Your killin me Boker Plus

[strategy9]

A lot of mention of the cheaper knives the same or similar to boker+ knives (colt, etc)... 99% of them are not 440c. They are 440a (or worse, 420j2). That is a large part of the mark down.

I haven't had a problem with any Boker+ or magnum that I have purchased aside from an off center blade here or there, all fixable with a turn of the pivot screw. And fwiw I've had just as many Buck's with the same issue. It happens in mass manufactured knives. The steel itself, for me at least, has never been "hit or miss" however, and has always been A+. (I also never buy knives from cut rate "discount" sellers, eBay, or even 2ndary Amazon dealers fwiw, but only from amazon prime or knife specific dealers like knife center, BladeHQ, knife works, etc. With the rare exception from certain wholesalers with a killer sale price).

 

[PURPLEDC]

A lot of mention of the cheaper knives the same or similar to boker+ knives (colt, etc)... 99% of them are not 440c. They are 440a (or worse, 420j2). That is a large part of the mark down.

I haven't had a problem with any Boker+ or magnum that I have purchased aside from an off center blade here or there, all fixable with a turn of the pivot screw. And fwiw I've had just as many Buck's with the same issue. It happens in mass manufactured knives. The steel itself, for me at least, has never been "hit or miss" however, and has always been A+. (I also never buy knives from cut rate "discount" sellers, eBay, or even 2ndary Amazon dealers fwiw, but only from amazon prime or knife specific dealers like knife center, BladeHQ, knife works, etc. With the rare exception from certain wholesalers with a killer sale price).

Where are you getting this 440A or 420j2 business. Its been widely known for many years that boker uses a chinese 440C equivalent but its not either of the ones you mentioned. And even though they use a 440C chinese equivalent they legally can call it 440C because all that means is a steel manufactured within the specs of 440C. There is no one company that makes the stuff. Anyone can call their steel 440c if it has the right properties.

 

[nick21]

I think the Chinese equivalent is 9Cr18MoV

And I'd agree. It's basically 440C. I'd be more concerned with the heat treat

 

[DPC]

Picked this up from a local store about 2 weeks ago. My first Boker. A minor adjustment of the pivot screw and so far she is a beauty of a $25 knife!

I hope you have a license for that, citizen.

A unit of judges has been sent your way.

 

[DPC]

This is a magnum, not a plus, but I find myself looking at this more often than I'm comfortable with.

It may be one of those knives I HAVE to have.

 

[WK ONE]

I have a Ridgeback, a Gamma and a Gnome. No fit or finish problems to speak of.

 

[strategy9]

Where are you getting this 440A or 420j2 business. Its been widely known for many years that boker uses a chinese 440C equivalent but its not either of the ones you mentioned. And even though they use a 440C chinese equivalent they legally can call it 440C because all that means is a steel manufactured within the specs of 440C. There is no one company that makes the stuff. Anyone can call their steel 440c if it has the right properties.

I wasnt talking about Boker+, I own quite a few boker blades, and am a fan of their 440c. I was referring to many of the "other" (catalog) knives mentioned that look just like some of the Boker+ models but have a different brand name etched on, most labeled "stainless" or marketed as "400 series" for a reason... And much of that is why they can often be found for $10.

 

[bflying]

The Nano I had for a few days was top notch. Sure, better steel wouldn't hurt (440C isn't that bad, and probably a step up from the 8Cr13Mov that they appear to mine from the ground in China). And I'm not 100% sure how to grip the thing. But it feels like a $100 knife and it's just gorgeous.

Too bad I mistakenly ordered the slip joint. Dang it. Need to find a good price on a frame lock Nano.

And the SanYouGo and Gnome fixed blades really catch my eye. They're ridiculous, pointless... But I must have them.

A lot of their folders look like utter fail to me, but some of these are really nice designs. China is going to be putting a lot more knives in my closet in the future.

And there's... the neck mini tactical prybar:

Maybe I'm out of the loop on knife trends but I can't even figure out what to do with a regular neck knife. Plus there's the thought of slicing up your hand while you pry on something.

Ha, I have all of those, and like them for what they are. I think Boker Plus QC is leaps and bounds over the standard Chinese discount products. However the price also reflects that little increase in quality. The Nano makes a great money clip that happens to have a backup blade. The gnome (I have a couple) is pretty much a novelty/conversation piece. The little Tucan I keep in my pocket for when I need to scratch or pry and I don't want to use a $300 primary blade. When I picked up the SanYouGo, I expected it to just be a novelty also, but found it quite useful.

Funny story, over the holiday season we went to a family members place for a get together. I happen to know that their kitchen knives are always dull and abused. So I tossed the SanYouGo in my jacket pocket just in case. As luck would have it, I needed to help out with the last minute food prep. I start going through knives to find one acceptable for my task, but found none. So I whip out the little San and went to work. Everyone gave my a hard time, but ohh and ahh'd at how clean and effortless every cut was. I tried to explain to the extended family that with just the smallest amount of edge maintenance, every knife in the kitchen could cut as clean and easy as my little SanYouGo. But pretty sure my pitch fell on deaf ears. It has also seen quite a bit of prep time in my own kitchen....just because I can.

These are not the only Bokers I own because they keep coming out with some great designs and colabs. Oh, and I've noticed that some of the models I own do come out of Taiwan. Not exactly Spyderco Taiwan level of quality, buy they also don't cost $300 each like the Domino (that I also absolutely love by the way).