Shop Böker Plus Gear & Outdoors
Seventeen Böker Plus items sit on the Gear & Outdoors shelf, from $34.16 to $161.96, with a median of $94.31. This is the practical half of the Böker Plus line, and it is dominated by one steel.
Where the knives page runs VG-10 and CPM S35VN on slim gentleman's folders, this shelf runs D2 on framelocks and fixed blades meant to be used outdoors. Same brand, different intent.
Five folders anchor this shelf, all in D2 tool steel and all built around a framelock.
The choice between the Davlin drop point and the Davlin tanto is worth thinking about rather than picking on looks. A drop point lowers the tip below the spine for control and strength and slices well. A tanto puts a reinforced angular tip on the blade, which is stronger at the point and better at piercing, and gives up some slicing ability along the belly. For general cutting the drop point is the more useful shape.
Four fixed blades cover the outdoor end of the shelf, all in D2.
A fixed blade at this size is a camp and bushcraft tool rather than a survival knife, and that is the honest framing. There is no pivot to collect grit, nothing to fail under load, and cleaning is a rinse rather than a project. What you give up is pocketability, since all of these need a sheath.
D2 in an outdoor knife is a reasonable trade. It holds an edge much longer than the soft stainless steels used at this price, and it is semi-stainless rather than fully stainless, so it needs drying after wet work. Around water for days at a time, a fully stainless blade is the safer choice.
Two items here carry Damascus blades: the Tech Tool Blue Damast at $125.96 with a 2.63 inch blade, and the Mauser Damast at $119.66 with a 3.5 inch blade.
It is worth being straight about what Damascus is, because the marketing around it across the industry is not. Damascus refers to a layered construction, where steels are forge-welded together and the pattern is brought out by etching. It is a construction method and a visual finish. It is not an alloy, it is not a hardness rating, and a Damascus blade is not inherently sharper, tougher or longer-lasting than a monosteel blade at the same price.
Buy Damascus because the pattern appeals to you and because these are attractive objects. That is a completely legitimate reason to buy a knife. Just do not pay the premium expecting performance you would not get from the D2 version.
Three items on this shelf are not knives at all.
The M1874 Shovel at $122.36 is the outlier of the range. A folding shovel is genuinely useful gear for camp, vehicle and property work, and it is the sort of thing people do not think to buy until they need one at an inconvenient moment.
The Multi Purpose Pen and the Tactical Pen are $34.16 each. A machined metal pen is a durable everyday object that writes in conditions where a plastic pen fails, and it survives a pocket or a pack indefinitely.
These three are the items on this shelf most likely to round an order up toward the $149 free shipping line, and unlike a lot of accessories they are things you will still be using in a decade.
This shelf offers both in the same steel at overlapping prices, which makes it a good place to settle the question.
A fixed blade is stronger and cleaner. There is no pivot, no lock and no spring, which means nothing to fail under load and nowhere for grit, sap or blood to collect out of reach. The Dasos at $98.96 and the Andhrimnir Mini at $94.46 sit within a few dollars of the Elso folder at $94.31, and at that price the fixed blade is the more capable tool.
A folder is the one you will actually have. It goes in a pocket, it needs no belt space, and it does not announce itself. A knife left at home because it was inconvenient to carry is worth nothing at all.
The practical answer for most people is a folder for daily carry and a fixed blade that lives in the pack for camp work. If you are buying one item from this shelf and it will spend its life outdoors, buy the fixed blade. If it will spend its life in a pocket, buy the Bend at $59.36 and put the difference toward a sheath knife later.
Everything here is covered by Böker's limited lifetime warranty on material and workmanship to the original owner, the same program across Böker, Böker Plus and Böker Magnum.
The maintenance story on this shelf is D2. It is the dominant steel here, it is hard enough that it holds an edge a long time, and it is semi-stainless rather than stainless. Practically: wipe it dry after wet or bloody work, keep the pivot clean on the folders, and put a film of oil on a blade before it goes into long storage. Do that and D2 lasts decades. Neglect it and it develops surface spotting that will not buff out.
Sharpening D2 wants diamond or ceramic. Compare the tooling on Buck's sharpening shelf, or see the full Gear & Outdoors category for how this range sits against the rest of the building.
