- Joined
- Apr 7, 2006
- Messages
- 5,215
Background/History:
I saw a few post of Burgers Exskelibur knife a while back and have been saving up to get one for a while now. After contacting Burger himself and realizing that the total would be $330 (LEXK with rounded G-10, additional titanium liner, and pocket clip), I thought I'd give the MIke Skellern designed Boker version a try. Mike Skellern and Fred Burger designed the Exskelibur (hence the combination of their last names in the title "Exskelibur") Something like 15 years ago, and you can still buy a semi-custom version from Burger himself. Just recently, Mike Skerllern teamed up with Boker Plus (the Chinese made division of Boker Knives) and released the small and large versions of the Exskelibur. While most production versions of custom knives are usually changed and made less desirable, the Boker Plus version of the Exskelibur is amazingly similar to its custom counterpart and extremely well made for the price!
Review:
I received the Boker Exskelibur earlier this week and have been carrying it since. While this is no long term review, it does come with some use. I heard this knife was well made for a Chinese knife, but IMO it is well made for an American knife. The F&F on this knife is incredible, and save for a few quibbles, it is an exact replica of the South African made custom version. The rounded G-10 handles are very smooth and well finished, the titanium liner lock is smooth and set to the exact tension I like. A nice feature of the knife is that it has only a bit of jimping where it is needed to open the knife (more on that later), and none on the liner lock bar. The liner lock bar sits flush with the G-10 scales and is therefore unfelt during use. I do not like the large cuttouts for liners that you see in knives like the Spyderco Military (see pic). The blade steel is 440C (vs. N690 on the custom) and taking full advantage of the properties of 440C, Boker has put an excellent high-grit rubbed finish on the blade that looks perfect. The knife came razor sharp with very nice grind lines. I was able to shave hairs after a few swipes on my Spyderco Fine benchstone. The pivot was adjusted perfectly for a very smooth opening and zero blade play with a well aligned blade when closed. The backspacer is G-10 with a red liner. There is a single full length titanium liner with integral liner lock.
Use:
This knife is very lightweight and carries completely unnoticed. The pocket clip is able to be moved from tip-up to tip-down right hand only. One gripe is the screw thread only into the G-10 and are very soft. I stripped the philips head on one screw while moving the clip and I don't know how well the G-10 will hold up to the stress of the clip. Time will tell on this one. The other minor gripe is that the pivot pin needs a special tool (or small needle nose pliers) to tighten/loosen. The Pivot does not equally protrude from both sides of the knife, but this is due to different thicknesses of the G-10 (because of the single liner), and not a manufacturing error. Opening this knife is very unique, but I like it. the tang of the blade is jimped and allowed you to kind of flip the blade out. You can do this fast or slow and the very smooth pivot makes this type of opening easy and fun to do. The liner lock snaps into place very well and mine has settled on about 55% travel. The lock face is concave ground, so I am not worried too much about over travel. The full flat grind (with a very slight hollow) is excellent for light EDC tasks and the knife cuts like a champ. This is no Strider by any means, but this knife is built with quality and will stand up to EDC for a long time. I highly recommend this knife if you are looking for something dressy and lightweight without the sticker shock of most gentleman knives. This is the best quality I've seen come out of China by a long shot.
Pros:
-High quality construction at a very low price
-Unique opening device
-Rounded G-10 handle scales
-Full flat ground 440C blade
-Titanium liner and clip
-Streamlined and rounded everywhere
-Red liner
-G-10 backspacer
Cons:
-Pocket clip threaded into the G-10 only
-Pivot is only adjustable with special tools (came perfectly adjusted)
-Pivot screw is not even on both sides of the knife
Video of the opening action:
I saw a few post of Burgers Exskelibur knife a while back and have been saving up to get one for a while now. After contacting Burger himself and realizing that the total would be $330 (LEXK with rounded G-10, additional titanium liner, and pocket clip), I thought I'd give the MIke Skellern designed Boker version a try. Mike Skellern and Fred Burger designed the Exskelibur (hence the combination of their last names in the title "Exskelibur") Something like 15 years ago, and you can still buy a semi-custom version from Burger himself. Just recently, Mike Skerllern teamed up with Boker Plus (the Chinese made division of Boker Knives) and released the small and large versions of the Exskelibur. While most production versions of custom knives are usually changed and made less desirable, the Boker Plus version of the Exskelibur is amazingly similar to its custom counterpart and extremely well made for the price!
Review:
I received the Boker Exskelibur earlier this week and have been carrying it since. While this is no long term review, it does come with some use. I heard this knife was well made for a Chinese knife, but IMO it is well made for an American knife. The F&F on this knife is incredible, and save for a few quibbles, it is an exact replica of the South African made custom version. The rounded G-10 handles are very smooth and well finished, the titanium liner lock is smooth and set to the exact tension I like. A nice feature of the knife is that it has only a bit of jimping where it is needed to open the knife (more on that later), and none on the liner lock bar. The liner lock bar sits flush with the G-10 scales and is therefore unfelt during use. I do not like the large cuttouts for liners that you see in knives like the Spyderco Military (see pic). The blade steel is 440C (vs. N690 on the custom) and taking full advantage of the properties of 440C, Boker has put an excellent high-grit rubbed finish on the blade that looks perfect. The knife came razor sharp with very nice grind lines. I was able to shave hairs after a few swipes on my Spyderco Fine benchstone. The pivot was adjusted perfectly for a very smooth opening and zero blade play with a well aligned blade when closed. The backspacer is G-10 with a red liner. There is a single full length titanium liner with integral liner lock.
Use:
This knife is very lightweight and carries completely unnoticed. The pocket clip is able to be moved from tip-up to tip-down right hand only. One gripe is the screw thread only into the G-10 and are very soft. I stripped the philips head on one screw while moving the clip and I don't know how well the G-10 will hold up to the stress of the clip. Time will tell on this one. The other minor gripe is that the pivot pin needs a special tool (or small needle nose pliers) to tighten/loosen. The Pivot does not equally protrude from both sides of the knife, but this is due to different thicknesses of the G-10 (because of the single liner), and not a manufacturing error. Opening this knife is very unique, but I like it. the tang of the blade is jimped and allowed you to kind of flip the blade out. You can do this fast or slow and the very smooth pivot makes this type of opening easy and fun to do. The liner lock snaps into place very well and mine has settled on about 55% travel. The lock face is concave ground, so I am not worried too much about over travel. The full flat grind (with a very slight hollow) is excellent for light EDC tasks and the knife cuts like a champ. This is no Strider by any means, but this knife is built with quality and will stand up to EDC for a long time. I highly recommend this knife if you are looking for something dressy and lightweight without the sticker shock of most gentleman knives. This is the best quality I've seen come out of China by a long shot.
Pros:
-High quality construction at a very low price
-Unique opening device
-Rounded G-10 handle scales
-Full flat ground 440C blade
-Titanium liner and clip
-Streamlined and rounded everywhere
-Red liner
-G-10 backspacer
Cons:
-Pocket clip threaded into the G-10 only
-Pivot is only adjustable with special tools (came perfectly adjusted)
-Pivot screw is not even on both sides of the knife
Video of the opening action:
this knife might be my next buy.
