Can the Kershaw Boa be trusted?

Z

zimmerDN

Joined
Mar 30, 2005
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68
I searched for it and looked at posts from as far back as 2004. The Boa doesn't appear to be all that popular around here. Although the Baby Boa is more so.

I have to say after visiting the knife shop today, the Boa is by far the best fitting knife of the description of what I want. The style is nice and not overly scary looking, the recurve blade adds elagance, the long handle fits like a glove in my hand, the material of the handle is grippy & soft to the touch (what is it anyway?), the length of the blade is just what I need, the steel is top notch (s30v) and it has assisted opening to boot.


But I just keep reading posts after posts about lock failures on the Boa. This knife can't be trusted.

So what are my alternatives? I want something that's very similar to the Boa.

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We have made thousands of Boa's, and I am unaware of any lock issues. You certainly can trust a Boa.

The Boa is indeed an elegant design, we have even talked about a Boa II. I don't think the Boa gets the play it once did, because it has been in the line-up so long, and its price point keeps most away.
 
I had a Boa. Great knife. I admit I sold it but it sure wasn't for lack of quality. It's a great work knife. I buy a lot of knives and the sell them. I only keep about half the knives I buy.

I read about a machanic that used one for work. It scraped gaskets (I recommend a putty knife, but sometime one isn't handy), cut water hoses, cut and stripped wires, and anything else he asked it to do. Because of the steel quality, he rarely sharpened it. It never failed or let him down. The recurve make it the perfect slicer.

I also was a mechanic for 10 years (a long time ago). I went through 2 SAK's campers during that time. I would have loved to have had a Boa.

I inspected the lock very closely. The fit is perfect for a liner lock. It always felt safe and strong. I've never heard of any lock failures with this knife. Where did you get your information? Can you post the links or where you got the information.

Regards
 
zimmerDN said:
But I just keep reading posts after posts about lock failures on the Boa.
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How ' bout pointin' some of these out? Not trying to be confrontational, but I quite frankly find this hard to believe.

I'd someday like to own a Kershaw Boa PE. I'd like to try a frame-lock. I'd like to try the AO. I love the blade shape. I'd like to see how the S60V fares. But right now it isn't in the budget and I've got a couple other knives a bit higher on the "want list" for Christmas. (Sorry, Thomas. But, hey, one of 'em is a blue/black Chive.)

I've noticed I find myself giving Kershaws a 2nd look more often than any other production knives.
 
i have one, carried it everyday for about a year and i never had any issues with the lock or anything else. it still is one of my favorites, if not my favorite folder period. the only reason i don't carry it now is fear of losing it.
 
ZimmerDN...IMPORTANT!!

I posted already (post #4) but thought I'd look at some of the posts of the forum. I did some searching on the Boa lock. I did find the following about the lock failing:
Thread title "is the Boa too short for a combo blade?"
Post #6

I found about 10 posts (and I'm sure there are more) talking about the slider lock failing. This is a sliding piece of plastic on the back spine of the Boa that is used to keep the knife from opening accidently. This is used since the Boa is an assist opening (SpeedSafe) knife and also has a flipper that could get caught of clothes and open by accident.

My guess is that is you were reading some of these posts. If you are not familiar with the design of the Boa, you might think that they were talking about the lock itself. They are not. The slider failing it NOT the lock failing.

I hope this helps clarify the issue. Once again, the Boa has a good liner lock design and good fit and finished quality. If decide to buy a Boa, just make sure the slider lock needs some force to make it move. The problem occur when the slider loose friction and slides back and forth too easily. Then it would become a Kershaw warranty issue. But again, this is not related to any kind of lock failure.

Regards
 
He might just be speaking to liner locks in general.

I rather like the Boa, but I'm not a fan of the blade shape. I'd take a look at the Avalanche if you're in the market for a high end Kershaw also.
 
I have a Boa.

Out of all the Kershaw knives (that I have seen) it is the one that most
suits the puropses of my EDC. I EDC'd it for quite awhile, and put it through some tough use, and not a little abuse.

Nothing about that knife ever failed.

As a matter of fact, I keep thinking about getting around to getting another one.
 
An ambidextrous Boa II would be great, maybe with a studlock.
I expect Bladeprince is right about it all being a misunderstanding,
and he deserves big thanks for taking the trouble to research this.
When I researched and researched and researched Ken Onion knives
(know I no longer need to 'cause I know they're the best things in the world)
I only came across articles and posts of how good the Boa was even for people not into knives in general or those beautiful curves and features in particular.
The only negative thing I've heard about the speedsafes was torsion bar failure in the Chive from some guy from Romania who never appeared again. So don't make too much of some negative thread. Consider how many people have been using these knives for years and years and how well the rep has stood up - amazingly for such innovative beautiful knives at this price, actually.
Since the Boa can be had for a hundred bucks now, the price issue has faded, though the style may not be as fresh as the Bumps, Offsets etc.
If you have further doubts, buy it second-hand (I've got one :-) try it out and then trade it off if you don't trust it.
 
tristram said:
An ambidextrous Boa II would be great, maybe with a studlock.
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Is the studlock that spring-loaded thing in the blade? No thanks.

tristram said:
Since the Boa can be had for a hundred bucks now, the price issue has faded, though the style may not be as fresh as the Bumps, Offsets etc.
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I prefer the Boa's blade over those. No offense intended toward those who love them, but, to my eye, the Bumps and Offsets are a bit too curvy.
 
