Knife Review: Boker Plus Urd 2.0 Fixed Blade Neck Knife

The Boker Plus Urd 2.0 Fixed Blade Neck Knife

A huge chestnut tree towering above the small Boker hardware factory in the 17^th century is the oldest traceable fact about the Boker family. Apparently Boker tools were very successful on the markets, as they were ranked among the leading manufactured goods in Germany and neighboring countries hundred years later on.

Due to rising demand in a politically restless era Hermann and Robert Boker decided to start with the production of sabers in 1829. Inventories of September 1830 had already proven a weekly production of 2000 pieces made by 64 smiths, 47 grinders and a large number of workers and trainees. With a permanently growing product line of tools and cutlery and the great opportunities of global sales, the family saw the need to distribute the tasks to make the best use of their interests. So, Hermann Boker emigrated to found Boker & Co. in New York, whereas the younger Robert established his company in Canada and in 1865 a branch in Mexico, being the market leaders under the name of Casa Boker until today.

Heinrich only crossed the river Wupper to go to Solingen, where the German cutlery industry was booming. Together with the well-known cutlery expert Hermann Heuser he founded Heinr. Boker & Co. in 1869.

The relationship between the two Boker companies has always been very friendly. Heinrich was allowed to take the tree brand with him across the river without any troubles or payments. Since then not a single product has left the Solingen factory without this sign. After over 100 years of existence the venerable tree was cut down by a stroke of lightning in 1925. A gifted artist carved an image of the majestic tree into a piece of original trunk which adorns the CEO´s office in Solingen.

The US market quickly became Boker`s most important sales territory. In 1900 most of the production was shipped to the US and H. Boker & Co. in New York was more and more concentrating on products from the Solingen production. The demand for pocket-knives soon beats that for other products like scissors or razors. The demand on the products increased faster than the production capacities in Solingen, so the Bokers from New York decided to start their own pocket-knife production to which pliers were added later on. Because of the tree-brand being well established by then and the good understanding within the international Boker family, there wasn´t any problem to get permission from Solingen to use the tree-brand for American made products as well. Since then there have been two different product lines of Boker knives on the US market with identical logos and sometimes even identical item numbers; one product line Made in USA, the other product line Made in Solingen, only to be differentiated by the markings "Boker USA" or "H. Boker Improved Cutlery Solingen".

Today we will be discussing one of BladeOps’ newest arrivals, the Boker Plus Urd 2.0 Fixed Blade neck knife.

Boker Plus:

This neck knife does fall under the sub-brand of Boker, the Boker Plus brand. When Boker is describing this brand, they say, “In close cooperation with international acknowledged experts from military, police and security we develop and test tactical knives for the professional user. Boker Plus knives are innovative in terms of function and design, as well as guaranteed for everyday use. Conception, design and construction are carried out in Solingen, and production takes place in Europe, the USA and Asia.”

The Blade:

The blade on this knife is made out of D2 steel. This is a tool steel that is known as a semi-stainless, because it falls just short of the required amount of chromium, which is 13%. Even though it is not a fully stainless steel, it does give you a good amount of resistance to corrosion. In the tool steels, D2 is much harder than the rest and it will hold an edge a little better than the rest. Also, it is not as tough as many other steels and much harder to sharpen. To get a fine edge on the steel, you do need to be a master sharpener.

All in all, it is the hardness that you will most likely get the biggest advantage out of. With a knife like this one that you are going to be relying on, you want it to be hard enough to do some damage. Plus, the hardness will allow it to hold its edge for long periods of item, which is ideal. Especially since you won’t want to have a little neck knife like this one requires that much maintenance.

The blade has been finished in a stonewashed finish. The stonewashed finish is one of the more rugged finishes that you are likely to find in a variety of places. The stonewashed finish is a popular finish, because of the benefits that it adds to the blade.

For starters, we should go over how the stonewashed finish is created. The steel is tumbled with small ceramic pebbles, or stones, which rough up the surface of the blade. This creates a textured look, which the stonewashed finish is known for. At this point, the steel is removed, smoothed out, and polished. This keeps the textured appearance in the steel, but it does make the steel smooth, like it needs to be.

This textured look works to hide scratches and smudges, which is one of the reasons that the stonewashed finish is so great: with the scratches and smudges hidden, there is less maintenance to do. The stonewashed finish also cuts down on glares and reflections. However, since this is a neck knife, this characteristic is not nearly as important as it is on a tactical knife.

