MiniReview: "Boker" 20cm long stainless steel folding knife

"BOKER" 20cm affordable folding knife


Boker is a well known quality brand, this is a cheap copy but not bad at all

Reviewer's Overall Rating: ★★★★

Summary:

Type: folding
Lock type: liner lock
Material: steel
Handle lenght: 115mm
blade lenght: 85mm
Tailstands: No :) has a clip instead
Price Payed: 7,8USD
From: Dealextreme
Date Ordered: november 2010

Pros:

  • Good handle ergonomics
  • Reasonably sharp on arrival
  • Feels solid
  • No side play and wiggles of any kind
  • Very good finish
  • Inexpensive
  • Very smooth and pleasing opening and closing

Cons:

  • Would have liked an axis lock mechanism to securely lock the blade
  • Required some disassembling, cleaning and firmly screwing it down to achieve a firm blade with no side play
  • If not opened fast and exerting some added momentum the blade will not lock always

Features / Value: ★★★

It's a great looking knife with sturdy feel. It's cold since the handle is made of steel. Might not be nice for those who use knives in very cold ambient temperatures. It has a liner lock mechansim to lock the blade when fully exerted. It's lack of the axis lock named locking mechanic kills the knife 1 star. It's total lenght is 20cm and 8,5cm being the blade.

Design / Build Quality: ★★★

Pretty ok build quality from a chinese manufacturer in this price range. Actually is well made as far aesthetics goes nothing to complain there it is simply very attractive if you like the design. Looks way more expensive than what i paid for it. The blade came sharpened enough that i did not bother to sharpen it further. The negative point of the knife is the locking mechanism. If we forgive the lack of a more safe locking mechanism often called axis lock the liner lock used here is not trustworthy. In about 100 attempts to open the knife at various speeds by 1 or 2 handed operation the blade did not lock properly. Greater force than usually would be required was needed to lock it properly. I disassembled the knife and filed away one hair thickness off from the blade bottom. That helped alot. If i try to very gently open the knife it would not always lock. The difference however is night and day now. Would have filed it a bit more but did not want to risk losing it's firmness when opened. It is not spring assisted so there is no worry slicing your pants or other sensitive equipment by accidental opening.

Summary: ★★★★

I like this knife very much. Had to order another one for a friend who simply did not want to hear anything else than: Yes... i will order one for you... Being a hunter i expected that he will complain about the knife a bit but he did not.

I would like to state that i'm no knife expert at all. This review is purely subjective so take it with a grain of salt. With my very limited knowledge in the field i would rather not give the stars for the "review" but for the sake of expressing my feelings i did. This is a very novice review not even amateurish grade.

If you need such a knife i have no troubles reccomending it. Many other sellers carry it Tinydeal is one of them. I placed the order for a friend there to see what this new retailer is capable of. So far unimpressed. Have not recieved yet the confirmation of shipping. I'm hoping it would be faster than DX. Anyway its a good deal for the price but if you don't have a need for such a knife buy the usual flashlight instead! :) There will be no awkward explaining to law enforcement or strange looks at you. I would advise to check your local laws if you can import or carry one before buying. It's not very big at 20cm full length but is big enough to be easily noticed as a not ordinary pocket knife. Beware!

I like blades of any kind. I don't EDC any knives, instead i take one with me when i know i would need one. It's size and weight would be the upper limit for a EDC from my point of view. For EDC i would probably prefer a smaller and lighter knife.

I hope someone liked the review even if very basic.

P.S: The 2nd last picture is lit by the aid of a smiling shark SS-004 headlamp i reviewed days ago. This is unimportant... but i felt the need to flashlightize at least one sentence. :)

Update: Thanks to a more knowledgeable user boomhauer i corected the locking mechanism name from framelock to locking liner. More can be read about here. Thanks for the heads up!

Budget Light Forum ...where Frugal meets with Flashlight!

Nice review, I have this knife, among others from DX, and I like it. It's built like a tank. Although I prefer others for daily carry since it's a bit heavy. I have no trouble with the liner lock on this knife, and I prefer liner locks in general - they are strong if executed properly, but potentially dangerous if not. I've had a couple of liner locks that were not, or were a little sticky to release. But I've gotten dozens of other liner locks from DX that worked perfectly.

One of my DX favs is a little assisted knife copied from Extremaratio - sku 30886, definitely worth a look. I carry this frequently.

