Boker Plus 02BO272 Vox Rold Knife with 6 in. Straight Edge Blade, Black

D2 steel is not stainless, so care should be taken, especially around salt water. Just use a little common sense and it should be fine. As heat treated by Boker, D2 will take and hold an extremely fine edge, and will remain sharp quite well. As with any good knife, it is not an axe or hatchet or shovel, and should not be thrown. It is made to do knife things and will do them quite well. It comes very sharp out of the box, but a better edge can be put on it (some say D2 is hard to sharpen - more common sense required). The G10 handle is one of the most comfortable handles on a knife this size by any maker. Boker has managed a contour and surface that makes the handle want to be held. It is just comfortable in hand. It fits my size large hands nicely, and my much smaller wife says it is very comfortable for her. The large finger choil allows a better grip for delicate or close work. The two large holes in the handle are neat and someone might find a good use for them. The handle is attractive with the black G10 and red liners. The lanyard that comes with the knife is just in the way for most things. The blade is stone washed, or some such, which might help deter rust, but will at least prevent bright reflections. I have been using D2 knives for 40 years and have had no problem with rust under normal camping/hunting conditions. The blade size and design are excellent, the flat grind being a great choice for a knife of this size and style. I have collected knives since 1967, and after purchasing and using one of these knives, I bought 6 more for gifts to nephews. If a 6" blade on a general purpose knife will suit your needs, this may be as good as it gets. The knife, itself, is excellent and would be fine if it were your only blade. However, the sheath is as bad as the knife is good. The Kydex portion of the sheath does not fit the blade tightly, so it rattles. Loudly. The sheath does retain the knife well, so it will not fall out accidentally. Of course, if it did fall out you would immediately notice the lack of rattling. I have seen videos showing how to tighten the sheath to end the rattling. Not a hard job. But once you get rid of the rattle, there is the attachment system. The piece itself is fairly well designed for belt carry but the way it attaches to the Kydex sheath is a testament to poor design decisions. There is no good way to carry the knife with the supplied attachment piece. Can't be done. That leaves the choice of making a new attachment system, or purchasing a different sheath. Rather than spend another $50 to $100 on a good sheath, I contacted Boker. They make a version of this knife in SK5 steel, black finish, olive drab handle with red spacers (SK5 is an excellent steel, but more prone to rust than D2 - personal choice). The SK5 knife comes with an excellent sheath. I had several very friendly conversations with someone at Boker about purchasing some of the SK5 sheaths. Seemed to be going well until I told her I needed 7 of them. Didn't hear any more from them. Becker knives have a good sheath system for less than $20 that will fit this knife, and if you are willing to form some Kydex you can customize the liner. That is the route I took and am very happy with the result. Overall, one of the best knives made by a production knife maker. Terrible sheath.

I cannot dote on this blade enough. This look, at first a simulacrum to a custom knife, is what attracted me to the knife from the get go. The knife's full flat grind shears and passes through material like no other grind available, and this grind wears more economically over time as you sharpen the blade, as the edge will not become noticeably thicker as the steel recedes toward the spine. Saber grinds are notorious for thickening up over time. The handle is a pleasure to hold, smooth and comfortable it fits my medium to large sized hands like a custom mold. The black scales with red spacers is an attractive color pattern. The thick, full tang is complemented with two generous lanyard holes that also lighten the knife. Holistically the knife has excellent balance, dead center with a choil that rests on your index finger. The blade is a classical bowie design, with a thick tip excellent for piercing with authority. The D2 steel on this knife is perhaps the best steel I have ever worked with. I own many, many knives. Spyderco, Cold Steel, SOG, KaBar, etc, and no steel I have used yet has impressed me this much. This was surprising after the reviews where D2 is questioned so heavily. It sharpened like a dream after a few quick strokes. The most impressive display from this knife came just a few weeks ago. I took this blade on a survival sabbatical for about two days. I thrashed this sucker, batoning through hard wood the thickness of my calf (I didn't bring a saw) and splitting ample kindling. I took it through the paces, making a shelter, starting a medium sized fire, carved feather sticks, split more wood, carved stakes, split more wood, shaved curls, split more wood, etc. The knife was going to be dull, I was sure of that. My Cold Steel SRK came out fairly dull after similar experiences, as well as larger blades like my KaBar Big Brother and SOG Jungle Canopy. After returning home, I inspected the edge... It shaved hair off my arm, edge completely untouched. I couldn't believe it. Holding the blade to a light source to visually pick out any dull spots (you can see reflections off dull portions of a used edge) there were about three ridiculously small points that reflected back along the entirety of the 5'' edge. The rest was, obviously, hair popping sharp. There are knives out there you could cut paper once with, and would show dulling along the edge. I split wood for hours and set up an entire camp, not to mention batoning through hard wood like a savage, only to return with an edge that I could strop to a razor without touching a whetstone, is astounding to a knife fanatic like me. This steel is surperb. Sure it might rust on you if you if you salt water dive and then leave it in the sheath. But by using common sense (oiling it after use) you will have no problems with this D2. The Rold is now my go to survival knife. The design is impeccable, and any knife lover will easily recognize and appreciate its outstanding qualities. I plan to use this knife for the rest of my life. Its a worthy investment. Oh, and the sheath it comes with is a joke. I use the sheath from my Cold Steel Bushman instead. Many other owners have sheaths made for their Rolds. Still, the knife is paragon, you won't regret this hefty purchase for the performance of a custom S30V blade at 1/4 the price.

