Small review : Boker Magnum A-Stan

Boker buy in the Magnum series from Chinese makers re-badged as “Magnum by Boker”. There are quite a few Enlans mixed in and apart from a few small details they are the same knives as Enlan send to market.
In the case of the A-Stan there are a few subtle yet important changes.

The G10 scales are from the EL-01KH but the blade and hardware are finished in “Titanium Coating” this does give the A-Stan a distinctive look. One that I like a lot.

If you have at any time had to adjust the pivot screw on an Enlan then you’ll know how awkward they are because they use proprietary heads on the screws.
Someone took this photo of all three designs together - I got it from Google images.

They are not impossible just awkward and annoying. SR Joben of Lazy Lizard Gear sells an upgraded pivot screw and phosphor bronze washer set Well worth doing as it puts the EL-01 into another league in terms of smooth opening and ease of adjustment.

Boker have already taken care of the pivot screw problem by specifying a Torx head pivot screw, same triangular design but with a Torx shaped hole in the centre.

The A-Stan is supplied in a presentation tin with a Torx key that fits the scale screws on one end and the pivot on the other.

This was a very nice surprise as the photo on the site where I bought the knife showed just the plain screw as in the top photo above. Why the hell Enlan doesn’t do it this way is beyond me, a pivot screw that can be easily adjusted is so much better.

In action the A-Stan feels smoother and after an initial break in flips nicely but still needs a little wrist flick to open it quickly.
The blade needed no sharpening, was well centred and the lock-up was as normal on the EL-01 solid, no play.

Some specs.
Blade Material: 440 Stainless Steel
Blade Length (cm): 9.4
Blade Thickness (cm): 0.3
Overall Length (cm): 21.1
Blade Coating: Titanium Coated
Handle Material: G10
Lock Type: Liner Lock

I’d be willing to bet that the blade is 8Cr13MoV. :slight_smile:
I think this type of badge engineering can be good, in the U.K. we have the U.K.B.A. - customs that can’t make their minds up on the classification of knives and we run a high risk of having the knife seized, any flipper they class as a “gravity knife” and grab it for their “keeping the U.K. safe” figures.
It is good that there are a few vendors U.K. based that sell these knives. Not many are willing to openly sell Chinese knives for one reason or another but a different branding overcomes the reluctance. Another benefit is there is no waiting for the long trip from China, where I bought mine, Heinnie Haynes , they are well known for their speed of delivery so next day delivery with the basic P&P rate of £2 for orders under £30 is not unusual.
Price on the A-Stan was £15.95 - $24 so not as inexpensive as FastTech asks for the basic EL-01A, ~$14 - £9.50.
I collect the Enlan EL-01 series of knives - Enlan or Bee I don’t mind either, they are the same but for the name - so it was inevitable that I bought the A-Stan. Would it make sense for a non-collector to buy one, hell yes, very good looking, Torx tool supplied, foam lined presentation can plus one of the classic winners from the Chinese makers. For me it’s worth the extra money but then again I paid a stupid amount for another re-badged EL-01s - the RUI Energy series. -

A very nice variant.

Thanks for another great review Steve. I really like the torx addition to the existing pivot screw and wish I could buy a fist full of them as an alternative to the LL kit. I wonder if it will remain an exclusive to the Boker version. The TI coating, tin and tool are nice additions to a great budget knife.

Does the TI coating appear to be tough enough to withstand some abuse?

Addicted to EL-01 :bigsmile:
Very nice review, as usual.
Thank you very much Steve!

Thanks, I’ve tried to collect all the variants of EL-01 but they added another one recently (orange scales) and I keep seeing other ones that I haven’t got. There’s the black scaled version of the RUI Energy series.

The coating looks tough enough, about the same or better than the black coated blades, I haven’t tried it on anything that might damage it yet but they are meant as hard users. It is a good looking knife and they really should come with a Torx head pivot as standard but even the earlier batches had just the triangle, I got mine around mid year 2014 and they were fitted then.

I keep thinking of a hybrid with orange scales, black coated blade and one of LL’s pivots with their black oxide finish.
I’ve got one that I had a slight mishap with when I was sharpening the serrations, the satin bladed model, that’s going to be a recurve when it’s done but it’s a long term project, probably rescale it as well. At $14 a time make a solid base for modifying.

Do G10 scales suffer when left in direct sunlight, or is there some additive that absorbs UV adequately? Epoxy is generally known for not standing ionizing radiation well.

G10 - properties and uses at bottom of the page lists one of the properties as being “radiation resistant” this might include UV as one of the listed uses is “Antenna insulators” and they would be exposed to the sun I think.

In a pocket knife it probably wouldn’t matter much because the knife is in your pocket or in your hand, a fixed blade would be more vulnerable. UV might bleach the colour but you’d have to leave it out in the sun for a long time for that to happen, years rather than days I would think. Older cars with plastic steering wheels can have them deteriorate over time but again over years.
The Epoxy used in manufactured G10 and Micarta is probably different between manufacturers and that which you can buy for home use.
I’ve never seen a G10 or Micarta scale damaged by the Sun but in the U.K. we don’t have the strength of sunlight that you would get nearer the Equator. :frowning:

Thanks for the review, Steve.
I enjoy reading your budget knife reviews.
I still need to get my hands on the original EL-01!

