Review New addition: Boker Sub Kalashnikov - It's OK for $30

kefefs · Mar 9, 2019

Got this Boker Sub Kalashnikov today. I placed the order on the 6th, it shipped a couple hours later, and showed up in my mailbox this morning ahead of schedule. That was pretty cool and I appreciate the speedy service.

I don't know what to say about the knife itself though. I'm not sure if I'm disappointed or not. The action, ergonomics, fit and finish are surprisingly good. I was expecting maybe a sloppy action with some blade play, but it's rock solid and smooth. The plunge lock was a bit sticky unlocking the blade the first couple times but smoothed out quickly. What's not good is the blade grind and edge. It's pretty bad, even by Boker standards. There's a photo showing the uneven grind, and the last photo is the end result of attempting to cut paper. T H I C C blade stock aside, it's just not sharp.

For a $30 auto I guess it's not bad. It's made well almost everywhere that counts, and a shitty edge is a lot easier to fix than a bad action, so I'm not too upset. Still, eh. I'll keep it around because I like tiny autos and I'm sure it'll clean up well enough. As for now it still works fine for slicing through packaging, which is all it's ever going to do anyway.

As a side note, I was susprised to see the Boker box had already been opened, and that fingerprints were all over the blade. Thought I got sent someone's return or reject until I read [the vendor's] packing slip that says they open, inspect, and test all knives before shipping out. Again, cool on [the seller's] part, and that secondary QC is undoubtedly responsible for me getting an overall OK knife.

dirc · Mar 9, 2019

why didn't you get the d2 version??

edited to say, it seems they don't have d2 on the cleaver version

kefefs · Mar 9, 2019

dirc said:
why didn't you get the d2 version??

edited to say, it seems they don't have d2 on the cleaver version

Yeah, I was only interested in the cleaver. If they come out with a D2 model I may try it, but AUS8 is fine for what I plan to use this for.

KooKooforKukripuffs · Mar 9, 2019

These tiny ones don't really interest me as an auto but you tweaked my curiosity, I've been wanting to pick up a Kalishnikov auto for some time now, went over to [a non-BF dealer's site] and saw they had the fullsize in D2 for little more than the AUS-8 and finally decided to pick one up. It's on the way! Thanks

CableGirl · Mar 9, 2019

Absolutely awesome you added the sliced paper in your post, Well done!

kefefs · Mar 9, 2019

CableGirl said:
Absolutely awesome you added the sliced paper in your post, Well done!

Yeah, I tried. Felt it was a good way to demonstrate how poorly this thing cuts out of the box.

cchu518 · Mar 9, 2019

My brother rejected my bday present of a Protect Godson in favor of his 10 yr Boker AK47 auto. He loves that knife.

kefefs · Mar 9, 2019

cchu518 said:
My brother rejected my bday present of a Protect Godson in favor of his 10 yr Boker AK47 auto. He loves that knife.

Hah, I've always heard good things about them. Don't know who'd turn down a Protech though. I have a Sprint on the way so we'll see how much I like the Boker after.

They're cheap enough, I might grab another Kalash in D2 sometime.

cchu518 · Mar 9, 2019

I think it's the fact he'd had it so long it's literally his everyday edc.

coinbuysell · Mar 9, 2019

I think he would keep the Protech after using a few times but I do love my auto AK (or did, it was claimed by the wife and now lives in her car). I am not sure about these little ones but the boxes will always be opened on the regular sized ones because they are converted to auto's from originally being manual openers.

bikerector · Mar 9, 2019

cchu518 said:
My brother rejected my bday present of a Protect Godson in favor of his 10 yr Boker AK47 auto. He loves that knife.

That seems like blasphemy. The protech's are beautiful. Blade shape doesn't make a whole lot of sense for someone like me but but if one were gifted to me, I would find a use.

OrangeBlueOrangeBlue · Mar 9, 2019

kefefs said:
Hah, I've always heard good things about them. Don't know who'd turn down a Protech though. I have a Sprint on the way so we'll see how much I like the Boker after.

They're cheap enough, I might grab another Kalash in D2 sometime.

You’ll like the Sprint. It took a day of owning mine before I was shopping for its bigger brother, the Newport.

kefefs · Mar 9, 2019

OrangeBlueOrangeBlue said:
You’ll like the Sprint. It took a day of owning mine before I was shopping for its bigger brother, the Newport.

I handled a Calmigo in rose gold and really liked it, that's what inspired me to try a Sprint for myself. I'm definitely worried that they'll start to multiply...

Treuer Wolf · Jan 21, 2022

dirc said:
why didn't you get the d2 version??

edited to say, it seems they don't have d2 on the cleaver version

Treuer Wolf · Jan 21, 2022

kefefs said:
Got this Boker Sub Kalashnikov today. I placed the order on the 6th, it shipped a couple hours later, and showed up in my mailbox this morning ahead of schedule. That was pretty cool and I appreciate the speedy service.

I don't know what to say about the knife itself though. I'm not sure if I'm disappointed or not. The action, ergonomics, fit and finish are surprisingly good. I was expecting maybe a sloppy action with some blade play, but it's rock solid and smooth. The plunge lock was a bit sticky unlocking the blade the first couple times but smoothed out quickly. What's not good is the blade grind and edge. It's pretty bad, even by Boker standards. There's a photo showing the uneven grind, and the last photo is the end result of attempting to cut paper. T H I C C blade stock aside, it's just not sharp.

For a $30 auto I guess it's not bad. It's made well almost everywhere that counts, and a shitty edge is a lot easier to fix than a bad action, so I'm not too upset. Still, eh. I'll keep it around because I like tiny autos and I'm sure it'll clean up well enough. As for now it still works fine for slicing through packaging, which is all it's ever going to do anyway.

As a side note, I was susprised to see the Boker box had already been opened, and that fingerprints were all over the blade. Thought I got sent someone's return or reject until I read [the vendor's] packing slip that says they open, inspect, and test all knives before shipping out. Again, cool on [the seller's] part, and that secondary QC is undoubtedly responsible for me getting an overall OK knife.

Boker doesn't ship auto knives. The box is opened to have a third party install the coil springs.