The blade has been carved into a cleaver style blade, which is certainly a unique blade shape. Especially for a neck knife. This blade is very similar to the kitchen cleaver, which means that this pocket knife is going to excel at cutting, slicing, and chopping. This is because the blades are more solidly built than many of the other pocket knife popular shapes. One of the benefits is that even though this knife can fit in your pocket, you are going to be able to take on almost any task with it.

The shape is made up of a spine that extends straight form the handle to about 7/8 of the way up the knife. At this point, it curves down to the point. The point is known as a false point, because where the point normally lies, it actually has not even been sharpened. And, where the cutting-edge ends, there is no “point.” This does mean that there is not going to be any accidental stabbings, which can make this a good rescue knife. However, it also means that it is not going to be a good general utility knife, because you are not going to be able to stab with it, even if you wanted to. The belly on this knife is closer to non-existent than anything else. However, there is a very slight curve to it. You may be able to slice some, but don’t try to rely on that at all. Again, this means that it is not going to be a good general utility blade.

On the spine of this neck knife, there is a row of thicker jimping, which can be crucial for giving you the control you need—even in terrifying situations or messy environments.

The Handle:

While the handle is made out of G-10, which is strong and tough, that is not what sets this handle apart. Instead, like most neck knives, it is designed to give you the best grip that you could imagine from such a small handle. The spine angles upward from the blade to about 1/8^th of the way of the handle. This angled portion is also equipped with thick jimping to give you better control. After that, the handle angles straight toward the butt, which is concavely rounded. The belly is also designed for grip, with two major finger grooves. These grooves allow you to really get a hold on this knife while using it.

The Mechanism:

This is a full-tang fixed blade. A full tang just means that the handle and the blade are made out of the same piece of metal. This means that there are no weaker spots where the blade and the handle have been welded together. This means that the knife is going to be durable and reliable when you need it most.

Because it is a fixed blade, the blade is going to be thicker than you would find on a classic folding knife. This means that it is going to be stronger and more durable. This also leads to the knife being more reliable for the moments when you need it most. This is especially important when it comes to a neck knife, because you are going to be using this for self-defense in particular. You cannot have it breaking when you use it to push into a harder target. And this steel, blade shape, and full tang characteristics will guarantee that this is less likely to happen.

The Sheath:

The sheath that comes with this Boker neck knife is made out of Kydex. Kydex is a man-made, modern material that is often used in creating holsters and sheaths. There are a couple of different advantages to having a sheath made for this modern material.

The first is that it is waterproof, scratch resistant, and it is also stretch and shrink resistant. Not only is it waterproof, but it is incredibly durable and stable, meaning you can have it with you in a variety of extreme situations—including humidity and salt water. It is also going to stay unaffected by many different chemicals. Because of all of these advantages, it really doesn’t require any maintenance. This is perfect for a knife that you are going to have with you constantly. This sheath allows you to be prepared for nearly any situation that may come your way, because it is going to protect your neck knife so well.

However, there are disadvantages to this sheath material. The biggest complain about Kydex is that it is not silent. It is actually not anywhere near silent, which means you definitely can’t be sneaking around if you are going to need to withdraw your blade. The next is that it is stretch proof. This means that if the sheath does not fit your knife perfectly, there is going to be a rattle when you move. The last, another big one, is that you do risk dulling your blade’s edge with repeated withdrawal and replacing of your knife. Of course, with a neck knife, you probably won’t be pulling out your blade all that often, so the dulling really should not be too big of a drawback.

The Specs:

The blade on this knife measures in at 2.4 inches long, with a blade thickness of 0.2 inches thick. The overall length of this neck knife is 4.1 inches. This is an ideal size for a neck knife, because you do not want it to be too large, otherwise it will be clunky to wear around. That being said, you do not want it to be miniscule, because than it would not be able to defend you in the ways that you need it to. This tiny knife weighs in at 3.4 ounces.

Conclusion:

This fixed blade knife features black G-10 handle scales, a cleaver style blade in a stonewash finish and includes a black kydex sheath.

The new Urd 2.0 is a revolutionary new fixed blade neck knife that gives the user options to custom fit their knife with the use of a 3-D printer or with designer Midgards-Messer custom-order website. Even without the customization, this knife offers a firm grip despite its compact construction and the tool steel on the blade will hold up to tougher-than-normal tasks.

This Boker neck knife is currently in stock at BladeOps. Click here to purchase it today.