Boker?????

D

deerhunterp

Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
125
I have never owned a Boker... I am thinking of getting a plain edge trance... What do you think about Boker as a company. I kind of get the feeling that they are not as popular as some of the other big knife companies that Americans generally go for. Thanks
-Patrick
 
Boker makes really good knives. Even their Taiwanese and Chinese offerings are of good quality. I have a few of their pieces and my wife even carries one from time to time.
 
I have one Boker, a Subcom. The fit and finish is good. The Lockup is solid. The AUS 8 blade was suitably hard at 58.7HRC. I mainly focus on knives which are US-made by American companies, else I'd likely have more Bokers.
 
Like I said. It measured 58.7HRC. That is a respectable hardness for AUS8.
 
The Trance is one of my favorite folders -- thin, light-weight and feels good in the hand.

An excellent design by the talented Chad Los Banos: highly recommended.

Buy it from a trusted dealer, if possible, one who will examine for QC issues and exchange it if quality is poor. Boker has great designs; execution is something else and a bit of a lottery.

Good luck -- and enjoy your Trance!
 
I often carry an Action 2. The ergos are nice and the hardness is enough to where the blade gets and keeps a really nice edge.
 
From what I hear, Boker is really popular, just not on Bladeforums. Most of their knives are cheap Asian imports that appeal to non knife people, but they have a few good values for the more discerning crowd mixed in as well. Their German-made ones are considerably better. I'd consider my Chinese Subcom Ti to be a great value for the money. It isn't perfect, but it's decently made, and the materials are impressive for the price. My AF-FD, on the other hand, is a fantastic knife that I'd put up against knives from popular, quality American companies.

Customer service is supposed to be good. I haven't used it yet, though.
 
I've got several Boker's and they are among my favorites.
 
I find the fixed blades offer interesting designs and decent quality, I have the Mosier Trigonaut, and the Vox designs are attractive. I've had bad luck with several Boker Plus models, the Wagner model I had had a defective lock, a chad los banos also, and shoddy construction, and my latest, the exkselibur is a great design, but materials and construction are so-so. I guess you get what you pay for. At least that model inspired me to invest in the original from Trevor Burger...
The German made models are much more expensive, and better built. Again, you get what you pay for.
 
Old Bokers are great, quality knives (I think). On the new ones, are the Magnums the cheaper import crap shoot and the regular Bokers good? Or is it all a crap shoot now?
 
I own around 15 Boker fixed blades and around 7 folders.
The designs are interesting. The fixed blades are well executed, strong and made of good steels (440C, 12C27, N690, N690BO, AUS8) nd the heat treat is spot-on. The folders I have are all good – AK74, AK101, Turbine forum, AK47, Escrima fighter, Titan, M-Type). That M-Type has taken some hard work.
But; I had problems with...
Turbine Forum & AK47 – thumb studs were loose and needed lock-tite. This was not just an inconvenience. The studs control the lockup when the blade is open, so until this was done the knife was useless. I’ve had no problems since but this is not really acceptable on an expensive product like these. Kept the knives as I like them.
Jim Burke Resurrection – tried 2 models – both had lockup problems – one would not stay locked, on the second sample the liner would catch on my forefinger when holding the knife normally and the blade would unlock and drop. Both went back to the dealer.
Epicentre – tried 2 of these. The first had serious blade play which just got worse. On the second the frame lock bar went ‘sproing’ when I unlocked the blade and it bent and stayed open. The cutout is too deep. Both went back. Pity...it’s a lovely design (apart from the lock bar).
Titan Defender – tried 2 of these too. Both locked up just fine. But after just 2 or 3 open-closes the knife would be impossible to unlock and close. The titanium liner lock seemed to stiffen after just a few moves. Also, the titanium / N690BO contact seemed really ‘sticky’. I had to use the corner of a wooden desk to move the liner so that I could close the knife.
I really like the look of the Oberland Arms EDW and the Pimpsqueak, but my experience with their folders has put me right off.
Nice designs, but they seem to rush into execution and sale without enough testing.
Of my folders my favourites are the M-Type and the Titan. Little beauties!
 
knarfeng said:
I have one Boker, a Subcom. The fit and finish is good. The Lockup is solid. The AUS 8 blade was suitably hard at 58.7HRC. I mainly focus on knives which are US-made by American companies, else I'd likely have more Bokers.
Click to expand...

Same here. I have a Subcom, it's a great little knife. No problems with the steel so long as you have reasonable expectations ground in common sense and logic.
 
Got hands on with a Boker Dozier drop point hunter yesterday-fantastic F&F. They make a nice knife for the money, and really like to use AUS-8, which is cool.
 
Interesting thread, I've been really looking into the trance for a while (love the size), as well as the boker plus elegance. Its nice to hear some opinions. Thanks guys :).

