Review of Boker/Bailey "TanKri" camp/thrower

[matthew rapaport]

I have obtained a Boker TanKri designed by John Bailey and reviewed it. John's goal was to produce a combination camp/hunting and real throwing knife in one tool. For the most part, I think he succeeded, though the price is a little steep. You will find my extensive review of the TanKri, with links to pictures, at

http://www.sonic.net/~quine/knives1.html#tankri

Enjoy and let me know what you think of the review...



[This message has been edited by matthew rapaport (edited 03-11-2001).]

 

[KevinA]

Great review Matthew. I was wondering when someone was going to get one of those and give it a throw. Not really something a novice thrower would buy because of the price. Two questions though. How sharp was the thing when you got it? How well did it hold its edge? The page says its J-2 stainless steel. 420J-2 doesnt really take or hold an edge and would really hinder its use as a camp knife. Maybe Im wrong.

Kevin

 

[matthew rapaport]

Kevin, some people like a little softer steel in a camp knife cause it makes it easier to field sharpen. I was once told that the Tru-Bal bowie axe was popular as a chopper in Viet Nam and it was hardened only to 48 while the TanKri is at 53!

Out of the box it was very sharp. Not the sharpest thing I've ever had (no one beats Bob Dozier in that department), but sharp enough to shave hair. I chopped apart a 6" pine log, and limbed a couple of others to see how it behaved as a chopper. The edge around the sweet spot was not noticably dulled by this, but then I wasn't chopping for very long, and the wood wasn't super hard.