I got this knife for camping. I wanted a knife that was tough enough to take a beating, but with a higher end steal so it could hold a edge for a while. Most wilderness knifes seem to be made out of 1095 carbon steal. It's not a bad chose it gets sharp and takes a beating with out shattering. But other steals get much sharper and hold the edge much longer. Carbon steal also rusts and if left in a drawer will dull just from contact with air. But most high end knife steals that get that sharp and hold it will break if abused. I wanted a knife I could use like an ax, pound it into branches with a large stick, and take a sharp long lasting edge. In comes the D2 steal this knife is made out of. It has a higher chromium content, which makes it stain resistant (not stainless), but not too brittle. It is a mid point between high end stainless steals and tough carbon steal. I've taken it out and abused it and used it for a week. And I'll say it takes that beating just fine, and it hold it's edge quite well, much better than carbon does. And as for how sharp it gets, I sharped it after that week and it gets real sharp. Sharp enough to cut the live blank out of me.It slipped out of my hand when I was washing the oil off, it was heaver than I was used to. That brings me to the only thing I would change. It's big and heavy. I knew that going in so I'm not holding it against it. But for hiking its bigger and heaver then you'd need. I wish Boker made a smaller version maybe 4.75" blade. But they don't, and the only other knife I found with D2 steal was a Kbar that wasn't any smaller, and was ill suited to wilderness use.

Knife is of high quality. Each knife is numbered, and has "D2" steel indication on a blade with Boker logo. Blade is thick (close to 5 mm), sharp out of box, has very accurate and precise grinding. On a box attached sticker with bar-code stated "Made in China". Not sure if box only made in China, or knife as well. In any way, the knife's quality is better then expected. On a knife itself no indication where it is made.Sheath is garbage. When locked, knife rattles inside and it is impossible to pull the knife with one hand.Overall impression - I would recommend this product if for an owner is not a problem to modify a sheath, otherwise - look for something else.