I've had mine for several years now. It is the Purple&Teal handle w/silver blade. I have never had any issues with the lock or anything else for that matter. I don't carry it anymore but I don't really want to part with it either as this particular knife with the colored handle is very hard to find. I've never sharpened it and other than some light wear marks on the pocket clip it looks like new. Wish I hadn't thrown the box away though. Very good knife. I would like to see what will be changed/improved on a Boa II though.
 
I used to have the black Boa, until an ex-girlfriend "borrowed" it and lost it. That was one of the best knives I ever had. I used it for splitting wood, skinning little critters, and more whittling and digging than I can remember, there's no way that that knife will let you down. Just give it a try. The worst thing that could happen is that you won't like it, then you'd be in the same place you are now, there's nothing to lose.
 
I am sorry to be the only dissenting voice so far, but I do remember reading some posts about the lock on the Boa failing during use.

One that I clearly remember involved an hurricane and it is here

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=314447&highlight=hurricane+boa

but I think there were other posts too, though I may be wrong.

Also, my personal experience with one is flawed: I always admired the looks of the Boa, and when I found one used, but apparently in very good condition, in a weapons shop here in Italy I could not pass it up and I bought it. Price was more or less what one new would have cost in the US, but with international purchases you have to factor in international shippings, customs duties, possible hassles and so on, so it looked like a good deal.

I took it home, played with it a bit, great medium knife, very good first impressions. Then I decided to subject it to a light spine whack test... which it unfortunately failed each and every time I did it :(. I do not of course know if this was due to its being used or if it was an original defect of that knife, but the fact is that I have kept it, but do not use it because I do not trust the one I have.

This does not mean to be in any way a put-down of Kershaw or of the Boa in general, just my personal experience with one Boa in particular. I have the Spec Bump and a ZT301, and I think they are both exceptionally well made knives. Bottom line is, if I had to choose today between a Spec Bump and a Boa, my preference would be for buying a Spec Bump, not a Boa (even though I like the Boa blade shape better).

Stay safe,

Guido
 
Just some food for thought here, if we are going to start threads about knives not being safe because there was a lock fail on a specific blade or two (in this case one from 2004), we might as well start a ton of similar threads on just about every folder ever produced.
To start to put a label on a pattern or organization based on a lock failure with a couple of pieces is just unfair, a reach, and does not give the knife, in this case the Boa, proper representation.

The Boa has not been an issue, period.

I wish every knife of the hundreds of thousands we produce was without issues......maybe someday in that perfect Kershaw world we strive for.

Guido, did you send your Boa in for warranty?
 
Thomas,

no I did not. As I said, I bought it used, and so was not certain if it was the knife itself or the previous user the cause of the malfunction.

I think, but I cannot be certain, that it was the knife, as it looked very well kept. Also, intercontinental round trips are a bit of a hassle (I live in Italy, remember?):), and would have tended to cost a hefty portion of what my Boa cost in the first place... And I really would not have liked to discover that whatever it was that was wrong with it was not covered by the warranty, after sending it in. So I decided that sending it in was not a viable option, and wrote the whole thing off as a bad purchase.

As I said, my other experiences with Kershaw knives (1 Spec bump and 1 ZT301) are very good, and I agree that judging a company (or a model, actually), on the basis of some incidents may be far from a complete picture. I tried to make this very clear in my previous post, and have absolutely no difficulty in underlining this now.

Also, my Boa too is certainly from an older batch (I read that 2004 post on the hurricane after having my Boa - I have to admit that I would not have bought it otherwise:)), so if there ever had been any problem with the lock at some time this might very well have been completely solved by now. I would not know, my direct experience is limited to the one I have and my indirect experience to some posts I remember reading here on BF.

Hope that's clearer,

Guido
 
I didn't create this thread to start a war. I do love everything about the Boa but I have to ensure the safety of it's usage. When I did a search on here I did find some neg comments (not a whole lot but there isn't a significant amount of threads on this knife either) about the lock. That's why I started this thread, trying to find out if the Boa is a safe knife.

I would absolutely not consider a knife if there's any chance of lock failure. I don't need to sustain any unnecessary injuries.

So everyone here will concur that there is abosolutely nothing wrong with the locking mechanism on the Boa.
 
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