Böker Plus at Knives Now.

Böker Plus versus Böker

Böker Plus is a product line of Heinr. Böker & Co., the Solingen cutlery house founded in 1869 by Heinrich Böker and cutlery expert Hermann Heuser. The parent trades under the chestnut-tree mark that most people know as the tree brand.

The distinction is where the knives are made and what they are for. Böker Plus is the globally manufactured, more affordable collaboration and production line, with knives coming out of China, Italy, Spain and the USA. Böker's Manufaktur Solingen line is made in Germany and sits above it. Both are real Böker products under the same warranty; they are simply aimed at different buyers.

In our warehouse the Böker Plus knives are made in China and Taiwan by their spec lines, and the core Böker range holds the German and Argentine production. Böker USA, Inc. of Denver, Colorado handles US distribution for both, and has since 1986 when Böker Solingen reacquired the US trademark rights.

What is on the shelf

• Knives: 49 SKUs, $29.66 to $244.80. The core of the line and where the Kwaiken and Urban Trapper families live.
• Gear & Outdoors: 17 SKUs, $34.16 to $161.96. D2 framelocks, fixed blades, a shovel and two pens.
• Multi-Tools: 1 SKU, $44.06. A single credit-card knife. We would rather show you one honest item than pretend to a range.
• Closeouts: 14 SKUs, $59.46 to $196.35. Rotating clearance drawn from the categories above, so no permanent page. Worth checking the closeouts bin before paying full price.

The median knife price here is $105.56, which is the highest median of the four brands published this week. Böker Plus does not really do a cheap end.

The steels

Four steels cover almost the whole line, and the split is unusually clean.

1. D2 tool steel is the most common, on the Davlin, Gemtek, Elso, Bend, Sprocket and most of the fixed blades. Hard, long-wearing, semi-stainless, and it wants drying after wet use.
2. VG-10 carries the Urban Trapper and Kwaiken Air models. A Japanese stainless that takes a very fine edge and holds it respectably, which suits knives this slim.
3. CPM S35VN is the premium tier, on the Kwaiken Button Lock at $244.80, the Little Friend at $198.00 and the LFL07 at $196.35. Powder steel with genuine edge retention.
4. 12C27 Sandvik appears on the Atlas slip joints, and AUS-8 on the Rescom. Both are softer, easier-sharpening stainless steels appropriate to knives at that price.

Damascus turns up on a few models too. Worth saying plainly: Damascus describes a layered construction and a visible pattern, not a specific alloy or a performance claim. Buy it for the look.

What the designs are actually good at

This line has a house style, and it is not for everyone.

Slim. The Urban Trapper family is built around a very thin profile that disappears in a pocket in a way that a chunky framelock never will. If you have stopped carrying knives because they were bulky, this is the answer.

Materials-forward. Cocobolo, jade-colored handles, titanium and carbon fiber run through the range. These are knives designed to be looked at as well as used.

Small. A lot of the range sits at 3 inches or under, including the entire Atlas slip joint family and the L'Egg neck knife at 1.38 inches.

What the line is not is a hard-use range. If you need a knife to baton wood, pry a lid or survive a job site, the Buck field knives or the Kershaw gear shelf are honestly the better places to spend the money.

Collaboration designs, and what that means

Böker Plus is described by its parent as a collaboration and production line, and that word collaboration is doing real work.

Traditional cutlery houses design in-house, iterating slowly on patterns they have made for a century. A collaboration line works the other way: outside designers bring a shape, and the company builds it. That is why this range looks nothing like the traditional patterns on the core Böker shelf despite coming from the same 1869 company.

The practical consequence for a buyer is variety. Within these 67 SKUs you will find a 1.38 inch neck knife, a folding shovel, a slip joint with no lock, a button-lock folder and a pen, and they share a maker rather than a design language. Compare that with Buck, where every knife visibly belongs to the same family.

Neither approach is better. But it does mean you should judge these knives individually rather than assuming that liking one Böker Plus tells you much about the next.

The warranty

Böker Plus knives are covered by Böker's limited lifetime warranty on material and workmanship, to the original owner. It is the same warranty program that covers the Böker and Böker Magnum lines, so buying the more affordable line does not buy you weaker cover.

As with every warranty in this catalog, it covers how the knife was made rather than what happened to it afterwards. Manufacturing faults are covered; wear, misuse and corrosion are not. Keep your proof of purchase, since cover runs to the original owner.

Where to start

Under $60. The L'Egg neck knife at $29.66, the Atlas Slip Joint at $41.36 and $50.36, and the Rescom Framelock at $57.56. Real knives, small formats.

$60 to $130. The D2 range on the gear shelf: the Bend at $59.36, the Lofos at $88.16, the Elso at $94.31 and the Gemtek at $111.56.

$130 and up. The flagship folders. Kwaiken Air at $158.36, Urban Trapper models from $174.56, and the CPM S35VN pieces above $196.