I give the knife itself 5 stars. It is sturdy and came paper shaving sharp out of the box. The G-10 scales are precision fitted to a beefy full tang, and the D2 steel will hold an edge for many a skinned deer, grouse or rabbit or whittled feather sticks without needing a sharpening or even a touch up. The ergonomics are excellent.There seems to be a lot of confusion about the specs of this knife, so I'll just answer them. I measured. Some have stated the knife weighs in at over 13 ounces, others at about 10. I weighed it--it weighs 10.1 oz exactly, and I know my scale is accurate.The blade, measured from front of the scales to point along the spine is 6 5/16 inches. Minus the choil, the cutting edge is 5 5/16 inches. The knife is 11 3/16 inches long overall and 3/16" thick at the scales. The hilt is a roomy 4.875 inches--adequate for even large hands--which it manages by skipping useless (but popular, tacticool/bushcraft-fad) features like skull-crusher/hammer pommels or rear-end lanyard loops. (Honest to the gods, who in his/her right mind hammers with a knife? If you need to hammer a stake that bad, carry a light hatchet or just pick up a rock. A lanyard has a little more usefulness, especially if you're on the water, but only fools and pretend experts chop and baton wood with a knife. If you don't like my opinion, just bear in mind, I actually live in wilderness and have done so most of my life. This is reality, where I have to live from and by the land, not whittle spoons like some bushcraft fad nonsense a la Bear Gryllis I'm talking about.)The choil is brilliantly cut and fits me perfectly. The back of the edge is angled pointward so it doesn't bite as you use the choil. I have large hands and the entire grip is very comfortable. I find it a bit slippery compared to the Kraton handle of my Cold Steel Trail Master, or even Zytel (like you might see on the SOG Seal Pup Elite). But that is not to say it is slippery. Just different. No texture. It is more like ivory. It lacks texture and so has a classic feel--you know, before the days when knives got to be the bushcrafter's version of haut fashion, and hilts were made from leather, horn and bone. (Yeah, the good days.) The knife is a drop point but the drop is slight and the spine is not clipped. It is a very tough, beefy blade. It manages the moderate 10.1 oz weight by virtue of the well executed flat grind. All machining and engineering is excellent, perfectly fitted, seamless. Everything about this knife is trim but by design manages to be very strong. Given the quality of the craftsmanship, I think this knife would have cost between $300 and $500 had it been made in the USA or Europe.I bought this knife for a general purpose hunting and woods knife. The design looked instantly perfect, from the full flat grind to the thick slight drop point profile; a very-not-tacticool, woodsman kind of design. I live in the Canadian north woods, and it is right for so much of what I do. The slight drop point and full belly will make it a somewhat large but good skinner for anything from grouse to trout to deer. The great sharpness will make it good for foraging wild plants and mushrooms. Unlike bushcrafters, I don't make the mistake of trying to use knives as axes. Knife steel must be much harder perforce than hatchet steel, and so all knives will be brittle compared to an axe or hatchet. Like most Canadian woodsmen, I prefer to bring a hatchet or small axe into the woods with me if I need to cut wood. But while deer hunting today I carved some mighty fine feather sticks just to see what it could manage. The knife will hold a razor edge. And because of the D2 steel, it will hold it and hold it and hold it.People say the D2 steel is hard to sharpen. Nonsense! It will take a bit more effort than softer 1095 or 5160 or even AUS8, but if you know what you're doing and have the right tools, it can be sharped just fine. Japanese water stones at about 800, 1200 and 4000 grit will do the job. You can use diamond stones if you want to go faster, but at the expense of a sloppier edge. For those that prefer to go fast (and at great risk to the blade), you can use a belt sharpener like the Worksharp. The Worksharp is a popular tool but slip up and you can wreck a blade in an instant. I tried it and hated it. Give me sharpening stones and a leather strop any day! It takes longer but you get much greater quality--as is usually the case when you compared machine done to done by hand.Now for the negative, and probably why this knife remains a sleeper despite the otherwise excellent design and engineering that went into it. The sheath–not to put too fine a point on it–is total fubar, and I mean TOTAL. The knife rattles in the sheath terribly. The so-called belt clip that comes with it barely fits the sheath. It’s like Boker said, “Let’s make one of the most brilliant knife designs ever contrived, and let’s just throw this old scrap plastic in there for a sheath, and this old scrap plastic in there for a belt hook.” Truth is, I love the knife, but it needs a useful sheath. I don’t even consider the one it came with serviceable. If you buy this knife, you get quality far exceeding a RAT 7, Esee 6, BK2, SRK, etc. But you will have to buy a custom sheath for it, or make one yourself, and that’s going to add at least $20 to its cost. As D2 steel can rust (despite some stainless qualities), I strongly suggest Kydex or some other polymer sheath. (Hint: the BK22 sheath, designed for the Kabar Becker BK2, and available from Kabar for $25, fits nearly perfectly. The Spec Ops 6″-8″ sheath is also an excellent option, and a little tougher, but more than twice as expensive.)I give this knife full marks for quality. The sheath, really, should just be tossed out. It is not even as good as the junk sheaths that tend to come with Ontario knives. However, many great knife makers can't seem to figure out how to make a good sheath, or just plain cut corners on sheaths. You see this a lot with Tops, Ontario and some otherwise good knifemakers.I have come to the conclusion the knife is good enough to warrant the expense of an aftermarket sheath and just ordered BK-22 nylon sheath. I also heated the Kydex sheath that came with this Vox Rold in boiling water and pressed it between wood til it cooled, which narrowed it enough to reduce the rattle. I found a way to force the belt hook to work serviceably though it unavoidably carries the knife quite high on the belt. However, I am immeasurably happy with the knife itself and the BK-2 nylon sheath works perfectly with it.

The shipping from Amazon lightening fast as usual. The three stars are mostly due to the fact that the knife looked used out of the box. The Boker seal was off and the knife scales and liners looked dirty and faded. Everyone has stated the sheath is garbage, so I didn't have high hopes for it. And yes the knife does rattle and the sheath and clip aren't the best quality. The knife itself is beautiful, razor sharp and light considering it is a decent size. The handle is thin for my hands which are about average, comfortable but not a sturdy feeling. It looks like there's going to be no problem in terms of performance. A bit disappointing to see as this was the last knife. I inspected the knife further and noted a few imperfections on the top of the blade as well as the micarta scales. Seeing as this was about a 200 dollar knife this is unacceptable, was going to keep it initially but decided against it in the end.

For the price, not at all impressed. I'll start with the sheath. It is the absolute worst sheath I have ever seen. It is kydex, but it's like they took it from a different knife of similar size, and said close enough. Super, super loose in the sheath, however, takes a definite two hands to draw the knife. I would say nearly impossible to draw one handed from your belt. The knife itself is decent. Very similar to the Esee 6. The major issue with it I have, is the finger guard is sharp bare steel, which easily creates a hot spot on my index finger. I also find the handle doesn't quite fill my hand the way I would like it to. If you buy this knife, be prepared to have a custom sheath made for it.