There seem to be different price ranges and lines of knives, but mostly they all say 440C. Some are priced up to 100-200, some are priced < $30. Is the steel used also being made in China? I can't believe that they would be importing the steel if the knives are being manufactured in China.
440C knives made in China, Boker Plus, Magnum
- Thread starter olpappy
- Start date
They are cheap, but have cool designs.
Personally I would rather have a good steel and a quality knife over the fancy designs.
I have bought several of the Boker plus line, and in most case there are better knives in the same price range. Often they lack in the fit and finish department, and I am just not satisfied with the 440c. It does get sharp real fast and it can get scary sharp, but it doesn't hold up as well as any quality steel like VG10 or Kershaws's Sandvik 14c28n, which can be had in some cheaper knives.
Depends what your going for. If you just want a cheaper knife with a cool design, or a copy of some higher end customs then they are alright, but if you want to use the knife even for medium use tasks thn I would look elsewhere.
Just my 2 cents......
Personally I would rather have a good steel and a quality knife over the fancy designs.
I have bought several of the Boker plus line, and in most case there are better knives in the same price range. Often they lack in the fit and finish department, and I am just not satisfied with the 440c. It does get sharp real fast and it can get scary sharp, but it doesn't hold up as well as any quality steel like VG10 or Kershaws's Sandvik 14c28n, which can be had in some cheaper knives.
Depends what your going for. If you just want a cheaper knife with a cool design, or a copy of some higher end customs then they are alright, but if you want to use the knife even for medium use tasks thn I would look elsewhere.
Just my 2 cents......
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Boker plus 250, has nearly the same physical characteristics as above except for scale color, black resin scales as you can see, and barehead end of handle is thinner, about 7/16" vs 5/8" on the yellow handle's end. Tang stamp has 440 (no "C").
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"real" 440C heat treated properly should hold up pretty well in comparison to VG10 or 14C27. I suspect what the Chinese call equivalent of the 440C specification has less tight quality control in regards to consistency, and also given the above pics of blades marked 440 and 440C, it is not clear to me whether the Chinese care if there is a difference between 440A and 440C. As I see it there are 2 problems, one is their fast and loose use of terminology, second is the level of qualiity control in terms of the steel itself.
Boker plus and Magnum use Chinese steel but the $100-$200 knives (Actual Boker knives) use high quality steel manufactured in Solingen, Germany. I own 2 of them and love both knives. My first Boker was 440C and held a great edge. I retired it from active hunting use after years in the field, and bought the Boker Cronidur Lockback http://boker.de/us/pocket-knife/boker/classic-pocket-knife/112013.html. This new steel has really impressed me and was worth every penny. It is as good at holding a blade as my last knife and is very corrosion resistant. I found mine at a cheaper price then they have on the website but this is a great knife.
What concerns me is that Boker Plus has come out with many innovative knives recently designed by custom makers like Jesper Voxnaes and Tom Krein, they look great and most of them say made of 440C, yet how can the prices be so low it just makes me wonder if the Chinese are just calling their 8Cr13 or 440A as 440C. If so some people may say Oh, 440C is crap because my inexpensive knife won't hold an edge. Given the language difference and evidently not very careful use of steel terminology by the Chinese, I would not be surprised if they are just saying well, this steel is our equivalent of 440C spec so we are just going to call it 440C, whereas the quality control may not be what it is with 440C made elsewhere to more closely controlled specs. I'm sure they are selling a whole lot of these knives, they will be very popular, but I wonder if 440C will get a bad rap if the steel specs are not tightly controlled.
Personally I do not cut enough stuff to really get an idea how well a knife will hold an edge, the easier way for me to get an idea of how hard a steel is by putting it to the sharpening stones.
People out there who have Boker Plus 440C knives (I'm sure there are many ) how about posting some experiences using these knives and how well the steel performs, does it hold an edge as well as you would expect 440C in the Boker Solingen line would, for example? How about in comparison to blades of 8Cr13 (Spyderco, Byrd, Kershaw), 12C27 (Kershaw) or 8A??
Personally I do not cut enough stuff to really get an idea how well a knife will hold an edge, the easier way for me to get an idea of how hard a steel is by putting it to the sharpening stones.
People out there who have Boker Plus 440C knives (I'm sure there are many ) how about posting some experiences using these knives and how well the steel performs, does it hold an edge as well as you would expect 440C in the Boker Solingen line would, for example? How about in comparison to blades of 8Cr13 (Spyderco, Byrd, Kershaw), 12C27 (Kershaw) or 8A??
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Say Heah, I'm pretty sure I have a Magnum Series Vox Collection 2011 on my blade it's stamped 440c, you mean to tell me my Collection 2011 is 440a ?
I am pretty sure your knife is 440c.
I never understood the policy behind the Magnum Collection knives. The magnum series is Bökers cheap brand of knives.
Thanx for the reply, Yeah, it's marked 440c. But it's a beauty, a real retro style. I took it out and teamed it with my Vintage Myerchin Slipjoint Pocket Knife which has a modified Warrencliff and in 440c. and my Himalayan Imports M-43 Khukuri. As it turned out, they all complemented eachother, I grew up on the 440c. and it seems Bokor nailed tempering their 440c..
On Boker's website they say that the origin of the 440c they use is usa, and more specifically, on their old website I believe they said it was from Crucible Industries. Could they be lying? Sure, but then again I don't think that Boker importing their 440c from the us into China/Taiwan while maintaining a low price is that unbelievable, especially considering how nowadays exporting/importing stuff can be quite cheap. Also, I've heard some very good stuff about Boker's 440c and I've even heard that it outperforms Entrek's 440c. So yeah, although a very iffy matter, I think I believe Boker's claims about where their steel comes from.
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I have a neck knife made by Boker with their 440C and I haven't sharpened it once. This is the model I have - Boker Besh Wedge Neck Knife. The edge is still pretty decent, but I don't like how short the handle is. However, if you wear a medium/average size glove then you shouldn't have a problem. I was just unfortunately born with Hulk-sized hands. The 440C is pretty high-quality, especially for China, in my opinion though.
Why all the hate for things Chinese? Per Wiki, in 2013, 1/2 the worlds steel was made in China.
The Boker company has had product made all over the world for 100 years...trust Boker.
I have a Chinese Boker in 440C and it's not soft. The edge grind sucked and it was hard to reprofile, thus the heat treat was good. I gave up and had the sharpening guy at the gun show fix the edge and it took him awhile.
I think the fit/finish is not the best on the low end Bokers, but it has improved over the years and the knives are cheap.
The Boker company has had product made all over the world for 100 years...trust Boker.
I have a Chinese Boker in 440C and it's not soft. The edge grind sucked and it was hard to reprofile, thus the heat treat was good. I gave up and had the sharpening guy at the gun show fix the edge and it took him awhile.
I think the fit/finish is not the best on the low end Bokers, but it has improved over the years and the knives are cheap.