Given that H&K has branded some impressive knives
for promotional purposes in the past (CQC7 springs
to mind), I thought I'd give one of the new Boker
versions a shot.
I'm not entirely happy with the knife, and it has
some problems, but I still find myself carrying it
around once in a while despite the shortcomings.
Out of the box, I noticed right away the chunky,
good sized handle, both in terms of thickness and
length, so it felt secure and comfortable when in
the hand. There is a very grippy material on both
sides of the handle that is just abrasive enough
to offer excellent grip characterisics both when
dry and wet, but doesn't slow draw from a pocket
or catch when you try to clip the knife. I think
this material is supposed to resemble the surface
of the USP pistol grip.
The clip is a loop of metal similar to the Spydie
'Q' clip, and is reversible side-to-side, but not
end-to-end. This means tip-down carry only, but I
am not sure this is a bad thing (read on). I also
noticed that the clip isn't that great, either. It
is not hard to slip the knife off your pocket, as
the clip doesn't exert much force. Easy to lose.
This knife has a plastic insert that functions as
a thumbdisc. Unfortunately, this insert does tend
to shift very slightly on the blade (it is fixed
in place with a hex screw), which detracts from a
feeling of rigid construction. Making matters even
worse is that this insert doesn't stay equidistant
from the pivot point while opening. All said, the
process of opening this knife isn't very rewarding
in terms of tactile enjoyment and solid mechanism,
and isn't even very smooth at that.
Once open, the blade is locked in place by a very
thin liner. I have white-knuckled the lock, and on
a few occasions spine-whacked the blade, and while
the lock has not failed yet, the puny liner simply
doesn't build confidence. The liner can be seen to
flex slightly under white-knuckle pressure, for
example.
The liner mates up with the back of the blade
well, however, catching just flush, aligned to the
outside (unlocked side) to permit for wear. There
is a fairly beefy stop pin up top.
The blade is chisel-ground, which I didn't expect,
and is of the 'X-15' steel Boker has been playing
with. The finish is a smooth light bead blast. The
grind itself is very clean, but the knife was not
especially sharp out of the box, and the design of
the blade tip is not very sharp. The blade itself,
due to the chisel grind and modest false edge, is
thick for a folder of this size and a lot of blade
thickness is maintained through to the tip, with
full spine thickness attained after less than one
inch. I think this blade would support some hard
work, but I remain concerned that the lock cannot
keep pace with the blade performance.
Some other complaints: the detent is very weak and
the knife does not keep itself closed well. I tend
to prefer tip-up carry, but not in this case. The
blade has some lateral play when locked, but there
is virtually no vertical play. The thick blade and
light handle, combined with the pivot location,
make the knife heavy up front and a bit imbalanced
in hand. Finally, the blade, on my knife, rubs the
right liner slightly.
In general, this knife has a lot of weaknesses and
I'm somewhat disappointed with it. That said, the
size and feel of the handle is nice, it's grippy
and comfortable, and at times the chisel-grind is
nice to have around for some cutting tasks. Light
weight is definitely a strong point. However, too
many competitively-priced knives beat the Heckler
and Koch / Boker folders when it comes to basic
operation and mechanical solidity. Not especially
recommended.
PROS: Grippy handle, low weight, thick chisel-
ground tanto in a relatively small package, and
looks pretty cool beside your USP pistol.
CONS: Poor opening feel, cheap plastic thumbdisk
wobbles, lock action inspires no confidence, and
somewhat imbalanced in the hand.
T.
for promotional purposes in the past (CQC7 springs
to mind), I thought I'd give one of the new Boker
versions a shot.
I'm not entirely happy with the knife, and it has
some problems, but I still find myself carrying it
around once in a while despite the shortcomings.
Out of the box, I noticed right away the chunky,
good sized handle, both in terms of thickness and
length, so it felt secure and comfortable when in
the hand. There is a very grippy material on both
sides of the handle that is just abrasive enough
to offer excellent grip characterisics both when
dry and wet, but doesn't slow draw from a pocket
or catch when you try to clip the knife. I think
this material is supposed to resemble the surface
of the USP pistol grip.
The clip is a loop of metal similar to the Spydie
'Q' clip, and is reversible side-to-side, but not
end-to-end. This means tip-down carry only, but I
am not sure this is a bad thing (read on). I also
noticed that the clip isn't that great, either. It
is not hard to slip the knife off your pocket, as
the clip doesn't exert much force. Easy to lose.
This knife has a plastic insert that functions as
a thumbdisc. Unfortunately, this insert does tend
to shift very slightly on the blade (it is fixed
in place with a hex screw), which detracts from a
feeling of rigid construction. Making matters even
worse is that this insert doesn't stay equidistant
from the pivot point while opening. All said, the
process of opening this knife isn't very rewarding
in terms of tactile enjoyment and solid mechanism,
and isn't even very smooth at that.
Once open, the blade is locked in place by a very
thin liner. I have white-knuckled the lock, and on
a few occasions spine-whacked the blade, and while
the lock has not failed yet, the puny liner simply
doesn't build confidence. The liner can be seen to
flex slightly under white-knuckle pressure, for
example.
The liner mates up with the back of the blade
well, however, catching just flush, aligned to the
outside (unlocked side) to permit for wear. There
is a fairly beefy stop pin up top.
The blade is chisel-ground, which I didn't expect,
and is of the 'X-15' steel Boker has been playing
with. The finish is a smooth light bead blast. The
grind itself is very clean, but the knife was not
especially sharp out of the box, and the design of
the blade tip is not very sharp. The blade itself,
due to the chisel grind and modest false edge, is
thick for a folder of this size and a lot of blade
thickness is maintained through to the tip, with
full spine thickness attained after less than one
inch. I think this blade would support some hard
work, but I remain concerned that the lock cannot
keep pace with the blade performance.
Some other complaints: the detent is very weak and
the knife does not keep itself closed well. I tend
to prefer tip-up carry, but not in this case. The
blade has some lateral play when locked, but there
is virtually no vertical play. The thick blade and
light handle, combined with the pivot location,
make the knife heavy up front and a bit imbalanced
in hand. Finally, the blade, on my knife, rubs the
right liner slightly.
In general, this knife has a lot of weaknesses and
I'm somewhat disappointed with it. That said, the
size and feel of the handle is nice, it's grippy
and comfortable, and at times the chisel-grind is
nice to have around for some cutting tasks. Light
weight is definitely a strong point. However, too
many competitively-priced knives beat the Heckler
and Koch / Boker folders when it comes to basic
operation and mechanical solidity. Not especially
recommended.
PROS: Grippy handle, low weight, thick chisel-
ground tanto in a relatively small package, and
looks pretty cool beside your USP pistol.
CONS: Poor opening feel, cheap plastic thumbdisk
wobbles, lock action inspires no confidence, and
somewhat imbalanced in the hand.
T.
Way overpriced!!
I bought a Gemini Skipper knife recently as a birthday gift for my uncle, but this time I went to a retail store and checked the knife for a good fit before buying it.