What are these United...?

Boker specific research and history discussions, Questions & answers, Picture sharing
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tongueriver
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What are these United...?

Post by tongueriver »

It is my impression that Boker knives marked UNITED are at least partially of Chinese origin. Any thoughts are welcome.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Boker-C ... SwdNFZdRx4
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Tsar Bomba
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Re: What are these United...?

Post by Tsar Bomba »

tongueriver wrote:It is my impression that Boker knives marked UNITED are at least partially of Chinese origin. Any thoughts are welcome.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Boker-C ... SwdNFZdRx4
My only input on this is basically a W.A.G., but I think Boker's had the "United" trademark for a longer period of time than it's been used on Pacific Rim knives. I expect old Bokers may have carried the name before they became synonymous with mostly modern/tacti-cool Asian knives. ::shrug:: It's possible they ran some celluloid knives out of Japan or even China but that knife looks a lot older than that, and AFAIR if a knife says "Solingen" on it then it's gotta be German (unless it's just a blatant forgery, of course).

As far as Boker's newer traditionals go, my rule of thumb (which has served me well but is by no means comprehensive) is that knives marked Solingen are honest-to-goodness German-made knives, while the liberal use of "Germany" itself often points to a Pacific Rim-assembled knife using (purportedly) German steel and parts sourced from Boker Germany. I find the Solingen knives are "a cut above" :roll: and are easily comparable to anything Case or Queen are putting out in standard runs. I also think their interpretation of "beer barrel" was actually more clever than GEC's, and the Boker Solingen carbon steel is among the best I've had the pleasure of using and sharpening up.

P.S. I figured I'd grab a couple images from the listing for when the listing goes dead and nobody can see what we're talking about:
s-l1600.jpg
s-l1600 (2).jpg
s-l1600 (1).jpg
FYI I don't know if you're seriously considering that knife, but my untrained eye spots a couple places that might be emblematic of the handles outgassing... ::td::
Tony
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tongueriver
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Re: What are these United...?

Post by tongueriver »

Thanks for the info; I am not interested in that knife but I was curious. I have some mighty fine Bokers (not to be confused with Roger's treasure hoard), and I guess my interest came about when I came into ownership of my paternal Grandfather's last pocket knife, which he apparently received in the early 1950s. I often carry a Solingen congress knife. Grandpa's 7588 is reasonably easy to differentiate from one I later acquired.
Bokers001.jpg
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Tsar Bomba
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Re: What are these United...?

Post by Tsar Bomba »

Some sweet old Bokers and a delight to have a family knife like that. If my grandfather had any old knives to pass along, I never found out -- though I did end up with his M1911A1 (real-deal Springfield Armory, was on the beach on Dec. 7th). Coincidentally, I carried my (much MUCH newer) 7588 all week last week... :mrgreen:
35252180534_9951a2ac59_b.jpg
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rangerbluedog
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Re: What are these United...?

Post by rangerbluedog »

tongueriver wrote:It is my impression that Boker knives marked UNITED are at least partially of Chinese origin. Any thoughts are welcome.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Boker-C ... SwdNFZdRx4
The United Bokers were made by Boker in Solingen Germany circa 1984-1994.
United Cutlery partnered with H. Boker to bring these into the U.S.
United Cutlery was a company formed by Kevin Pipes (SMKW), John Parker, David Hall (Blue Ridge Knives), and Phil Martin (Blue Ridge Knives).
If you look closely at the shield, you will notice it is a combination of the UNITED CUTLERY globe and the Boker TREE trademark.
-Blue
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tongueriver
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Re: What are these United...?

Post by tongueriver »

Thank you! Much appreciated.
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