Boker Kwaiken Lucas Burnley IKBS Knife
The Lucas Burnley designer Kwaiken folder from Boker Plus is a decently, and attractive looking piece of steel with obvious Japanese influences that appeals to the eyes, and feel sleek and slim in the hand. While its not perfect, it is an very nice folder to handle and appreciate.
Overall it is an admirable effort from Boker Plus, the budget Asian-made arm of Boker Germany. Designed by Lucas Burnley, from New Mexico, USA, it is based on his successful Kwaiken fixed blade model, and is also available in a titanium handled version folder. Its made in Taiwan, which is fast becoming a premier manufacturing country for precision sporting knives.
Blade
The blade is dark stonewashed AUS-8 Steel, and the stonewash finish resembles black, or Texas-tea finish. I believe the blade is etched first, and the stonewashed afterwards to create this effect. The blade rides on IKBS bearings, and opens extremely smoothly.. though this is also one of the problems. In making the knife so sleek and compact when closed, it makes the thumbdisk very difficult to get a grip on when closed, making it hard to open. This is kind of counter-productive to the IKBS bearings. Why would you put IKBS bearings on a knife that doesn’t have a flipper, and is so difficult to open? This is my biggest gripe with the knife.
Handle
The handle is green canvas micarta over stainless steel liners, and is very smooth and slender. It has a very pleasing look and feel, and provides a decent amount of grip for the handle shape. Since its so smooth, however, there is not very much else there for your fingers to grip on to. Combined with its very slender profile, it isn’t the most versatile knife to use under adverse conditions such as when wet or under duress such as in self-defense situations. But it does look very attractive.
Fit and Finish
The fit and finish is probably the strongest point of this knife. Its one of the better Boker Plus knives that I have handled, and priced quite attractively around $100 new from online sellers. I have not had the chance to handle the titanium handled version, which I suspect is even nicer, but this one is pretty darn good. I can see why Taiwan is gaining more and more fans for their production quality, because its justified. This is very well put together folder.
Overall
I think this is a good buy for collectors that don’t necessarily care if the knives they collect are practical and usable. Its an attractive, sleek and well-designed knife in terms of looks and feel. Its not really the best choice for an EDC or anything else for that matter. The Japanese inspired looks in a folder are really what is going to be the selling point here, and if that’s what you’re looking for, I would recommend this knife.