Boker Tree Brand - China?

The tree brand is china parts assembled in Germany vs theirore expensive line all 100 percent Germany
 
I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that the Tree Brand line IS their 100% German line. Direct from their website:

The famous knives with the tree-brand are manufactured in the German blade-city since 1869. Since then, no knife left our production without this sign of quality. The history of Boker has been affected by eventful times, but two things remained: our passion and enthusiasm for extraordinary knives.
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As a comparision, the Puma SGB line is stated as having a German blade but assembled in China.

All this knife contracting in China has me concerned. Hard to tell which are which. Price, usually... But if this is what it takes for these companies to stay in business, I'm all for it.

Think I am going to handle a few Bokers next time I am in the vicinity of the Sevierville TN knife store.
 
Chinese parts assembled in Germany...

Makes me wonder if wrapping the knives in tissue and putting them in the box qualifies as assembly.

As is usually the case, the price is that "too good to be true" situation.

Thanks.
 
Skoro, that same knife is available at Knifecenter for around the same price, they say it's made in Germany. And it doesn't seem like a strange price for a slimline trapper, some Case knives of the same pattern go for about the same (the synthetic handled ones).

As far as I know Böker Plus is made in Taiwan or China (and it's marked accordingly on the knife, albeit sometimes in difficult to spot places), Böker is made in Germany and Böker/Arbolito is made in Argentina (I'd stay away from these, I've even visited the factory and owned lots of them).
 
Unless it is stamped MADE IN THE USA of similar it is an import.....Not to bore but some import knives are excellent and rival any US made knife. China to me is not such a country.
 
Francisco -

Thanks for the explanation. What caused me concern wasn't just the low price, but the fact that the tang says only Boker and not Solingen. Just raises my suspicion that it's at least somewhat Chinese. Not that everything coming out of China is junk, but call me a skeptic.
 
tanto4me said:
Unless it is stamped MADE IN THE USA of similar it is an import.....Not to bore but some import knives are excellent and rival any US made knife. China to me is not such a country.
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I'm not completely anti-China, but I'm much more interested if it's from a more reasonable source.

BTW, I like your Cool Hand Luke reference.
 
skoro said:
I'm relatively ignorant of many quality knife makers from overseas. I know that Boker is based in Solingen Germany and has a good reputation. But these knives listed on "the bay" have me wondering if they aren't Chinese being passed off as something they aren't.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Boker-Tree-...298690?pt=US_Knives_Tools&hash=item5d45a374c2

Any of you more knowledgeable guys have a view on this? Thanks.
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The way boker works is that anything with the actual tree should be german like others have said. The thing to remember though is that most countries have laws that allow for a certain percentage of the product to be made in asia or other countries and still be called made germany, usa etc. The world really has become a global market and its almost unrealistic to expect that most products that are mass produced will be entirely made in their respective countries with locally sourced materials and parts. So really to answer your question it would be dependent on your definition of "made in germany". It is probably safe to say that boker is making their product in accordance with German law and therefore the knives (again by law) are german made. But realistically if you ignore the laws and call a duck a duck its probably more of a knife assembled in Germany and consisting of local and imported parts. Is it somewhat deceptive? yes. But its a common practice prevalent in nearly every mass produced product.

tanto4me said:
Unless it is stamped MADE IN THE USA of similar it is an import.....Not to bore but some import knives are excellent and rival any US made knife. China to me is not such a country.
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And sometimes even if its stamped "made in the USA" it may not always be 100% made in the usa. Some flat out lie and other use the swiss watch method of determining country of origin.
 
AFAIK, there is no such thing as the boker 'tree brand' just bokers that have a tree logo on them. They are supposed to be the legit German brokers. I believe 'tree brand' items are knock offs.
 
No, I had a Boker sod buster pattern (Gaucho) with TREE BRAND etched right on the blade. Tree Brand USED to be the German made Bokers unless things have changed but the etching was usually on the traditional patterns. The Arbolito marked knives are made in Argentina and the Plus line is Asian.
 
You may get a better answer in the Boker sub-forum but I believe that unless it specifically says "H. Boker & Co, Solingen, Germany" on the blade then it was put together elsewhere. You cannot count on the Tree Brand name being exclusively from Germany any longer. If it just says "Boker" with a picture of a Tree on the ricasso then it was most likely manufactured in China. You will see a quality difference as well, as I have both... They have really done a disservice by muddying the waters and etching "Tree Brand" on almost all of their traditional knives now, so you have to make sure it says "Solingen". Their modern folders are a little different but the same rule applies for the most part. If it says "Solingen" then it was made in Germany, if not, then who knows....
 
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