Boker Helios Cera-Titan Review

Joined
Jul 26, 2005
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My Boker just came in the mail. I was willing to give this knife a shot because I own an Infinity which I have not chipped or broken, and enjoy very much. I normally don't spend more than $30 on an EDC. I thought it would be nice to have something a little more durable. It would also be nice to have something that looked "gentlemanly" and it was my hope that the Helios with the wooden inlays would do that.

And I am rather underwhelmed with what I have in front of me.

Where to start,

The most immediatly apparent thing is that this knife, as I said in a previous post, is that it is NOT adequately represented by the marketed photo. The actual knife handle is more of a blue gray, and no matter how much light I shine on the inserts, I can't get them to gleam with anything near the luminosity of the photo (and I am perfectly aware that when It comes to wood nothing is certain). on closer inspection I kind of looks like someone sanded down dried dogs*&t and inlaid it. It might look OK if the brown of the inlay didn't clash badly with the blue-gray of the handle.

The second thing, which I probably should have thought about before I purchased the knife, is the peculiar head on the pivot screw. The blade action is perfect so it wouldn't normally be a problem except that the liner lock doesn't engage reliably when opened gently. You almost have to flick it open to get the lock to engage adequately, which is difficult because the blade is so light.

The knife was not scary sharp out of box. It is sharp enough. I haven't tried very many cutting chores but I can say it is not as sharp as my infinity. Hopefully I can fix that, unfortunatly I am not good at hand sharpening, and my old man has my lansky system.

On the plus side, the blade profile suits the handle style much better than the modified bowie of the rest of the helios line. Like I said before the action is excellent.

I can't post pictures because I lent out my camera, (nor can I afford a membership this pay period) but I should have some after thursday.
 
Thanks for the review.

When you get around to sharpening it, please tell us about it. Will the knife take a good shaving edge and hold it, was it easy to hone, etc
 
I haven't had a chance to sharpen it more yet but,

The liner engages fully now without flicking the knife now. there is actually a little vertical play now but it is hardly noticable during normal use.

I whittled a tent peg with the edge I had. the edge did not dull or roll at all as far as I can feel or see.

more later..
 
SlimWhitman said:
...the liner lock doesn't engage reliably when opened gently. You almost have to flick it open to get the lock to engage adequately, which is difficult because the blade is so light.

The is a common problem with liner locks, many need some user break in before they are decently stable.

-Cliff
 
still don't have my lansky back, but...

lent it to a friend who really uses his knives. he used it to make garb for his aampgard charachter.

I Inspected the blade closely after he used it. the edge chipped like my infinity did. it definetly will need a re-grind.

I still hate the scales. maybe I'll have new ones made. I want to like this knife.

Edited to add

use included: cutting leather, cotton, suede, zip-ties, fun noodle, plastic tape, knife edge may have come in contact with hard plastic.
 
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