Is Boker annual collectors damascus 2011 any good?

[lai77120]

Does any one have any experience with the Boker 2011 annual Damascus collectors edition knife? Or with any of their so called annual damascus knife?

 

[strategy9]

Can't tell you if it's a "good" knife or not, or if it's "worth" the price, only you can decide that... I do think Böker makes plenty of good knives, esp. in their higher end line...

If it is the 2011 collectors "Thorn" model, they were selling for around $350-400 new, and you can buy a new damascus Böker Thorn (non-collectors model) for around that same price, so if it's in good condition I'd certainly say it's a more then fair price for the collrctor's knife in question.

 

[marcinek]

Here's everything you need to know!

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/904093-NEW-MEMBERS-Please-read-this-WHAT-IS-MY-KNIFE-WORTH

 

[lai77120]

Thanks guys, I'm meeting the seller tomorrow to view the knife.
Not a big fan of sub 3 inch knifes, but the price seems great and the blade is made from Chad Nicole raindrop damascus. My concern is I have no experience with Boker as a brand.

 

[strategy9]

My concern is I have no experience with Boker as a brand.

Böker as a brand is an enigma of sorts.
Their Magnum line is catalog knives, very generic designs including "mall ninja" stuff, used by various companies, very basic steel, Chinese mass production that is very hit or miss cheap knives. On par with most half decent cheap big box store knives.

Plus line is more original designs, basic Steel upgrade, usually better quality control, but still somewhat hit or miss, mostly slighter better Chinese production. Good basic knives.

But some higher end magnums use better Steel are on par with the plus stuff. Some of the higher end plus stuff is made in Germany, and uses steels like vg10 and n690, and designer collabs.

Then there's the Arbolito line, mostly made in Argentina, some made in Germany, basically on par with the plus line but with its own design flavors.

Then there's "Böker" and the "tree brand" stuff, which is most of their German made stuff, typically their higher end stuff, kitchen Cutlery stuff, straight razors, and traditional stuff, and their German made stuff typically has the best quality control standards in place compared to their foreign stuff, (but not always).

There's also the "cinch" branded stuff that has an American western flavor to them, most made in Germany, but some of the cinch stuff, and Böker stuff is still made in Germany, and some of their "German made" stuff is actually assembled in Germany with parts sourced from china to reduce cost...

It's a huge tangled web, Böker is, but they are one of the most complete companies out there, covering all their basis from $10 flea market stuff, to $500+ collabs and one offs, to kitchen,, to shaving, traditional slip joints to sturdy camping fixed blades, with everything in between, but they pretty much define the old saying
"You'll get what you pay for."

 

[strategy9]

Here's everything you need to know!

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/904093-NEW-MEMBERS-Please-read-this-WHAT-IS-MY-KNIFE-WORTH

I didn't see the harm in helping since he wasn't asking "what's my knife worth" but rather was asking if a knife was worth a price that he was considering buying it for.
(and it was a fair price)

I saw it more as if I was asking if a Griptillian is worth spending $100 on? Rather then my asking what my Griptillian was worth (for resale).

If I violated the rules, my apologies.

 

[lai77120]

Strategy 9, thank you. I was going to post again clarifying my intentions, I'm not trying to sell anything here, merely trying to get a feel of the brand, Boker.
I've done some reading and yes most of their stuff seem to be low cost supermarket knives and traditional slip joints. Very different from what I normally collect.
The price for this particular knife seem low for a limited edition/Chad Nicole damascus knife, that's why I'm asking is it worth it? For example does it have better fits and finishes or smoother action to a similar looking knife like the sage 4 (leaf shape blade, metal bolster, ironwood handle, and roughly the same size).
Sorry if I break any forum rules, still very new at this.

 

[knarfeng]

As you have been told several times, As a registered user, you may ask about quality. You may not ask about price.

 

[lai77120]

Just an update, so I met up with the seller today. A young guy, seem very sincere (still learning the rope on getting into the cultery business). Unfortunately the Boker is a big disappointment.

The damascus blade is nicely done, don't expect any surprises there since it's from Chad Nicole. But the rest of the knife is badly finished. For a supposedly higher end limited edition hand assemble knife, I found some really shoddy works.
No doubt the knife is brand new, no scratch nor blemishes, but it has large gaps between the liner to the bolster, to the handle scale, and between the bolster and the scale. We even spotted brown rust mark in one of the gaps. (I'm comparing it to similarly constructed liner locks from spyderco and Al mars)

Cut the long story short, I have to say no to him (I can see the disappointment on the guys face, it's obvious he is having trouble selling it).

So I end up buying a brand new Small Sebenza 21 with Bocote inlay from him for 205 dollars! No problem with the knife, perfect fits and finishes, all paper works are in the box . I really hope he know what he is doing ;-)

 

[jill jackson]

At 205 brand new you better hope it isn't fake, or stolen. You can't buy them for that and somebody had to purchase it NIB at one point for much more.

 

[lai77120]

Jill. It's not fake, I've half a dozen CRKs, this is definitely real. However the accompanied certificate did say 2012 model. He seems legit to me. Like I said he priced the Boker more than the sebenza at 260 dollars, I really think he might have made a mistake on his pricing.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

So we have a Registered User continuing to discuss pricing, after being shown this is a rules violation. Let it stop here.