BOKER PLUS Damascus Gent 1 Pocket Knife

And I am picky.I spent a bunch of time looking on line for real Damascus through and through and laminated damascus like this Boker.I didn't really see a knife I would rather have at any price. I suppose they are out there. What I wanted was a fairly thin blade that was not overly long or heavy in the pocket. Realistically, when I go to cut every day stuff, a thin blade is best. Cuts easier than a thicker blade.I suppose if I had seen a better knife for my purpose I would have spent upwards of two hundred dollars for it.I didn't see one any where at any price that suited me as well as this Boker . . . so I bought the Boker.The pattern of the "Damascus" is perfect. Very pleasing. Mine is NOT the ladder pattern shown in the Boker #1 reviews. I was afraid it would be.The ebony is very nice.The finish on the wood is as good as can be expected for the price. (there is very minor tracks from sanding and the edges of the wood are less than jewelry smooth). Keeping in mind this is not a two hundred to five hundred dollar knife I am pleased and feel I got more than I paid for in fit and finish.UPDATE 6-23-15 I said the EDGES of the wood are less than jewelry smoothAfter living with this knife a while I have come to the conclusion that the "natural" slightly grainy EDGE along both ebony side plates on this knife is a plus aesthetically. Seriously. These edges lend nice lines of contrast between the finished and glossy sides of the knife and the polished and black metal plates layered with the wood. Well done Boker (and or who ever designed this knife with them).END OF UPDATE.The blade is centered in the handle when closed.There are steel plates on BOTH sides inside of the wood. The steel plates are the full length of the handle all the way back to and including the laniard hole.There is no wiggle in the blade to handle pivot when locked or when partially open.There is no binding in the pivot. The knife opens very easily one handed.Both screws are in the clip and they are tight.The clip is slim but has a lot of strength (too firm for my liking; I may take it off and unbend it a little). If this knife was clipped to your pocket you wouldn't loose it even in a full on hellish skiing or moto cross crash. It is one strong little clip.The blade came with a very shallow and in my opinion very useful grind angle. Plenty sharp out of the box and I am particularly picky here. Sure it can be improved but for every day use it was plenty sharp.I would agree with the reviewer that said it was a work of art.In the same breath it is not a two hundred to five hundred dollar degree of perfection. But what one gets for those extra hundreds is pretty diminishing returns.As far as the person who had the side of the knife break. Yah I suppose that could happen. Keeping in mind wood is an organic material that can have weak areas in it. Probably that broken side had an invisible "shake" in it from stresses the tree went through and it wasn't caught in production. It happens with wood. If you want a knife you can drop two stories onto the side walk get a knife with aluminum or titanium sides.If you want a nice gentleman's pocket knife with some fascinating details and you don't have butter fingers get this Boker.

Bought this knife to replace my Boker Plus Elegance Gentleman's knife that TSA confiscated. I loved that little Boker and needed to replace it as soon as possible because I was losing my mind every time I reached for my little knife to cut something and it wasn't there.I previously owned a Kershaw knife, and then a CRKT carson knife, and then my Boker Elegance, in each case I paid less than $50 for each of those knives; and decided that I would not surpass that price point with my next purchase. So, I began my search for my next great little knife and settled on this knife, which ended up costing a bit more than my $50 goal ($63, including shipping).Upon opening the box it shipped in, I was immediately impressed with the elegant Boker packaging and even more so when I pulled my knife out. It is a beautiful knife. The damascus blade and wood handle are very nice to look at. Regarding the blade, I don't understand what other reviewers mean by saying it's not a "real" damascus blade. This blade is layered metal and not etched and from my very limited google searches, it seems as though the art of creating and using wootz steel is pretty much lost; so, there are NO REAL damascus blades being produced anymore. Anyway, the blade is sharp and solid (there is very little horizontal movement and no vertical movement once locked into place). Regarding the wood, it is shiny and smooth--I actually thought it was a hard polymer before inspecting it.The Gent 1 feels good in my hand: balanced and sturdy with natural-feeling placements for my fingers. The opening mechanism is smooth and easy, however, be careful to either finish opening it with a flick of the wrist or ensure that your thumb stays on the opening stud throughout the process or you risk cutting yourself. The issue exists for me because my fingers are fairly short and stubby. All things considered I'd say I got a great little knife for a great price.

Whether it’s Trucks, appliances, or knives, every manufacturer is making their products cheaper and cheaper. Boker is no different. The Amazon ad said the knife was a Gent 1. But buried in the description was that it was the “Gent 2”. I lost a Gent 1 by having it in my suitcase while going through the TSA checkpoint at an airport. I liked the Gent 1….right sized, looked good, had served me well for 6 years. I ordered the Gent 2. But on receiving it I noted several things…. The scales of the handle were a cheaper grade of Ebony wood (striped dark and light instead of uniform DARK BROWN or nearly black), the wood scales of the handle were flat instead of the nicer contoured shape I had with the Gent 1, edges of the wood scales of the handle were sharp and not beveled/contoured like the Gent 1. Not made by Boker in Germany. Clearly, Boker got their contracted Chinese manufacturer to cut corners to reduce the cost of making the knife so they could increase Boker’s profit margin. Overall not a bad knife, but definitely not worth over $90. This is a $25-to-$35 knife masquerading under Boker’s name as a much higher quality item than it actually is. That being said…it’s sharp and functional, But given the expected quality when paying nearly $100 for a small knife, the Boker Gent 2 is a huge disappointment and just not worth the price.