Boker's new "Opinels"

Boker’s new affordable line of Opinel like knives

https://www.boker.de/us/pocket-knife/filmam.html

Personally I’d still rather have an Opinel, but these might be just as good

Boker pulled a Samsung :smiley:

Yep. :party:

These are going to be good knives because of the geometry… but they lack a certain something in the looks department.

How similar are these to Opinels besides the basic form/function? I’ve been carrying an Opinel for several years and love it.

OPINEL

Holy moly that is a fancy one. I bought a No. 6 about 10 years ago in a backpacking shop because it was cheap and light, and it’s been in my EDC rotation with a bunch of other knives ever since… until I tragically lost it about a week ago. Ordered a replacement yesterday for the high, high cost of $12.49 for a No. 7 on Amazon (with Prime shipping!). Mine was looking more like this one when I lost it (pic borrowed from a guy named A.L. on Bladeforums. not my pic. came up in google image results):

Thanks for the link to the knives but what captured my eye was https://www.boker.de/us/flashlights.html they seem to be basic models like the old fenix’s forward clicky on/off twisty head for 2 levels.

The ideal gift light for the lumen challenged none flashoholic maybe.

Thanks for the info. At this point, they don't seem price competitive. For example in the US.

http://www.amazon.com/Opinel-No-Walnut-Handle-Folding/dp/B000UH0RTC/ref=pd_sim_sg_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0PWE8DJ99S4268EKG962

These are Boker MSRP prices, I think they’ll retail for half of that. At least they should

@grantman: that’s anyone’s guess, these have just shown up

they don’t look much different apart from the lock or whatever the thing on the handle is. Similar geometry, probably inferior steel, not that it’ll make much difference on a knife so thin.

I don’t think anyone can compete with Opinel, the volume they sell helps keep the price low.

This is more of a novelty thing, if one likes Opinel type knives but wants to have something different as well.

I think mostly what I’m wondering about is the blade thickness. The blade on Opinels is super thin. That combined with the higher carbon steel made mine relatively easy to hone to razor-sharpness. Downside being the blades can be a little brittle. But at the price I’m not sure I care. Mine held an edge really well as long as I didn’t try to cut anything hard (which could chip the blade). Great EDC blade for light use, and the lock ring makes it very solid when locked.

Might be interesting if the blade on the Bokers is thicker and is a decent steel, but again, the super thin & very sharp blade on Opinels is part of the appeal given the low price.

I’m going to guesstimate that the thickness will be about the same.

I agree that the thin blade and the grind is what makes the Opinel unbeatable. Sure the knife has clear limits as to how hard it can be used, but until you hit those limits it cuts like a laser.

Made in Portugal, it says. Different type of locking.

There are a few listed at Heinnie Haynes
The prices compare well with Opinels and the blades of those offered are slightly longer.
I’ve got several Opinels and I like the Virobloc locking ring, an elegant yet simple solution to locking a knife blade on a completely wooden handled knife.
I’ve not tried one of the MAM-Filmam knives so cannot really comment on edge holding and reliability of the liner lock, they are providing a good alternative and choice is always good.

420 is a cheap and rather lame steel, even for stainless. Look for VG10 (spyderco, bit pricy), 440C or 12C27 (opinel, mora). I’d expect better from Böker, they’re usually not a bad brand. If you want a knife where brittleness is an issue (i.e. for light chopping, levering, digging) I’d recommend a fixed instead of a folder, they’re sturdier. Good, cheap candidates are the aforementioned mora knives.

I don’t think Boker has anything to do with it, they just made a deal with the company who makes these to sell their product.

Its common in European traditional knives, both the cheap ones and the expensive ones to have steel US buyers consider inferior. That’s because US knife companies have been training buyers there to factor in steel in the first place (to get them to pay a premium), while Europeans in general neither know nor care about the steel differences. There are many traditional knives running over 100 euros with the likes of 12C27 or 440C.

Found a review:

Alas with postage these look to be about $50 to New Zealand.

Opinels are great because they’re cheap and effective. These might be effective, but they’re certainly not cheap.

They are Filmam knives, not Böker made. Some interesting shapes. I wonder how they compare to say Joker or Opinel.

Interesting… so I reckon Boker owns Filmam? They definitely look interesting. I wonder how different that lock mechanism is — looks like there’s an additional button, maybe to release the barrel lock?

My replacement EDC Opinel has arrived… pretty psyched about it. Got a #7 (last one was a #6 I think). It feels a lot nicer than my old one in terms of the barrel and wood finish, but the one I lost was 10 years old and went through the typical swelling and break-in so it could’ve been this nice when I bought it. Blade looks/feels the same minus the newer markings.

Boker are buying in a lot of their stock and re-branding them as Boker, have a look at the Boker Magnum range, a lot of Enlan’s badged and re-named as Boker.
They aren’t the only ones by a long way but I think most of the Boker Magnum range is made in China, that’s not a bad thing.

Magnum used to be its own brand in the US… primarily sold in gas stations. I purchased one or two of them on a whim for less than $5. Absolutely terrible quality. I bought a Boker Magnum at one point for less than $10 after Boker acquired Magnum and it was okay. Poor quality steel, but decent fit and finish. I haven’t had any Enlans or any other OEM Chinese brand (probably have some exampled of other-brand knives most likely made in China), but there’s a lot of good things said of them around here. I just haven’t gotten up the desire (or excess disposable income) to pull the trigger on one.