New Boker SAK-like Knife

I have a Boker Plus City 1 and really like it. Good steel, great grip. I normally carry a SAK Tinker, but am thinking of getting a Boker City 5 as I need a phillips in my knife tool mix.
Rich
 
Thanks for posting this. I've been wanting something like this (a SAK wih G10, screw construction, pocket clip) but haven't found anything that really fit the bill. I was considering an ALM SAK mod but they are expensive and the ones I've found on eBay haven't been what I'm looking for either. My Emerson EDC-1 is OK but it's also expensive and would be very difficult to replace.

There are multiple versions of this too with different tools. I really wish a phillips driver was included with all of them though. That seems to be more practical than the corkscrew and awl which appear on most versions. The 3 would have been perfect for me if it had a phillips in place of the awl (I would actually use the corkscrew) but it looks like I'll have to get the 4 instead.

My EDC-1 might get officially retired.
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Duke05 said:
Saw this article online. Hope it's ok to share here. First time I've seen this knife by Boker.

http://www.outsideonline.com/2048236/finally-better-swiss-army-knife
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Thanks for the link, this one flew in under my radar. Information sharing is the purpose of these forums. Contraband information is deal spotting & links to dealers who are not Bladeforums subscribed dealers, äußerst streng verboten to control spam.

No surprise that a better SAK than Victorinox's could be built and sold for twice Victorinox's U.S. price. Historically, direct competitors with Victorinox's pocket knife specialty haven't done well — Wenger for example — so the question is, why is Boker trying it now? It is all about the thing that makes the world go round.

Switzerland has the hardest of hard currencies, and Victorinox raised its EU prices 5–10% in June 2015, citing Swiss National Bank's decision to un-peg the Swiss franc from the Euro.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2015/01/economist-explains-13

Disinflation in a deflationary economy is a really bad idea, and in November the Swiss banks moved to negative interest rates — yes, you have to pay interest to keep your money in a bank — to re-inflate the franc a bit while lining their pockets, which has helped gold speculators but done nothing for Swiss manufacturers.

That is the encouragement a German cutler needed to chip at Victorinox's core pocket knife business.

 
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They look good but... a bottle opener and no can-opener? Seriously? Cans still exist in my life but i haven't had a beer with a non-twist-off top since the 90's. No can-opener no sale.
 
tholiver said:
They look good but... a bottle opener and no can-opener? Seriously? Cans still exist in my life but i haven't had a beer with a non-twist-off top since the 90's. No can-opener no sale.
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I think I'm the direct opposite: micro-breweries here in the PNW are nearly all pressed on caps. I haven't opened a can with a pocket knife for, well, ever.
 
Victorinox has a combo bottle-opener/can opener, like on the Vic Compact. They could have copied that and had the function of both.
 
tholiver said:
They look good but... a bottle opener and no can-opener? Seriously? Cans still exist in my life but i haven't had a beer with a non-twist-off top since the 90's. No can-opener no sale.
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That's cool, but yeah, not the same for me. I can pretty easily open a can with the blade if it comes right down to it. I picked up the Outdoors 2 and I haven't missed a can opener or awl at all, but I've used pretty much all the other tools at some point.
 
tholiver said:
They look good but... a bottle opener and no can-opener? Seriously? Cans still exist in my life but i haven't had a beer with a non-twist-off top since the 90's. No can-opener no sale.
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rushane said:
I think I'm the direct opposite: micro-breweries here in the PNW are nearly all pressed on caps. I haven't opened a can with a pocket knife for, well, ever.
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Unless I'm mistaken, I think theoliver was concerned with cans for other than for beer, like beans or peaches. I open cans like these all the time with my SAK. Cans for beer have pull tabs, no opener necessary.
 
rushane said:
I think I'm the direct opposite: micro-breweries here in the PNW are nearly all pressed on caps. I haven't opened a can with a pocket knife for, well, ever.
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I'm not a big drinker, mostly Guinness on the rare occasion when i'm in a bar or pub. Living without ever eating anything out of a can is likely healthier i'm sure but i like to keep my options open,lol. I envy your more advantageous location with easy availability of lots of fresh produce. Anything more exotic than potatoes, carrots, blueberries etc are imports here in the north east. Twice i'm come close to migrating to BC but plans always get put on hold. That kind of climate suits me more for sure.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
That's cool, but yeah, not the same for me. I can pretty easily open a can with the blade if it comes right down to it. I picked up the Outdoors 2 and I haven't missed a can opener or awl at all, but I've used pretty much all the other tools at some point.
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I also know how to open a can with a blade, but with a SAK/multitool theres certainly room to include a dedicated canopener, thats the whole point of having multiple blades/tools with dedicated purposes, otherwise one would just carry a single bladed folder. I use the corkscrew less than a canopener but i still prefer to have a corkscrew as well. Multi tool gives you multiple options.
 
BC is amazing! If the opportunity arises again, do it! My previous unit in the Coast Guard was in the North East, so I get where you're coming from. But wow, the NW is spectacular...if you can handle the rain.
 
rushane said:
BC is amazing! If the opportunity arises again, do it! My previous unit in the Coast Guard was in the North East, so I get where you're coming from. But wow, the NW is spectacular...if you can handle the rain.
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I live in the number one capital city in Canada that is statistically the rainiest/snowiest/foggiest and has the least sunshine as well, so BC rain would not be that much of a hardship,lol!
 
I have the one like the spartan and think its just ok. The tool snap isn't as good as a pioneer and Im not crazy about the screws for the pocket clip, they seem to go too far if tightened. The serrated blade feels underwhelming, flimsy, has an odd angle, and is not sharp or especially well designed. The corkscrew also feels cheap Chinese to me. Guess Im not crazy about it.
 
GIRLYmann said:
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What is that lone tool/blade on the right side of the pic? A serrated hook/blister package opener thingy? Similar thing on my Leatherman Wingman. Dedicated blister pack opening attachments/tools, worst new trend in SAKs multitools today.
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That is a nice looking little tool. It would be the perfect little weekend carry knife for me. I really like the wider blade, and I'm totally OK with not having a can opener. I haven't used a SAK style opener since I lived in my college apartment and didn't want to spend money on a real opener.

Now beer bottles? Almost all of my brands of choice come sporting pry off lids. Those are a must.

I'm hoping to pick one of these up for my birthday, actually.
 
This Boker makes me sad, most bokers do, but this one especially.

The victorinox brand is something so imbedded in European culture, it's much more than just a knife. For me for instance it remembers me of every vacation i went on. And all those places in the alps that sell this knife and have the commercial sign proudly hanging from the often very old shop. Same goes for Opinel, when i'm in the French Alps i see these things everywhere and it makes me happy. When i was a kid this was the archetypical pocketknife, i had no idea that any other type of pocketknife existed, it's that iconic.

Victorinox is a lot more about emotion than just the fact that it's a handy tool. Therefore this uninspired Boker will hardly do anything to Vic i think.
However i must say that Vic seems to be going downhill a bit. They need to focus on knives a bit more and less on the rest of their products. They are hardly thinking up anything new. It would be so easy for them to make a red G10 screwed on construction Sak, they should def do that imo. But i think they don't really look at what goes on in the knife community. We are a a very small niche and guys like swissbianco already cater to us. Most people don't even buy the Alox knives even though those are the greatest imo.
 
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