School me on Boker quality

19-3ben

19-3ben

Joined
Jul 27, 2015
Messages
4,666
Hey all. I have a couple of traditional styled slip joints, but they come from my pre-knifeknut days. They're Boker magnum, and Buck's cheapo Chinese import line with the super soft 420J steel. So I know slip joints, in that I've learned what I like and what I don't, but I just haven't experienced very good quality with them yet.

Looking to get a couple nicer traditionals. My first thought was to go with Buck's USA made line, or Case, as the top two competitors. But in doing my research, one name that keeps popping up is Boker's Tree Brand. Where I see the Bucks and Case mostly in the $40-50ish range, it looks like Boker comes in about $10-15 cheaper. I'm not worried as much about the price difference as i am with quality. When I see a German made Stockman pattern knife with genuine bone scales for $25 it triggers a little red flag that kind of makes me worry if it's too good to be true.

So, since ya don't get nuttin for nuttin, what's the deal with these? Is the fit/finish on par with Case? Are they really worthy competitors as a lower price?
 
I should add that I'm open to all sorts of suggestions. Right now, my main #1 based on what I have looked up is the Case medium stockman. I love the curvy handle on the model 042.

But if you more experienced guys think I should be looking at other brands/models, I'm happy to check them out. It seems like the traditional/slipjoin world is a huge one with an almost infinite variations in colors, materials, blade shapes and layouts, sizes etc...
 
The Boker Tree Brand knives are great, but I paid more than $ 25 for mine. I think it was around $100 with stag bone scales. It's great though!
 
I have a few Bokers and they are decent knives. Your most consistent in quality these day's in production slipjoints are GEC's offerings. Shatt and Morgan are also good but not as consistent in F&F. If you want a really good slipjoint for very little money try Rough Riders and there are lots more brands that offer good knives but at various price points Buck and Case still make good knives. If I were you I would read a lot of threads here and you will learn what to buy and what not to. Good Luck. :thumbup:
 
Questions about Boker's different production lines come up from time to time. It can be a bit confusing. For current production, bear in mind:

If the knife says "Germany" on the shield, some parts are made, and possibly some assembly is done overseas (China), and the price reflects this. The blades are usually stainless.

If the Shield and blades say "Solingen", then the knife is made entirely in Germany.

Either of these lines can be marked "Tree Brand"

As to quality, I only have experience with the carbon steel Solingen knives which I've found to be an excellent value. The hybrid versions might also be a good value, perhaps someone will weigh in who has handled a few.
 
Great tips all around. Definitely going to do a lot of reading.

r8shell said:
If the knife says "Germany" on the shield, some parts are made, and possibly some assembly is done overseas (China), and the price reflects this. The blades are usually stainless.

If the Shield and blades say "Solingen", then the knife is made entirely in Germany.

Either of these lines can be marked "Tree Brand"
Click to expand...

So what happens if it's just a tree with nothing else? For instance I just stole this image of the Boker Appaloosa Tracker from KnifeCenter.

112525AB.jpg


Shield JUST has a tree. Blade is marked Solingen. does this mean german parts with Chinese assembly? or all done in Solingen?
 
depends on what you order, look for Solingen on the tang, that will give you a better clue of production. its not much hope it helps
 
Boker Solingen - High quality, Mostly German, all kinds of steel from 440A and up.
Boker Arbolito - Decent quality, Mostly Argentina, many steels used.
Boker Plus - Decent quality, Mostly China & Taiwan, multiple steels, but many (if not most) Aus8 & 440C
Boker Plus USA - Looks to be decent quality but have not owned, USA (only one model yet?)
Boker Magnum - Low quality, Mostly China, Random or unknown steel.

Should add that the Boker Tree Branding has been added to a new line from China. No idea of quality, but they are priced around (or just above) Rough Rider if that says anything. I think some actually say "German Steel" on them.

Edit: The one pictured above looks to be German. If you see the Tree logo on a round shield with the word "Germany", it's most likely China.
 
Last edited:
I do see what you mean though about the Germany marking on the shield. Most of the $25-30 Bokers I had spotted have that shield.
 
The Tree Brand knives I had been looking at, that were marked around $25-35ish all had the Germany shield.

That said, there is nothing anywhere on these knives that says they use materials from anywhere other than Germany, and based on pics of the box that I found, it says they are manufactured in Germany. So now I'm totally puzzled.

Perhaps I should just stick with Case or Buck or GEC and call it a day....
 
19-3ben said:
The Tree Brand knives I had been looking at, that were marked around $25-35ish all had the Germany shield.

