- Joined
- Mar 7, 2006
- Messages
- 2,171
Not only did I start working days this past Saturday, but on my way home from work today I stopped by the post office and stuffed in the box were two packages and a key to a package locker. I got the three Old Timers I'd bought as a group, a 12OT, 34OT, and 108OT, all users. Another package had the blue boned Steel Warrior Copperhead. Hey, for $6.89 total ($.99 + shipping & ins.) I figured it was a cheap way to see one for myself. More on it further down.
The real fun one was the replacement Boker Stag Congress sent from Terry up at Boker USA to replace the 5452HH that had the weak springs. This one is a 5464 Stag medium Congress with long shield. Nice knife all around. Not perfect in some small details, but good walk and talk with strong springs and a good edge out of the box. Not hair poppin, but a good, usable factory edge that seems like it would go shaving sharp with little effort. I was especially pleased with the customer service from Boker USA that Terry provided and am quite happy with the replacement and the way I was treated. Once again, one of those intangibles you probably won't get with one of the Chinese made knives.
However, I must be honest and say that this Steel Warrior is as good as I've heard they were on here and elsewhere. Fit and finish is really quite good. Looking at the tangs and pivot side spring ends, and at the springs inside the frame, the SW is actually a little better finished than the Boker in terms of final polishing. Both blades are very sharp. The smaller pen blade will shave with no problem and the clip master blade is very close, shaving only a little. Slicing through paper is clean and smooth, no burrs or wire edges. This one has a blue, jigged bone handle similar to a Cancun or Carribean Blue. I don't have a blue or similar dyed bone stock American made to compare it with so I can't make a comparison. The jigged bone isn't to the level of polish and smoothness of say your average Case, Camillus or similar, but it isn't bad. I wonder how the dye will hold up on this one. It doesn't give me any reason to doubt it other than its place of origin. I don't know how well they have the bone dying process down. That is my only area of concern on this knife. It seems to pocket well. However, the proof is in the carrying and using. We'll see how it goes. I do have to admit that based on initial impressions, quility wise the only thing that would hold me back from considering this a knife worth $20 or $25 would be the China label on the blade. I haven't seen other Steel Warriors to see how they compare to this one, but the one example I have is both a pleasure and a sadness. It is pleasure because there is pleasure in a good knife. There is sadness because it seems to be a good knife which says the Chinese are getting it together in their cutlery. For now what separates the Steel Warrior from the Bokers, Cases, and similar is the customer service of the western companies and their standing behind their products. There are no papers in the SW box. No story of the company, maintenance, or warrany information. If it was broke I wouldn't know who to even contact. I certainly couldn't call the company like I did Terry at Boker and get such a quick response. That is part of what you (don't) get with that China label on the blade. Now that reduces what would be a reasonable price down from the above mentioned $20-25 towards what the current prices are and adds value to the Boker and the Case you might compare the SW against. Comparing the China mades I've seen so far I would put the Steel Warrior at the top, however.
All in all, not a bad stop at the post office. Three OT users to play with, a pretty new Boker to enjoy, and a heck of a user knife for under $7. Now if that Kissing Crane Brown Mule soddie finally shows up this time.
The real fun one was the replacement Boker Stag Congress sent from Terry up at Boker USA to replace the 5452HH that had the weak springs. This one is a 5464 Stag medium Congress with long shield. Nice knife all around. Not perfect in some small details, but good walk and talk with strong springs and a good edge out of the box. Not hair poppin, but a good, usable factory edge that seems like it would go shaving sharp with little effort. I was especially pleased with the customer service from Boker USA that Terry provided and am quite happy with the replacement and the way I was treated. Once again, one of those intangibles you probably won't get with one of the Chinese made knives.
However, I must be honest and say that this Steel Warrior is as good as I've heard they were on here and elsewhere. Fit and finish is really quite good. Looking at the tangs and pivot side spring ends, and at the springs inside the frame, the SW is actually a little better finished than the Boker in terms of final polishing. Both blades are very sharp. The smaller pen blade will shave with no problem and the clip master blade is very close, shaving only a little. Slicing through paper is clean and smooth, no burrs or wire edges. This one has a blue, jigged bone handle similar to a Cancun or Carribean Blue. I don't have a blue or similar dyed bone stock American made to compare it with so I can't make a comparison. The jigged bone isn't to the level of polish and smoothness of say your average Case, Camillus or similar, but it isn't bad. I wonder how the dye will hold up on this one. It doesn't give me any reason to doubt it other than its place of origin. I don't know how well they have the bone dying process down. That is my only area of concern on this knife. It seems to pocket well. However, the proof is in the carrying and using. We'll see how it goes. I do have to admit that based on initial impressions, quility wise the only thing that would hold me back from considering this a knife worth $20 or $25 would be the China label on the blade. I haven't seen other Steel Warriors to see how they compare to this one, but the one example I have is both a pleasure and a sadness. It is pleasure because there is pleasure in a good knife. There is sadness because it seems to be a good knife which says the Chinese are getting it together in their cutlery. For now what separates the Steel Warrior from the Bokers, Cases, and similar is the customer service of the western companies and their standing behind their products. There are no papers in the SW box. No story of the company, maintenance, or warrany information. If it was broke I wouldn't know who to even contact. I certainly couldn't call the company like I did Terry at Boker and get such a quick response. That is part of what you (don't) get with that China label on the blade. Now that reduces what would be a reasonable price down from the above mentioned $20-25 towards what the current prices are and adds value to the Boker and the Case you might compare the SW against. Comparing the China mades I've seen so far I would put the Steel Warrior at the top, however.
All in all, not a bad stop at the post office. Three OT users to play with, a pretty new Boker to enjoy, and a heck of a user knife for under $7. Now if that Kissing Crane Brown Mule soddie finally shows up this time.
