Boker Plus Whale Knife

Presentation: 5/5Design: 5/5Execution: 3/5Fit & Finish 3/5Overall: 4/5Pros:This comes in the standard Boker+ Magnetically sealed presentation box. Very handsome and gift-worthy. The knife is also very, very sexy as far as design goes. It is a very clean, minimalist design with titanium liners, and pocket clip. The blade shape has a massive amount of belly and is very utilitarian by nature. There is a generous lanyard hole at the butt of the knife that has no problem accommodating 550 cord. The blade was adequately sharp out of box, and has no problem cutting paper. The titanium liners have a nice deep stonewash. The clip, while a bit weak, rides very low in pocket, and has little chance of being dislodged. Due to the materials used, this knife feels surprisingly light, despite the 4mm thick blade. It would serve very nicely as a semi-dressy knife with slacks, or jeans. The clip may have issues accommodating the reinforced pockets of 511 style pants, although I haven't tried. The scales are contoured, and the organic design feels like a dream in hand.Cons:Out of box, this knife was VERY gritty. If you want to enjoy this product, you WILL have to disassemble it, and clean it. Boker uses some sort of off-brand, whitish loctite-like thread adhesive, and they do a rather messy job of applying it. The thread lock, which isn't very good quality, was on the mating surface between the ti liners, and the standoffs, as well as in a couple other places, you will need to scrape all of this off upon disassembly. The lock-bar is not carbidized, and has some lock-stick. The tang of the blade that meets up with the locking liner has a rather moderate radius, and while the lockup was very early for a production knife (20%), I could see this being an issue as time goes on. It is very likely that this knife will develop blade-play with use/ over time. Another thing to note is the pivot assembly; the female pivot screw is keyed, that key corresponds to a little notch in the non-locking liner. The flat, and this notch should line up for it to fit together, it is very difficult to tell, but the pivot hole on the non-locking liner is NOT perfectly round. There is a very slight flat area right above the notch, this is how you align the pivot. Disassembly is a PAIN, so I recommend you loctite everything down once you have it cleaned, and have good tension on the blade. The pocket clip execution is annoying, but not terrible. The scales are radiused, while the clip is not- this results in a flat piece of titanium resting on a small domed surface. It isn't exactly the most stable design, and aside from the inherent property of titanium not giving the best retention, it tends to wobble side to side a little bit, given enough torque. Blade centering is inherently off, and while this is possible to correct, it may leave the blade a little too loose. The thumb stud, while functional is occluded somewhat by the G10 scales, so whipping it out won't be as natural in comparison to your typical Spyderco's & Benchmade's.Who this knife is for, and who should look elsewhere: If you're looking for a practical, durable, hard use knife with outstanding edge retention, and great value - you should probably look elsewhere. If you're a knife enthusiast/ collector, and you appreciate sexy knife designs, you're on the right track. The Boker whale is akin to Jens Anso's 'Cato' model, and is a great alternative for those of us that aren't in a position to drop a good chunk of change on a custom. This is a great way to get into Anso's designs without breaking the bank. I knew about the various flaws this knife had before buying it, and I pretty much got what I expected. This is not a "tactical" knife, nor is it a hard use knife. This is great for a mid-size EDC that will be used for light-medium cutting tasks.The bottom line: You're paying for design and materials here gents. You can find more practical knives with superior execution at a much lower price point. You buy this knife because you appreciate the design.Would I recommend it/ Buy it again if I could do it over? Yes. Don't expect a flawless knife, you will be disappointed. If you go in knowing about the flaws pointed out here, and they aren't deal breakers at the $70 price point, you will be a very happy camper. The design is truly phenomenal, and is up there with a few ZT's, and Microtechs.

I purchased this when I was unable to find a Spyderco Zulu, also designed by Jens Anso. It has a neat organic shape, modeled off of a humpback whale, with the thumb studs where the eyes of the whale would be. Boker has some quality control consistency issues, and it was badly off-center when it arrived. I loosened the pivot and got it lined up properly, and now it is fine. This fits great in the hand, and is a very interesting blade. The 44C cuts very well and is easy to sharpen, and the angle the knife puts your hand in makes it very easy to start cuts with the large belly of the blade. The thumb studs work, but it will not flick open very easily. The only real complaint is that it is quite heavy. Milled-out liners would have been greatly appreciated here. I probably won't carry it too much as an EDC blade, as it never disappears in the pocket, but it works great for food prep.

I just received my Boker Plus Whale, it is more beautiful then in the pictures. The artfully machined blade is substantial and pushes the envelope of gentleman pocket knives. The "Whale" not only does the blade mimic the humpback whale's mouth, but the handle adds function with it's body length. Gray and black are a conservatively beautiful color combination that is played out well with the titanium gray liner and pocket clip to the ebony G10 grain handle. The knife jumped out the box razor sharp.Now the not so good news. The knife was stiff opening and closing. A torque wrench was supplied with the knife, so I loosen the screw a little. Well this created some blade wobble. When the blade is aligned perfect, it is too difficult to open or close. I know this must be simple problem, knife have been opening and closing for the last hundred years. I will post solution.

At over $70, I would have expected a much better quality knife than the one I received. The primary hollow grind was so uneven, that the edge grind encroached deep into the ricasso. The scales were poorly finished, and the action is noisy due to the ceramic detente ball. It is a beautiful minimal design, but I am sure Mr Anso would be very upset if he knew his concept was being so clumsily executed.