That said, there is nothing anywhere on these knives that says they use materials from anywhere other than Germany, and based on pics of the box that I found, it says they are manufactured in Germany. So now I'm totally puzzled.

Perhaps I should just stick with Case or Buck or GEC and call it a day....
Click to expand...

Pretty sure the round shield with "Germany" is made in China. But that's not to say they are not good quality. All depends on the QC the company puts in place. I've really enjoyed most of my Boker Plus models and would say most are outstanding in fit/finish. And heck, I have between 100-200 Rough Riders/Colts with many blowing away Case & Buck in quality. Especially for the price.

But what do you want for $25-$35? I say try it and come back to report on the quality. Who knows, it just may become your all-time favorite. :)
 
19-3ben said:
The Tree Brand knives I had been looking at, that were marked around $25-35ish all had the Germany shield.

That said, there is nothing anywhere on these knives that says they use materials from anywhere other than Germany, and based on pics of the box that I found, it says they are manufactured in Germany. So now I'm totally puzzled.

Perhaps I should just stick with Case or Buck or GEC and call it a day....
Click to expand...

Those knives with the Germany shield are actually produced in China. I think, but don't know for sure, the final assembly (probably gluing the shield in) is done in Germany. They can be had on the big auction site for around $20 and seem to be decent quality considering the price. The true Solingen Germany knives will have Solingen Germany stamped on the tang and my experience is they are excellent quality although my experience is with older knives produced there. I think you could expect the true Solingen Germany knives to be closer to the $55 to $60 range for bone handles.
Hope this helps,
Rick
 
19-3ben said:
Great tips all around. Definitely going to do a lot of reading.



So what happens if it's just a tree with nothing else? For instance I just stole this image of the Boker Appaloosa Tracker from KnifeCenter.

112525AB.jpg


Shield JUST has a tree. Blade is marked Solingen. does this mean german parts with Chinese assembly? or all done in Solingen?
Click to expand...

If the tang says Solingen, it's made in Solingen. :)
 
I have a few of the completely made in Germany Tree Bokers and they are excellent! Here is the congress that I have(not my picture b/c I am at work) which has beer barrel covers and c75 carbon steel blades that take a nice keen edge:

The fit and finish is very good and the blades even came sharp!
 
19-3ben said:
112525AB.jpg
Click to expand...

I'm sure this is a true Solingen made Boker.

I have two congress models in different covers;



Both have in descending order;
BOKER
SOLINGEN
GERMANY
stamped on the main blade tangs with the tree to the left of the text. The lack of tree on yours doesn't concern me at all - I still think it's fine.

Here's a tang stamp chart if you want to date it;



Edited to add: thinking about it this chart is probably 6 or 7 years old...
 
Last edited:
I think you have mostly had your question answered, so just consider this a tid-bit.... My mother in law picked up a Boker Plus stockman last year for using around the "farm". I just sharpened it up for her about a month ago and was surprised. The fit and finish is excellent, blades are easy to sharpen(blade says 440), everything was level and tight, as it was supposed to be. It is a quality inexpensive (I think she paid $12 new) knife. I don't really care for made in China knives, but it really comes in above its price point.
Bruce
 
That is my experience with my Boker plus trapper. It sits on the knife table with a smug little grin on its face because it's probably better fit and finish and walk and talk than at least half of the eBay knives around it. Pretty good for $30.
 
Quality? Most certainly!

Small lockback in Stag

IMG_3405.jpg


Large Stockman, carbon.

IMG_2841.jpg
 
Last edited:
I think Boker can be a little hit/miss. I would buy Boker, but only if I could return w/o penalty or see it in hand. I've looked at slipjoints at gun shows and some are good some...not-so-much.

I buy Bokers I can hold in my hand. I recently bought a new Boker non-traditional from Taiwan (Griplock) and it excellent fit/finish with a great AUS8 heat treat. I recently bought a new-old-stock traditional Lever-lock auto, 1992 Solingen vintage, and it is an excellent knife with a good hard 440C blade. Fit and finish is perfect, it's like a knife from the 1920s. The red bone is exceptional.
 
Thanks so much for all the info guys!

I've been doing a lot of reading the past couple of days and the one thing I think I've figured out is that I know only a very small fraction of what I thought I knew, and I didn't think I knew much about slip joints in the first place!

Gotta keep reading and learning. Will probably buy a commonly known standard like the Buck 301 or Case medium stockman, just to get a better feel for it these types of knives, and expand my horizons from there.

As I said, I have a couple, and know what I like and what I don't (for instance, I detest feel of squared off bolsters). I just want to experience better quality and really learn from experience.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top