)

Fausto
:cool:
 
It isn't a low-budget loss leader, it's a standard Boker Tree Brand Congress. If you got it for a single-digit price you got an excellent deal.
 
Looks like a nice Solingen-made Tree Brand, if its 3-5/8" long closed, it would be a pattern 5464B.
 
It's beautiful. I love it. You can't beat a congress for your first traditional, and a single digit find too! Plus it's a Boker, and they make great 'un's!



Paul
 
Paul (from the land of my ancestors), I didn't mean to imply it's my first. I have several other traditional knives (including two I bought new around 1970) and even a couple of old Bokers. I am a new guy here, however, and especially a new guy at worrying about what knives I have and want. I can pretty much find pictures of all my others either on the web or in books. This one, however, evades me. The shield, bolster and undecorated blades...in my unsophisticated world...don't seem to fit together. That's why I figured it was a cheapie, ie. that no one would bother to photo it or stick it in a book.

Thanks,
Ed
 
Mine has carbon blades and the same shield but different model, etch, and size (4 1/4").....tangstamp is different as well.

Did I mention it had the same shield? :D

BigBokerCongress_zpsbba72f3c.jpg


I was told it was from the 90's.
 
It's most definitely a 100% Solingen German made Boker, when dealing with Boker tang stamps are never a guarantee of anything, Boker reissues old tang stamps all the time for nostalgia, the shields with Boker tells a truer story, I can see Solingen on your shield which indicates it was made and assembled in Solingen Germany, if your shield says Germany, it was assembled in Germany with outsourced parts from China, Bokers tend to be hard to date, especially just from a picture, I'll try to dig up some more info tomorrow, I think my newest Boker uses that same tang stamp, it's a hybrid of the 1891-1944 tang stamp with the umlaut added over the O (ö) which is not on the 1891-1944 stamp, I'm 99% sure it is from the past few years, and a newer tang stamp creation,but I'll try and look and get back.

Pete
 
Pmew,
This is off topic but since I lack the tenure to contact you directly I'll just stick it here. Your entries suggest a fondness for congress pattern knives so you might like this. I bought this thing new as a "user" a long time ago. Then I discovered the magic of Buck's and stainless steel so this was stuck away somewhere for years. Enjoy.



 
5-Shot said:
Pmew,
This is off topic but since I lack the tenure to contact you directly I'll just stick it here. Your entries suggest a fondness for congress pattern knives so you might like this. I bought this thing new as a "user" a long time ago. Then I discovered the magic of Buck's and stainless steel so this was stuck away somewhere for years. Enjoy.



Click to expand...

Wonderful specimen 5-shot. Indeed, I have been known to enjoy carrying a congress from time to time. Thanks for that. You should post it in the "Let's Congress" thread, started by Pete (Stitch2442).

Thanks for that,

Paul
 
Here are two more examples of why you can't rely on Boker's tang stamps for accurate dating

My newest Boker, currently in production, not bought from old stock etc. sent to me by Terry at Boker uses the exact 1920's-1930's tang stamp, without any variation



hence why you can't accurately date Bokers solely by using a tang stamp.

another example Boker 5474HHW Stag Congress limited run of 50 in 2006 uses this tang stamp, and they even stamped each blade with the tree



Boker USA changed hands so many times they are slightly easier to date using the shield, but Boker Germany the actual older ones can be dated using tree, shield, tang, and knife as a whole, but lots of records were lost during 2nd World War when the German facility was destroyed, but give or take the last 10-20 years the use of old tangs on the newer German knives is only going to make it harder, and easier for shady unscrupulous online auction vendors, a quick search turned up a old auction selling a stag 5474HHW from 2006 as " All blades marked with a tree on them the main blade is marked Heinr. BÖKER & Co Baumwerk SOLINGEN Germany ALEMANIA I would say this is UNUSUAL stamping it is OLD stamping they used many years ago " trying mislead IMO.

Welcome to the confusing world of Boker

Pete
 
Thanks all. I may just drift over to the particle physics forum where everything is neat, clean and simple.

Ed
 
5-Shot said:
Thanks all. I may just drift over to the particle physics forum where everything is neat, clean and simple.

Ed
Click to expand...

Thanks Ed that made me laugh, all you need to know is you have a nice 100% SOLINGEN Germany made knife that it sounds like you purchased at a great price, use it and enjoy it as a knife should.

Pete
 
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