Thanks for the review. I have ordered knives from DX before (including that ExtremaRatio copy), but since I discovered SanRenMu, that's what I've bought instead. The quality increase is noticeable, and if I order from Exduct's "sale" page, there's little to no increase in price.

I will buy 2 more knives in the near future one being the famous 962 which i can't find anywhere. Even used if in very good codition. :/

It's like hunting for a Lunapower MRV for 5usd...

Thanks for the heads-up, first I've heard of SRM knives. So these are typically an upgrade in quality over DX? There are some DX suppliers that are not as good as others, the makers of the Extremaratio and some Boker copies seem to be better, generally. Always looking for great deals on a good knife.

I made the same thing, but with more brands. They are all made by the same company and use the same steel. The quality of the steel, fit and finish are top notch for the price. Waaaaay better then any of the DX copies.

"Damn exduct!" - said my wallet!

SanRenMu is a known manufacturer for Fenix, CRKT and Buck. The last two companies have lifetime warranties on all of their products.

The quality is very good even when you don't consider the price. When the price *is* considered? Exceptional quality. Check the "Budget Knife Dealers" post for a list of sellers.

Actually, not quite. SanRenMu/Land, Bee/Enlan, Ganzo and Navy are all separate brands. It's tough to explain without having a few in front of you, but the manufacturing techniques are different. Navy also uses a variation of 440C that lacks the molybdenum and vanadium present in 8Cr13MoV that's used in most Chinese-made knives.

In terms of quality, I'd say SanRenMu and Enlan are a step ahead of Ganzo and Navy, but the latter certainly aren't bad.

So SRM for best steel in price range?

Thanks for the review, it is not "mini" at all. ;-)

I have one of the best reviewed knives on DX and 2 days ago I had the chance to look at the Sanrenmu 905. They are worlds apart in built quality and steel quality.The Sanrenmu could easily be worth 50$ and the Gerber counterfit 15$ at best. Please don't buy knives at DX... get a SanRenMu and Bee and Enlan instead... you would do me a personal favor ... I can't see money go to waste. ;-) (and watch the videos in the other thread).

8Cr13MoV is a good steel but one have to remember that it is a steel that is only "kind of stainless".

I don't think you can beat the value/$ ratio on SRMs.

8Cr13MoV was co-developed by a Chinese maker and Spyderco to be comparable to Japanese AUS 8 steel. It's by no means the best steel in the world, but it's miles ahead of the 420 or 440A derivatives that you'll see on the counterfeit stuff.

As Vectrex mentioned it's not the most corrosion resistant steel in the world but it sharpens easily, takes a very nice edge and holds that edge quite well. There's a reason Spyderco, Buck, CRKT and Kershaw all use it on their "value" line knives.

You're right. Went back to read some emails traded with a vendor, and he said the same thing. Thanks for the enlightenment! (this is a flashlight forum... )

I think we should have a separate sub-forum just for knives since they are very popular among flashlight collectors. Also, I'm starting to really love everything about them because of all this knife talk around here.

Damn you guys!!!Yell

...My name is Tom im a cured flashaholic and i'm a knifeholic now....

...Hi Tom... and welcome back!

...My name is Pete and I'm a flashaholic and soon to be a knife-aholic.

...Hello Pete......I'm sorry but you're pretty much screwed now. Frown

The ol' Paypal account's gonna take a beating on this one... thanks guys.

Ok you knife guys, what's a good knife to give as a gift (Is this better didge?Tongue out) to Norm and probably one or 2 for me as well?

From what I've read, SanRenMu knives are the best chinese budget knives out there right now. I don't know much about knives but I want a folding knife with a pocket clip and one where you can flip it open with your thumb.

Probably the one which cleans easily. In my parts it is considered rude and unethical gifting kinives, razors, scissors and similar pointy tools or weapons. But if you must do ask the one who will recieve the gift for a cent in return. That way is kind of bought bought and fully exorcized of daemons and all that crap...

My personal favourites out of the SanRenMu line are the 763 and the 710. The 710 is probably the flagship the SanRenMu line, it definitely gets the most attention. If you don't mind spend about $3.50 to get faster shipping, some SanRenMu models are sold from EDCDepot.com, which ships from the US.

Oh, and if you give a knife as a gift, in North America you're supposed to give a penny along with it.

Oo....you used the 'g' word wrong.Surprised

It's considered rude and unethical? Really? That's news to me. Anyway, I know Norm has 2 or 3 knives that's why I wanted to get him one for his birthday. It would be rude for me to ask him for a small payment in return for a birthday gift even if it is only 1 cent.