What's the story with Böker?

I have no complaints on the 2 bokers I have. One is a fixed blade my brother gave me years ago. I've used it a couple of times but it more or less stays put up. The other is a strike my g/f gave me 2 years ago that is my edc and has been well used. I've had to replace the spring once but I don't blame that on the knife. Since they can't sale autos here I know that was a 2nd party conversion and Boker has no control over that.
 
I recently found out about a competitor from Solingen, called Linder knives. I posted my intitial impressions here:https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/linder-solingen.1755202/#post-20076820

But at first glance their Solingen-made knives are much more reasonably priced than most of Böker's. Their website also offers a nice and clear menu that says: "Knives from Solingen".

Maybe Böker needs to sharpen up a little? (Pun totally intended, not gonna lie).
 
20 years ago I was responsible for the very small knife department of the outdoor store I worked at. When Boker showed up I (against my will)had a sigh... huge catalog, lots of salestalk, mostly relatively low prices. It was really hard to find the proper models to offer to customers. I saw them as the Walmart of knives... Probably incorrectly
I don't know anything about their quality nowadays or their way of selling their product and I thought it would be just fair to ad them in the discussion since they had a name, somewhere along the line they earned it.
So I sent them a mail to look at this thread...
maybe we'll learn, maybe they'll learn and maybe it was useless.

But my 2cents of wisdom... don't buy a Boker for your grandson/daughter, by the time they realise what you gave them at this per 20y rate it will seem like you purchased the cheapest ultimate survival tool from Amazon...
 
r8shell said:
What's life without a little whimsy?
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Which is why I have a pair of under armour boxers with shamrocks on them that I wear once a year for saint Patrick's day or when I'm feeling silly.

Then there is my dad who wears knee high UGG boots with shorts in the winter..

Kudos to anyone who can rock that mermaid knife. I'm not that confident in my masculinity. I might end up like my brother in law and wear a pink shirt with aqua shorts.
 
I'm a tiny bit of a boker fan and collector. their products for me range from great to awful. in both designs and production quality. hit and miss on quality, as in fit and finish, regardless of which line or which model and which factory it came from.

I like the fellow models and collect them. the escrima folder i also liked and collect those. some of the arbolito line I also like and use often. some of the german made slip joints i like. the Chad Los Banos designs were fantastic. visually they didn't all appeal to me but for cutting they worked great. well thought out. the production quality was just okay on them though. I also like those models.

BTW what happened to Chad.
 
Much of my own sentiment was already covered here, so I'll keep it short and add a pic.

Boker Magnum = cheap generic catalog knives made in China... Hit or miss much like Schrade, and they should have never stamped the Boker name on them. Rather they should have opened a completely different subsidiary brand under their umbrella...

Boker + = a CRKT equivalent of foreign made knives often based on the designs from designer customs. Still hit or miss, but overall better materials and quality, outsourced through various cost saving countries of origin, although prices often still get jacked up for what you get due to the designer names that get attached.

Boker Arbolito = made in Argentina, (Germany & Argentina have had strong ties ever since ww2). Knives have more attention to detail and quality control is better.

Boker Tree Brand = the original Boker company, made in Germany, best quality of the bunch. Like with most large manufacturers though, lemons do still get through...


I actually inquired with Boker regarding some vintage straight razors I own, (as well as trying to gather more info on Oxford and Morley razors), and as it turns out, it's so hard to find old original information on the old German companies, because many were retrofitted for the war effort, and then subsequently bombed during WWII, and the old files and records were all destroyed and lost. (It's why Boker gets so excited when one of those old documents shows up)...

There is also some connection, be it joint manufacturing collaborations or what, I'm not exactly sure, between Boker and Real Steel as well as Fox knives...

Either way, they do make some quality knives, however they also do have cheap economy crap shoot knives, (and in my experiences their sheaths are crap)... But the 4 I still have I do like...
KBgo696.jpg
 
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There have been some exceptions, but from inception of my burgeoning knife obsession they seemed not worth it considering other brand offerings. After many years they finally improved their Burger exk/lexk models, but it took far too long. They should have put forth the effort much earlier on.
 
As already mentioned Boker has multiple product lines.

The last Boker knives I bought were from the Plus line and the quality is spot on.
I also have two stag folding Hunters from the Solingen line , bought within the last 5 years and they're perfect too.
The Solingen line are made in Germany by Boker.

Here's my Boker Plus Kwaiken knives, the CF Kwaiken ( bottom) was bought last year.

kwaiken.jpg
 
Holy frig, just looking at the price (CAD) of their German made knives, I'll stick with Case thank you very much.
 
I think the best advice here was, if you see one you like, but just don't have the luxury to handle one in person first, just as with any product make sure you buy from a reputable dealer/source where you can return a defective product if you do in fact get a lemon...
And understand the "get what you pay for" mantra, because the cheaper you go on their catalog, the less quality control is going to care about what passes and what doesn't...

It's honestly not much different then a $15-20 Kershaw or Buck outsourced and mass produced in China vs. a $50-$100 Kershaw or Buck made in the USA...
 
By way of update, the mermaids turned out quite well: put a 40° micro bevel on, honed them up, then loosen the pivot screw a tiny bit and their flipper action is super-nice.

Can't wait to gift these!

Gonna carry my own mermaid this weekend and impress the girls!
 
Smaug said:
By way of update, the mermaids turned out quite well: put a 40° micro bevel on, honed them up, then loosen the pivot screw a tiny bit and their flipper action is super-nice.

Can't wait to gift these!

Gonna carry my own mermaid this weekend and impress the girls!
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I bought one for my daughter a few years ago and it's one of her prized possessions.
She kept sending me links to "this knife I want" ....
 
Lodd said:
My guess is he'll be too busy to post, drowning in the attention of the girls.
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I may likely be! They don't like it when I'm not giving them my attention all the time and play with my phone instead. Maybe I'll demo it for them, then take a quick video of their thoughts on it? :-D

To be completely transparent, "the girls" means my girlfriend, her daughter (14) and my daughter. (8) I expect that my daughter will be floored and the other two will roll their eyes and move on.
 
I have two Boker tree brand congress knives that I carve with. They both sharpened up well and hold their edges fpr carving. I can't find any thng wrong with either of them.
 
If there's anything this thread has proven, it's how Böker should stop with all their vague productlines and just completely consolidate their core business into making mermaid knives.
 
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