Boker "Tree Brand Classic" & Solingen made traditional knives

Pt-Luso said:
This arrived today, Boker Barlow Castle Burg (536/1133).
It's my first Böker knife and first impressions are really good.

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Looks nice, looking forward to your thoughts after you’ve had a chance to handle it for a few days. 👍
 
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I’ve had this Castlewood Barlow for a while now and it’s a beautiful well made knife and love the history behind the castle wood used for the covers. Blade is centered with wonderful walk and talk.
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bigfish64 said:
I think you’ll really like them Brian, the action on both of mine is mesmerizing. Although I will say they both needed a bit of oil and the Castle Burg needed a flush and oil. Now, they’re 🧈🧈🧈!
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Peregrin said:
Thanks! I think it will make a great picnic knife. With the nice thin blade stock and the generous blade depth it should make quick work of slicing cheese, fruit or a sandwich.

I'm really impressed with the obvious quality and attention to detail in the build.

I really like the thin profile too. Sits nicely in the pocket. I guess that's part of what makes it a gent's knife.
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Yea... That's it. I'm sold on it. Now I just gotta decide between desert ironwood or jute. I think I'm leaning towards the ironwood because of the N690 steel. I've had some pretty good experiences with that particular stainless. Of course, I do love me some O1 too, lol.
 
BigKurtHaze said:
Yes, very snappy! I didn’t pay too much attention to the length when I was ordering, it’s of course the same length as my Case Barlow rather than my 77. Walk and talk is good, reminds me of my miniature Cattle Dog, that much smaller means it’s that much higher pitched. But very much a satisfyingly precise, Germanic snick-snick.

First impression was good, now that I’m spending a few more minutes I’m seeing a few more knits to pick. First and most glaringly obvious, as well as most obnoxious: Thanks for the recurve!🤬

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Really just the last 1/16” or so, really not a big deal to sharpen as is, or take a course diamond hone to and make it like I want it. #firstworldproblems.

Everything is tight, no gaps.
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Just at the very end of the back spring it loses it’s full width, much more dramatically on the pile side. I assume they ground off a burr there?

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Backspring is flush open and closed, just proud enough to be able to notice it. GEC has conditioned me to give this an automatic pass.

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The blade backspring transition when open I like to like a certain way, all flush and seamless. I don’t really expect it at this price point, and it wasn’t attempted here.
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The extra grinding on the backspring isn’t doing this area any favors, cosmetically.



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Allright, seems like a lot of whining. Overall, my impressions are favorable. Just two more minor niggles on the covers, which overall are very well done. The counter sinks for the pins through the backspring are just a wee bit bigger than they need to be and not terribly well centered.
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Looks way better than if I had done it, too be sure, and I totally get that it’s a lot more labor intensive to do those two with the precision around the pin next to the bolster that just holds the cover to the liner.
The other (minor!) gripe here is there is a a slight but noticeable bit more grind off next to the bolster on the pile side compared to the mark.

Love the finish everywhere. The wood grain on the slabs is delightfully tactile, all the edges all very nicely smoothed, transition to bolsters and shield (pinned!) all feel great. I know that brushed bolsters aren’t everyone’s preference, but just for myself, yes please! I think they feel better-less drag, and visually a high polish between the acid etched blade and dark slabs would be rather garish.
Love the blade finish. My first knife in O1, looking forward to using and sharpening it. I’ll leave you with a couple more shots.

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Great review with great insights! I agree about the recurve, it's probably my biggest complaint about the barlows... Actually it's probably my only complaint about the barlows considering the reasonable price. I've had a couple examples where the rivets/pins could have been done slightly better (a beer barrel Copperhead being the biggest offender), but most have the pins/rivets have been fantastically done.

I really love that these Boker's have been picking up steam here. They really deserve the recognition. It's really nice to have another company (along with GEC) filling the $100 - $200 niche that other traditional knife companies seem to be scared of.
 
sf fanatic said:
My Boker Barlow family. Fit and finish is excellent on all with snappy blades with pulls in the 6-7 range. 😃
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Now that’s a good looking family photo!
😎👍
TheFactor said:
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I’ve had this Castlewood Barlow for a while now and it’s a beautiful well made knife and love the history behind the castle wood used for the covers. Blade is centered with wonderful walk and talk.
#112 of 1133
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Great looking barlow Factor, there’s has some nice contrast in those covers. 😎👍
Fixall said:
Yea... That's it. I'm sold on it. Now I just gotta decide between desert ironwood or jute. I think I'm leaning towards the ironwood because of the N690 steel. I've had some pretty good experiences with that particular stainless. Of course, I do love me some O1 too, lol.
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I’ll be picking up the ironwood soon to complete the family.😊
 
I also recently picked up a the Castle Burg spear point. Surprisingly nice action with some very unique cover materials. I don't have a lot of experience with the O1 steel, but seems nice?
 
Ultiman said:
I also recently picked up a the Castle Burg spear point. Surprisingly nice action with some very unique cover materials. I don't have a lot of experience with the O1 steel, but seems nice?
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I like O1 steel a lot. To be honest though, it doesn't excel in either toughness (compared to other low-alloy steels) or edge retention. It has a very fine grain structure that makes it easy to sharpen and produce a really fine edge. It's also fairly cheap and easy to heat treat.
 
The Boker Solingen Trapper that I received a few days ago is a really fine tool. I like everything about it except that it has carbon steel blades. Normally not a concern with me but this knife is to be my food knife while traveling & camping so stainless steel blades are much easier to take care of.

Where should I look for a Boker Solingen Trapper with SS blades? I looked at a bunch of on-line sellers and found only a few, all with stag covers. Is that the current situation with these knives or am I looking in the wrong place? Is that knife available with wood covers?
 
CraigTbone said:
The Boker Solingen Trapper that I received a few days ago is a really fine tool. I like everything about it except that it has carbon steel blades. Normally not a concern with me but this knife is to be my food knife while traveling & camping so stainless steel blades are much easier to take care of.

Where should I look for a Boker Solingen Trapper with SS blades? I looked at a bunch of on-line sellers and found only a few, all with stag covers. Is that the current situation with these knives or am I looking in the wrong place? Is that knife available with wood covers?
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If I’m not mistaken they make a trapper Uno in 440C. It’s barehanded, and has ironwood covers. Hope this helps.
 
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