I think (some) Boker Tree Brand stainless knives are made in China.

The price on the pictures you show have nothing to do with the slabs or SS -vs- carbon. The knives with Solingen Germany on the tang are German knives and proud of it. The others block you from seeing the main tang, but they do not say Germany anywhere except on the shield. I would be very leery of a grand knife company that forgot to put the country of origin on the tang.

These new Bokers, which could probably be found in the mid $20's come in a bigger black box and are noticeably different. Not bad, just different. But the only thing that references Germany is the shield. Very suspicious for a company that already has a china factory making other disclosed lines.

Not something I would want to stake a reputation on, but possibly perfectly legit.
 
i'm no boker expert but i got more than a couple traditional german stamped bokers and the blade marking with solingen on the models is in different places on the knives. some are on one side, some on the other side, some on both blades, my carbon steel copperhead has it on one blade only. some say slightly different things and i'm going by memory here as i don't have any in my pocket today.....but for example "solingen germany" others only "solingen."

that said......

doesn't germany have rules for made in germany stamp on things.....for example an item assembled in germany from finished or almost finished parts made elsewhere is okay to be called that, or made with a certain percentage of parts, etc. . that shouldn't be taken for a quote as i haven't gone out to look up the rules....but i thought germany was very lenient on made in germany type markings. course america allows some of that percentage of materials of finished item made elsewhere, okay to be stamped made in america, as well.

so point is well made knife is a well made knife.....doesn't matter where it's made, as long as stamps follow the laws and i am pretty sure boker would follow the laws.
 
id say that unless you are paying more than like fifty or sixty dollars then your boker knife is likely made elsewhere than germany.
got me a boker plus hawkbill thats made in china that is an excellent knife.
 
eschwebach said:
The price difference in the copperheads could be related to the cover materials as well. The top pic is the "beer barrel" line which run a bit more expensive because of the material. Similar to stag being more expensive than bone for the most part.
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The Beer Barrel Series have handle covers made from wood taken from German Beer Barrels. How is Wood similar to Stag?
 
I was just pointing out that covers affect the price of the knife. Genuine stag covers being more expensive than most bone covers for example. Otherwise there is no correlation.
 
The new ones steel is high carbon stainless steel. They are a lot different from the solingen ones. Fit and finish is bad. The knife edge is sloppy thick in spots and paper thin in spots. Cheaper handle material, weak back springs, and are a heck of alot heavier. Plus the high carbon stainless steel won't take an edge. I have got over thirty of these new ones now I'm trying to sell and have three or four I've used and I'd rather have a rough rider.
 
the kid said:
I found an old thread on bladeforums mentioning Boker Tree Brand carbon blades knives where made of German steel and made in Germany. And the stainless versions were made in Germany with Chinese steel.
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Then what do you make of Boker's stainless blades stamped Solingen?

Look up the Boker 8288SS and this is what you'll get from the www.boker.de/US/ site : "A favorite pocket knife of hunters and fishermen. This red bone beauty is always popular with its Solingen stainless steel blades and nickel silver bolsters. Closed length: 2 3/4"."

When did Solingen stainless become Chinese steel?
 
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leghog said:
Then what do you make of Boker's stainless blades stamped Solingen?
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I don't know. But I've seen (pictures of) stainless blades without any markings of origin.

I also saw a Boker Cinch (another Boker line next to Plus, Magnum etc.) with the Tree brand logo on the blade on the official Boker website.
Maybe they use the Tree branch "brand" very willy nilly?
 
What you read then perpetuated ---- Boker stainless being Chinese steel ---- isn't true. The Tree Brand stainless is Solingen steel. That's why the stainless main blades are so stamped.
 
I have no insight or personal information on whether or not some Boker Tree Brand knives, or at least the blades, are made in China.

The difference in the blade shapes also on the trapper and especially the nail nicks. The stainless version looks very poor compared to the carbon. It looks like the blades are made be a completely different company.
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But for what it's worth I agree with this statement. Look at the blade edges. The knives marked "Solingen" are perfectly smooth, have even grind lines, and have a much smaller final bevel. These are the quality and workmanship of all of the recent Bokers I've purchased.
The stainless blades, on the other hand, look like something from Case.
 
Here is what I think is true, you are both right :-)
There are German Stainless, marked Solingen Germany, and Chinese Stainless, not marked Solingen Germany. And I believe there are also Boker Carbon marked Solingen Germany :-).. Did I get it right?

just pulled this from the bay:
"Boker BO110732 Trapper Brown Bone Tree Brand
High carbon stainless clip and spey blades. Clip blade etched Tree Brand. Tree Brand inlay shield. MADE IN CHINA"

That knife is stamped "High Carbon Stainless Steel" like the second photo the OP posted. The blade does not say Solingen Germany on it.

So my guess is it is made from Chinese Stainless Steel.

Secondly there are Boker Tree Brand knives made in Germany, with stainless steel from Germany, and you can recognize them because the tang stamp says Solingen Germany. Some dont have a tang stamp, eg the Trapperline, and instead say "Tree Brand Germany Stainless" on a blade etch.

Here is a Boker page that lists many different steels and countries of Origin, I dont know if they are all used by Boker in some models or other..
http://www.boker.de/us/blade-steel.html
 
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Here is a review of the yellow handled trapper above, from the largest retail online purveyor. Not at all encouraging.
I share your annoyance at the way Boker is being cagey about country of origin.

"Today I received my Yellow Boker Ts Trapper Pocket Knife. I was excited to receive the knife and add it my collection. Unfortunately, I had to send it back for a replacement. The first indication that something was wrong was that the Boker Packaging was torn and came apart in my hands. Then when I took the knife out the bone scale with the Boker logo on it fell off. It appeared that two of the three pins embedded in the scale did not go all the way through the liner and that only glue had been used keep the scale on. At this time I don't know if it was an isolated incident or a quality control issue, so I have opted to return the knife for an exchange. I will update my review when I receive my new knife. However, I would exercise caution in purchasing this item. I hope you find this review helpful."
 
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