Boker Plus Folders - Worth it?

I have had good experiences with most of the Boker Plus knives I have purchased over the past three years.

I plan on getting the Griploc eventually.

I have the Exskelibur I with G10 handle and the Exskelimor I with rustic bog oak handle. The blade centering is off on both of them.

I would have bought the Gitano and Squail, but since they have tip-down only carry, I passed.

I would have bought the Ridgeback fixed blade. But I read that the sheath included with it is very poor fitting.

The Colubris fixed blade is great and has no problems.
 
chucknduck said:
It looks just fine for a steel liner lock to me. Remember, the carbon fiber/liner lock model is steel. So steel on steel you wont need much room for break in.
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I don't know man, all my liner locks are steel on steel besides my sebenza. 0777, 0770, 0801, 0350, Lion Steel SR2, Spyderco Domino, even my persistence and tenacious all lock up way earlier. Everyone of those is either a steel insert or a whole steel frame.

I mean, going passed flush with the blade on a brand new knife seems pretty excessive to me. Even if you don't consider where it's locking up... I'm not even sure if it has enough spring travel to go any farther over if it had to. Seems way late to me.
 
For what it's worth, I like the idea behind the Boker Plus line, but I feel it's poorly executed.
If you're looking at the lineup, chances are you have an interest in customs, and the B-Plus line makes these otherwise unobtainable knives a bit easier to get. I wanted a Haddock, but couldn't find one at the time and shouldn't have spent the money on the full custom version anyway. The Boker model, though not a B-Plus, did the trick for me (edited for accuracy; thanks crom).
I just wish Boker would put a bit more effort into the B-Plus line, meaning better steel, better qc, and manufacturing them outside of China. I want to buy the Impetus, but I'm just not sure about it. I'd rather spend an extra $100 for it and know it's good. To see what I mean, check out the Spyderco Burch Chubby.
 
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I've been wondering the same about a couple of knives, the Urban Trapper and the Panatela. I've heard decent things about the Trapper but the Panatela is more in my wheelhouse in terms of size... but there's absolutely nothing about it online. I mean, I guess you can't really expect too much from a $60-$70 titanium handled knife.
 
So awesome bud. So jealous. Just barely scored my third but nothing like these babies. Great collection.
 
jdspaw said:
To see what I mean, check out the Spyderco Burch Chubby.
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I totally get that, but some of us would rather get to fiddle with several low end collaborations than one nice one. Like the CRKT Eraser -- I'm glad I only spent $50 on that because it's enormous and I'd never actually carry it, but it's just a fun wacky design.
 
So awesome bud. So jealous. Just barely scored my third but nothing like these babies. Great collection.
 
deathofallthings said:
Hey mainaman,
You're lock up isn't as far over as mine? I'm wondering if maybe i should contact them and see if I can get it replaced, doesn't seem quite right to me.
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Today took the Kwaiken apart to anodize the scales and the back spacer.
Cleaned the IKBS bearings, and put some SRKT type of grease in the system. Now the blade is perfect centered and flips easier than before.
 
crom said:
The Haddock isn't a Plus line Boker it's a full German made knife.
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And, in my singular experience, a quite fine knife. I really wish they had made a larger version as well - 3.75+ inch blade with that design would be a sight to behold and a wonder to carry.
 
Agreed Comeuppance; 3.75" and ti presentation side. Boker can make a very nice knife. I wish they would more consistently.
 
The Böker, Solingen lineup has a great ammount of fans here in Germany. They are well known for their outstanding quality and F&F.

Their Böker Plus, or Böker +, is more a Hit & Miss experience. At least in my book. I have an B+ Exskellibur and it´s a mighty fine ultralightweight knife. I like it. But I´ve had several others that were quite a laugh about Bökers usual quality and product in general. You get what you pay for.

I think some of the fellows, posted in this thread, mixed up the two Böker lines. We are talking about two very different animals.
 
These are my only Böker folders:

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Even though they are the same knives and were both bought from the same seller there are a few differences between them. The one on the bottom in the second pic has a blade that's at least half a mm thicker than the other one. And as you can tell from the pic the scallop near the handle is also grounded differently. Or actually, it's simply missing on the second knife. The thingie on the end of the blade that stops the knife from folding open too far (I don't know what it's called in English, sorry) is also really thin in the top knife in pic 2. In all honesty I think the top knife should have been a factory seconds. I emailed Böker about this with added pics but never got a respond from them. I've heard more disappointing reports about their lack of customer service, even on there more expensive Solingen made knives, & this alone makes me weary about buying another knife from them even though they have a lot of models that interest me.
 
I want the Impetus as well, looks like a fun little cleaver...but I too know that the Boker Plus line has its quirks and issues with QC. I wish there were more reviews on them, anyone got their hands on one yet?
 
Update: I got my hands on a CF Kwaiken, and... It's going right back to BHQ. Chips in the CF, loose pocket clip despite tightening efforts, off-center, mediocre action for a bearing knife, the blade finish isn't really that attractive...

Boker is so hit-and-miss that it's absolutely insane. I was all amped about this one, too... Which might have been part of the issue.
 
My first Boker Plus, some sort of tacticool folder, turned out to be a fake. In retrospect, that was probably a good thing, as despite having a great look and feel, it was truly horrible to the point of being unsafe to use. Next, to satisfy my fascination in fixed blade combat knives, I bought a fixed Armed Forces, which I do enjoy for what it is. Is it really 440C as claimed? Who knows. Since then, I've purchased two Kalashnikov 101s (in different finishes) that I'm very happy with, but I suspect that I lucked out in terms of the quality, and that getting two that are flawless is the exception rather than the rule. It could be that those last two were made in Taiwan, which I think is a factor in superior QC.

What really bummed me out is that my first German-made Boker purchase, a Badger Gemini folder, turned out to be a bit disappointing. If it'd had a SOG logo and cost half what I paid, I'd probably be satisfied at best, but as a "real" Boker, I think I chose wrong. It's just too flimsy to ever be a go-to EDC blade for me - which is what I bought it for - and it's one of those knives that looks a lot cooler in pictures than in person. So, I guess the lesson is that I like a lot of Boker Plus designs and might be better off going that route than spending considerably more for one of their German knives, but there's still that pesky matter of so-so QC.
 
I got a Urban trapper off the exchange a week ago and so far I love it. I thought it was going to be flimsy and not hold up to anything but not any more. It's light and strong, and locks up with no play. Would highly recommend it.
 
Hello!

Got a Kwaiken a few days ago, even though fit and finish is only so-so. Inspected three knives the vendor had in stock and all were similar. The CF does not have the clean finish I have seen on other knives. I accepted this "flaw" because the overall look is really appealing to my eyes.

Use so far has shown that my big hands are not for the flipper on the Kwaiken, but this is not a quality control issue after all. Hand size aside, the flipper only gets the blade out all the way with some wrist action, allthough blade movement is smooth. This was the same for all three I handled.

Bottom line for me, not impressed by the fit and finish of Plus.

It looks really nice though:

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Regards,
Alex
 
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I just got a Rambler for fixed-blade EDC...the fit and finish is excellent! The 440c is performing well and the knife is very pretty. The sheath is cheap (understandable for a $35 knife) but it is leather and has very good retention.
Has anyone with a faulty Boker tried using the warranty service? Any knife company will have duds, but good CS helps. I've had a few problems with KAI knives for example (both cheap Chinese Kershaws and an a ZT 0350) and CS took care of it.
 
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