Boker Tree Brand D2

silenthunterstudios

silenthunterstudios

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Last year I bought a Boker Tree Brand folding hunter. Good price, D2. Seller said made in Germany. All sales outlets say made in Germany. No Solingen or made in Germany markings. I like the knife, based on the D2 steel, lack of stamping, are these made in Germany? Just assembled in Germany? The D2 and less expensive price make me ponder this, but, it’s not a bad user. Carrying this week.IMG_5711.jpeg
 
I can't see the shield very well in your picture. Does it say "Germany"?
I believe that, rather than "solingen" means the knife was assembled in Germany from outsourced parts. If there's no origin marking at all, this is rather suspicious.
 
The only markings are the tang stamp Boker with a tree to the left; the Tree Brand stamp length wise and D2 tang stamp on the reverse, all main blade.
 
i remember buying a bunch of boker tree brands back in the day, and the solingen stamp was the separation point. has that changed??
 
Somewhere in this subforum there was a previous discussion of the meaning of different Boker markings. If I recall correctly, no markings is indicative of not 100% German. I don’t recall the details though.
 
I always thought all the "Tree Brand" knives (the top of the line Bökers) were made in Solingen?
My made elsewhere Böker Magnum series/line 4 Blade Scout/camp/utility does not have a "Tree Brand" etch or stamping.
Neither did my other made elsewhere Böker Plus series Trapper and Stockman set I had.
 
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The D2 Tree Brand Boker knives are "made in Germany", according to the Boker web site. Because they are marked "made in Germany" and not "made in Solingen" the assumption is that this means they are assembled in Germany using parts made elsewhere. Since a LOT of the fit and finish of a traditional knife comes from skill of the cutlers performing the assembly, this counts for a lot.


Here is an example from the Bokerusa web site
1738784973084.png


I have two of this series, a medium Stockman and a Copperhead. I consider them well made knives with fit and finish on a par with Case, but with upgraded steel. The Boker web site says their hardness spec for D2 is 59-60 HRC, and the blades feel like it on my sharpening stones.

Here's the Copperhead
knarfeng

Post in thread 'Your newest addition:traditionals of course!'

This Boker Traditional Series 2.0 Copperhead arrived yesterday. D2 blade steel and stag covers. Listed by Boker as being made in Germany, but not in Solingen, so best guess is that the parts are outsourced. Assembly is in the Boker factory. (The Traditional Series 1.0 was listed as being made in China. The difference between the Series 1.0 and the Series 2.0 knives is significant.)

4sHWnnv.jpg


DD6qyac.jpg


> I'm not a pro on stag, but my guess is that it's been modified with potassium permanganate. But it's aesthetically very...
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The boker rep who I talked to a number of times a few years ago,told me that some materials were from outside Germany but the steel blade and assembly were from germany.
 
It looks like a Murky Business....

Some years ago the EU got the insane idea of replacing Made in Germany and all the then other 26 countries with Made in the E.U. this did not go down well anywhere, too imprecise vague etc. Now you see 'Designed in Finland / et al.' which means any one of several Asian countries being the manufacturing location of former famous brands.

However, my understanding is that if it has Solingen on it, it has under German law to be made in that city in the Böker Knife Works. I'm also rather sceptical of this notion that parts would be imported from Asia and then 'assembled' in Germany , Germany is a very high cost labour economy with still fairly strong trade-unions and benefits. It would make no economic sense really. Perhaps the 'assembly' means unpacking and individual boxing.....who really knows? Not seen their D2 steel on Traditional patterns before, but if the city stamp Solingen doesn't appear on it then assume it's not made there.

It used to be that the Böker website was quite clear about its individual brands Böker Manafaktur Solingen. - Germany Böker Arbolito - Argentina. Böker Plus- Asia/Europe. Böker Magnum- China, Taiwan.

1738789471990.png

I believe this Stockman in carbon is without doubt German though, tremendous W&T too

1738789677043.jpeg
 
silenthunterstudios said:
Last year I bought a Boker Tree Brand folding hunter. Good price, D2. Seller said made in Germany. All sales outlets say made in Germany. No Solingen or made in Germany markings. I like the knife, based on the D2 steel, lack of stamping, are these made in Germany? Just assembled in Germany? The D2 and less expensive price make me ponder this, but, it’s not a bad user. Carrying this week.View attachment 2781275
Click to expand...
Love D2 steel. I also like the Boker deep jigging even though it always seems pretty uniform like they machine it.
 
Will Power said:
It looks like a Murky Business....

Some years ago the EU got the insane idea of replacing Made in Germany and all the then other 26 countries with Made in the E.U. this did not go down well anywhere, too imprecise vague etc. Now you see 'Designed in Finland / et al.' which means any one of several Asian countries being the manufacturing location of former famous brands.

However, my understanding is that if it has Solingen on it, it has under German law to be made in that city in the Böker Knife Works. I'm also rather sceptical of this notion that parts would be imported from Asia and then 'assembled' in Germany , Germany is a very high cost labour economy with still fairly strong trade-unions and benefits. It would make no economic sense really. Perhaps the 'assembly' means unpacking and individual boxing.....who really knows? Not seen their D2 steel on Traditional patterns before, but if the city stamp Solingen doesn't appear on it then assume it's not made there.

It used to be that the Böker website was quite clear about its individual brands Böker Manafaktur Solingen. - Germany Böker Arbolito - Argentina. Böker Plus- Asia/Europe. Böker Magnum- China, Taiwan.

View attachment 2781573

I believe this Stockman in carbon is without doubt German though, tremendous W&T too

View attachment 2781577
Click to expand...
Wow... I love the bone on that knife!
 
Will Power said:
It looks like a Murky Business....

Some years ago the EU got the insane idea of replacing Made in Germany and all the then other 26 countries with Made in the E.U. this did not go down well anywhere, too imprecise vague etc. Now you see 'Designed in Finland / et al.' which means any one of several Asian countries being the manufacturing location of former famous brands.

However, my understanding is that if it has Solingen on it, it has under German law to be made in that city in the Böker Knife Works. I'm also rather sceptical of this notion that parts would be imported from Asia and then 'assembled' in Germany , Germany is a very high cost labour economy with still fairly strong trade-unions and benefits. It would make no economic sense really. Perhaps the 'assembly' means unpacking and individual boxing.....who really knows? Not seen their D2 steel on Traditional patterns before, but if the city stamp Solingen doesn't appear on it then assume it's not made there.

It used to be that the Böker website was quite clear about its individual brands Böker Manafaktur Solingen. - Germany Böker Arbolito - Argentina. Böker Plus- Asia/Europe. Böker Magnum- China, Taiwan.

View attachment 2781573

I believe this Stockman in carbon is without doubt German though, tremendous W&T too

View attachment 2781577
Click to expand...
So I had it reversed? The "Plus" series/line is actually a step above the "Magnum" series/line, not below?
 
afishhunter said:
So I had it reversed? The "Plus" series/line is actually a step above the "Magnum" series/line, not below?
Click to expand...
I see a lot of Plus collaborations with custom makers. They look good, are more expensive than these “made in Germany” models and have better materials but explicitly Made in China 🤷‍♂️

I’d prefer transparency from manufacturers.
 
Interesting information here. I bought a little tree brand Trapper a year ago as a gift and had the same question; D2 blade, good fit and finish, but no definitive markings, or "Made in ______" language. However, all of the packaging and pamphlet inside were in Spanish... I had hopes it was at least partially manufactured in Argentina, but I'm not holding my breath.
 
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