Also, if you end up getting the trance anytime soon, let me know how you like it (looking for a casual EDC like that, the CRKT Drifter or the Kershaw Skyline).
 
I have picked up a few of their Boker Plus line knives in the past few weeks:

The CLB G4 with Wharncliffe blade — quite a big knife! The only one that I have had any problems with. I wanted to switch the pocket clip to tip-up from the stock tip-down and two of the screws stripped out. Not a big deal, I'll just use it as a
beater knife at work — since it only cost about $26.

The JB Mini-Resurrection: Quite a heavy-duty knife. The deeply hollow-ground re-curved blade reminds me of Walter
Brend. I don't really care for the wide, paddle pocket clip though.

The TUF: A nice urban-carry fixed blade. I was surprised to see that it came with a mirror polished blade. Needed a quick touch-up sharpening to bring to my preferred level of sharpness.

The SniperBladeworks-designed S2: One of the most interesting knives I have come across in a while because of the
modified Wharncliffe blade shape — I completely missed it when looking through the 2011 Boker catalog though. Again,
this one needed a quick sharpening to bring up to where I wanted it sharp.

Generally speaking the fit-and-finish is quite high on all of these minus the mentioned issues above. I am considering a few more Boker Plus in the near future.
 
Lazydog1 said:
Titan Defender – tried 2 of these too. Both locked up just fine. But after just 2 or 3 open-closes the knife would be impossible to unlock and close. The titanium liner lock seemed to stiffen after just a few moves. Also, the titanium / N690BO contact seemed really ‘sticky’. I had to use the corner of a wooden desk to move the liner so that I could close the knife.
Click to expand...

I had this same problem with Boker's Jens Anso 67. Thought it was just "sticky," but the more I opened it, the harder it was to close. Reluctantly returned it. Pity, but my thumb is still sore.
 
Lazydog1 said:
I own around 15 Boker fixed blades and around 7 folders.
The designs are interesting. The fixed blades are well executed, strong and made of good steels (440C, 12C27, N690, N690BO, AUS8) nd the heat treat is spot-on. The folders I have are all good – AK74, AK101, Turbine forum, AK47, Escrima fighter, Titan, M-Type). That M-Type has taken some hard work.
But; I had problems with...
Turbine Forum & AK47 – thumb studs were loose and needed lock-tite. This was not just an inconvenience. The studs control the lockup when the blade is open, so until this was done the knife was useless. I’ve had no problems since but this is not really acceptable on an expensive product like these. Kept the knives as I like them.
Jim Burke Resurrection – tried 2 models – both had lockup problems – one would not stay locked, on the second sample the liner would catch on my forefinger when holding the knife normally and the blade would unlock and drop. Both went back to the dealer.
Epicentre – tried 2 of these. The first had serious blade play which just got worse. On the second the frame lock bar went ‘sproing’ when I unlocked the blade and it bent and stayed open. The cutout is too deep. Both went back. Pity...it’s a lovely design (apart from the lock bar).
Titan Defender – tried 2 of these too. Both locked up just fine. But after just 2 or 3 open-closes the knife would be impossible to unlock and close. The titanium liner lock seemed to stiffen after just a few moves. Also, the titanium / N690BO contact seemed really ‘sticky’. I had to use the corner of a wooden desk to move the liner so that I could close the knife.
I really like the look of the Oberland Arms EDW and the Pimpsqueak, but my experience with their folders has put me right off.
Nice designs, but they seem to rush into execution and sale without enough testing.
Of my folders my favourites are the M-Type and the Titan. Little beauties!
Click to expand...


I've read of more than one person having problems with the Titan Defender. I just received my 2nd one on Wednesday, my first one was stolen back in 2010. Both of mine, along with a Lightweight Defender, have been great knives. The last one did have a uncentered blade when closed, but that was a very easy fix. Otherwise they were well worth the cost to me. It is unnerving though to hear of so many problems, and seems like a crapshoot when you order one. I'm just glad I won!!
 
I should update my post here. You were asking about the Trance. I had gotten the Subcom and was very pleased with it, then decided I didn't like the look of the Trance. But others said it was a winner so I took a chance. The Trance is like a Spyderco: it "looks" better to the hand than to the eye. GREAT ergonomics, that funny point is just right for poking into things while still leaving a decent belly under it. The whole knife hardly weighs enough to notice. Got to be one of their nicest designs for EDC.

At the other end of the spectrum, I like the Mini-Resurrection. Mini-kukri is what it really is. Massive. Probably easier to carry in a sheath than by the clip. But mine is beautiful: F&F, stone-washed blade cleans up easy, edge is a razor. Should strop back up nicely, too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top