Nice review. The contrast between the light colored handle and the dark blade is very appealing.

Beyond the different materials and colors of various EL-01 scales (and their variants), are you aware of any that have a different design or pattern?

Im sure you’ve already ogled over Wolf67’s work. It would be nice to find something like these on the budget end and mass produced. Are these calling out to you yet? :smiley:

Thanks for the review. Nice to see some of the con's addressed in an already great knife design.

Yes, very much so. We are having a tough time getting flippers through the genitalmen of the UKBA, customs they are seizing them as “gravity knives” they particularly like the EL-01s so it’s luck of the draw whether they get through customs, a blade and scale kit with screws but no liners would be ideal.

And thanks for all the compliments, I enjoy doing the reviews, I have a lot of knives but I don’t really hard use any of them on a regular basis so your mileage may vary on the strength or steel but they suit my everyday needs very well.

If I had to choose one knife to keep out of all mine it would be a rough looking EL-01D that I spent a couple of hours making sure all inside touching surfaces were polished or rubbed flat with 1500 wet/dry, including the phosphor bronze washers, I found a size of pivot screw that fitted the threads. M3X8mm long with a flanged hex head for a 2mm Allen key. I was going to find a washer to fit under it to fill the hole left in the scales by the new screw being smaller head size but used a spare small phosphor bronze washer and it’s stayed that way. Doesn’t look much but it flips open very nicely, no wrist flick needed.

That’s my working knife if I have any rough work to do, I have another brand new in box that I’ve not touched yet.

BTW I’ve found the perfect tool for pushing the washers into place (combined with a screwdriver to centre them). -

The i-sesame. from FastTech, handy little tool sharp at the pointed end and thin at the other.

FlashPilot, the orange ones rock!

What an awful pain to have an item seized, when other times the same item goes straight through without any difficulties. I wonder if customs employ a spring loaded mechanical arm they clamp each knife into to test the blade action. Its too bad US shipping to the UK is so ridiculously expensive. Otherwise, a person with a hint of common sense would offer to reship your goods in more than one box (might need some assembly after delivery). :bigsmile: Its hard do believe anyone would ever consider a new stock EL-01 a gravity blade. But then, Ive never been surprised at the appalling amount of incompetence we often see displayed in most government manned operations. Where do they find these people?

I think Ive seen your EL-01 pic posted on various sites in cyberspace. It looks good to me!

I might have to grab an i-sesame. So far, Ive been lucky in using an old stainless feeler gauge set and guitar picks in opening up places where precision screwdrivers wont fit.

I actually hated the orange micarta scales when they first appeared a couple years ago (on other knives). But that black & orange EL-01 with the polished custom scale pattern sure looks slick. I might have to cob a lesser version together with stock parts, unless they are already available in black/orange. Its amazing that aftermarket scale patterns havent been mass produced for this popular knife… yet. Either way, it continues to be my most worn/used EDC. Almost every time I switch for another knife and find a need to use it, I regret it almost every time and wish I had carried an EL-01. :smiley:

Start with an EL-01B, add some orange G10 and you’re good to go. :wink:
The orange scaled one that is available on AliExpress is based on the EL-01A so satin blade and stainless fittings, now if someone bought a few of each - the orange scaled and the all black ones then some orange and black and some satin blade and stainless fittings. :slight_smile:

The problem with shipping stuff from the U.S.A. is that packages from the U.S.A. get looked at a lot more closely, two out of four that I’ve imported have been opened, of those two one knife was seized and one 1oz bag of Glow In The Dark powder from GloInc. was assessed for duty, the cost of the powder and the cost of shipping added together and duty charged on both then 20% VAT charged on the total, plus an £8 fee for the Royal Mail to act as your agent seeing to the re-packing and forwarding to you, after you’ve paid up obviously. It makes importing anything from the U.S.A. an expensive option, still it can be worth it because the prices charged by the retailers is a lot higher than the U.S.A. price especially if the U.S.A. dealer doesn’t charge the local taxes because the knife is being exported. Or the knife could be a rarity in the U.K. and the only way to get one is as a personal import.
Having owned a Harley and bought parts and accessories from the U.S.A. then I’m sort of used to having a grey envelope through the letterbox to announce an expensive day.

I have never seen the orange scale EL01 before - thank you steve for the hint.
The Wolf67 handles version looks better, but I think it will cost much more.

Orange and red scales looks often nice - one reason, why I have all Ganzo G704 scale versions.

My thoughts exactly! I owns several of these for the swap. :bigsmile:

But sheesh, when will someone realize that there is a decent opportunity for mass produced aftermarket scales?

The situations you described are actually far worse than I had ever imagined. Please dont take this the wrong way, but the UK has always been known to tax its citizens up the wazoo. I wonder how much longer this can go on before the people have had enough and force action for change? If there’s any way I can help (while keeping us both out of jail and money in our pockets), please PM me. If anything, I’ll be happy to cut the para-cord that bounds your wrists. :smiley:

I fear the situation will get worse before total collapse. I’m sort of glad that I’m as old as I am - the 1960’s onwards was a very good time to be growing up……
You lot had the right idea at Boston.

What shooting the evil over lords minions over a 2% tax over a breakfast drink?

Sounds good to me.