Has Boker Ever Made A Good Knife

ares1488 said:
I saw the new Stingray and I really, really like the design. But $100 for a Chinese knife? No. Titanium or not I wouldn't pay that.
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That is a kind of a ridiculous thing to say. Kizer knives are a perfect example as to why that is a ridiculous ideal. The knife in the video is bad, but really easily fixed by polishing the washers (or just plainly lubricating them) and adjusting the pivot. The lockup is also pretty easily fixed, not saying it should have to be because it shouldn't. Almost no knives arrive perfect for EDC, so calling a knife that can be easily fixed garbage is unfair.

As for the Kwaiken breaking... I gotta say pics or it didn't happen. Knives don't just plainly break for no reason. Every time I have heard of a knife "just failing out of the blue" it was from something stupid being done.

For the question of Böker making any good knives... totally not a fair question. Yes, they have some quality control issues, but so does every company. Nobody will say "every Benchmade knife is garbage" because they don't have perfect quality control. I have only had 2 or 3 Benchmade knives without play in the blade and liners or scales not lining up, or the lock bar being able to wiggle too much (being a little too wide for the track). Nothing that isn't livable or easily fixed.

I have had quite a few and handled even more Böker Plus knives and they were all pretty good. Even my AK auto conversion is superb, and that knife sees a lot of abuse to the lock and stop pin from just opening it. It is still almost 100% solid (aside from the normal very slight vertical play inherent to button locks).
 
My success rate for Boker is about 50%. Not very good in my book. I have actually found the Boker Plus line to have better QC than the German made knives. I haven't given up on them though because they are always coming out with cool collaborations and interesting designs. I just expect to have to return many of them. Personally I think they should scrap about half of their offerings and really concentrate on improving the QC of their top sellers. Your mileage may vary....
 
eschwebach said:
My success rate for Boker is about 50%. Not very good in my book. I have actually found the Boker Plus line to have better QC than the German made knives. I haven't given up on them though because they are always coming out with cool collaborations and interesting designs. I just expect to have to return many of them. Personally I think they should scrap about half of their offerings and really concentrate on improving the QC of their top sellers. Your mileage may vary....
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I agree that they should ditch a big part of their line up, I think the should scrap the entire Magnum line and concentrate on the actual Boker lines. Quit putting their name on crap that they have no hand in producing or designing. Concentrate on the Plus/Tree/Arbolito lines and keep knocking it out with good collabs and original designs. Of course, I doubt that will happen, they probably make a ton on the Magnum crap.
 
eschwebach said:
Personally I think they should scrap about half of their offerings and really concentrate on improving the QC of their top sellers. Your mileage may vary....
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I have to agree, focus more on some of the upper end models, and do away with most of the cheapies. I've had less disappointments with CRKT than Boker for sure.
 
German Boker Stockman have been my "go to" knives for over 50 years. Robust, functional, hold an edge.
What more do you need??

It seems as though just about every cutler if now either getting their knives from China, or having them assembled there.Some, incidentally, are very good quality.
 
The old boker traditionals made in USA or made in Solingen are damn fine knives and the ones I own rival the quality of GEC.
 
I've used a 1095 carbon steel trapper made by Boker . It came as dull as a butter knife out of the box. Same thing happened to my grand father who ordered a Boker 1095 carbon steel pen knife. Oh; and there was blade play in the trapper
 
My Boker Sandalwood for $10 came in a fancy metal box and looks beautiful.

I've carried it a few times, but I don't remember actually, you know, cutting with it.

But I like it.
 
Of course they make some good knives. Sure, there are likely a few turkeys in their roster but what company doesn't have turkeys somewhere in the lineup...other than a few high-end, expensive brands with only a handful of models/designs.

I have a BokerPlus Kalashnikov auto and am extremely pleased with it. There are a few other Bokers I'd like to own someday. There are a lot of companies out there who would be deserving of this complaint but IMO Boker isn't one of them.
 
I had a Boker Trance and mostly loved it despite it's incredibly ugly design. It did, however, develop some horizontal play over time that I couldn't get rid of. Ended up selling it. Was still a decent value though, but nowadays I think the ESEE Zancudo is very hard to beat.
 
German traditionals, good. I also like my Urban Trapper from the newer models in the Plus lines, have had it in my pocket for about a month and it'd been great. Slim Ti framelock, bearings, and VG10 for like $75 bucks.
 
I have a Boker Anso with no problems except sticky lock which I fixed with a pencil on the lock face.
 
Boker Minos is one I've used a lot and no issues except titanium sticky lock which is not a real issue. I have others with no issues but just don't use them to know.
 
Im from Germany so Boker is almost at my doorstep ! And when I started getting into knives for sure first companies i checked out where my local ones ! And most knives at first where from boker, untill i figured out that the stuff they're putting out is total crap !!! And i don't just owned quite a few of them, also handled most of their other designs. And yes they're may be a few let's say acceptable ones, but imo for every single dollar you're thinking about spending on a boker knife take my advice and don't do it ! Dosen't matter wich model in wich price category it is, you definetly would get something better for less money ! I would rather wait month's to get one knife shipped from the US than buying just one more boker knife !!! But these are just my thoughts.
 
Well the Boker Magnum range are basically rebadged Chinese made knives from Enlan, Sanrenmu and Tekut. They're pretty good knives, but Boker didn't make them. I have the Pocket Bowie, and that's decent enough. I haven't owned any expensive Bokers (nor will I) so I can't give an opinion on that.

However the Pocket Bowie is decent, and that's a knife made by Boker, so yes, Boker has made a good knife. QED
 
I'm from the U.S.A., and have not experienced most of Their designs. The designs that I'm familiar with via ownership are as follows. The Mini Vanquish, the S-2, Generation 2 Resurrection, The Manaro, and the Boker JTN. All five have served me well. Albeit a small sample size, that grades out well. One may say that it is better to be lucky than good. That's my story for what it worth.
 
I only have experience with their traditional knives, had a Stockman and a Canoe, and those we're good knives.
 
NetshadeX said:
I'm not saying I'd like a $100 knife to come out of the box like that but with some mild work those problems could easily be fixed.
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I don't expect to have to repair a new knife costing $100. On the other hand there are much more expensive knives (3-400 dollars) that are just as bad. The apologists for them say it's no big deal but, whether $100 or $400 there is just no excuse for shoddy QA.
 
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