Boker Plus Sniper Bladeworks S-2 Folding Knife
The Boker Plus team puts out a pretty decent piece here, even though its made in China. Sniper Bladeworks’ distinctive design style is very apparent here in the S2, and it is a very attractive design to me. I love wide profile blades, and the S2 certainly has one of those.
Sniper Bladeworks is a well respected custom knifemaking team made up of 4 members, all with slightly different skill sets that add to the value of their knives. Neat story behind the team and its an interesting approach to knifemaking. I have always wanted one of their custom pieces, but for now will have to settle with the production collaborations. The S-2 is a great design and well-made piece from Boker that is made in China.
Blade
Extra-Wide profile, full flat ground blade, that actually has a very thin cutting edge. This is a good slicer. The Blade steel is 440C, which is a very good steel. In fact, 15 or so years ago, it was considered pretty premium stuff. The finish is a really cool, rough stonewash affair and gives it just that extra bit of grit and styling that makes it look like a mall ninja tacticool piece of hardware. I’ll admit it.. I am a sucker for tacticool. The blade is opened via a trigger and has no thumbstud, so you have to make sure you give it enough of a flick so it opens all the way. This might be a turn-off for some buyers that plan to use this knife as an EDC. I personally don’t mind it.
Handle
Bone-stock black G-10 handle with grooves on one side of the handle and a pocket clip on the other. The pocket clip is reversible, but I just realized while writing this that if the pocket clip is used in tip down configuration, the end of the clip sticks out past the handle edge. That seems like a pretty big oversight, unless I am missing something here.
The G-10 glass fiber handle feels like the lower quality type of finished G-10 that you see in the Cheaper Chinese knives. I don’t know how to describe it otherwise, but higher quality knives that use G-10 seem to have a more tactile feel to the G-10 while the cheaper Chinese knives have G-10 that feels more plasticky. Its still perfectly fine, especially in this price range, but the feel does not ooze quality.
Fit & Finish
Very good fit and finish for a $50 knife. Probably one of my favourite knives in this price segment. The Chinese know how to put together a $50 knife, that’s for sure. Good materials, good quality control, and good fit and finish. The blade play is minimal, and the lock up is solid with the stainless steel liners. There are very good attention to detail in the design and construction of the knife with the relief on the opposite side of the locking bar to aid in ease of unlocking the knife without compromising the integrity.
Overall
Great value here, guys. I really enjoy this knife and it cuts like a hot damn. The full flat grind makes it very versatile and the materials are all excellent for this price. The Sniper Bladeworks design is also a plus because you have a great, respected knife design team providing input for this knife.
Its a tacticool knife, but was probably designed as an all-round use knife to be good as a utility knife and to be used for self-defense if needed. The dropped blade edge makes it quite good for cutting chores on the camp site while the great ergonomic purchase of the handle makes it good for self-defense. Good overall performer, highly recommmended.
Specifications:
Overall Length: 8.75″
Blade Length: 4″
Weight: 5 oz.