Today I'll be review a new slip joint folder from Boker called the slack. Or as Jason
Statham might say... BOW-KUH.
The Boker Plus slack is a lightweight pocket knife... a traditional style that has a useful
blade size and is light in the pocket. As evidenced by the dimensions like the overall
weight and length. The blade size and cutting edge... very usable...
The handle size and grip area... not too small.. the the handle thickness and weight.
Since this is a traditional knife... that's
code for no pocket clip and non locking. But let's start with the blade made from VG-10
steel... VG10 steel as you know is a steel a lot of knife guys have moved on from...
but I still like. It works great a a slightly hard steel found in Spyderco knives like the
endura 4 or delica 4 which are popular and affordable. I like VG10 and it sharpens
easily for me, and the horizontal brushed satin finish is subtle but slightly unusual.
The blade shape is a clip point, and the grind looks to be a flat grind... it's entirely
possible it's a subtle hollow grind but I don't see the concave shape. The blade length
on this is adequate for most EDC tasks like cardboard fisticuffs food prep. The blade
has some logos on it denoting it's in fact a Boker Plus, blade steel, and it's a Raphael
Durand design. He's a french dude that makes knives. This knife is manufactured in Taiwan.
The handle... now I know it's not talked about
much, because there's not much of a way around it... but pocket clips always hurt ergonomics.
Since this has no pocket clip, the thin longer than you'd expect handle fits comfortably
in my hand. I can get a nice tight grip around the G10 scales without finger crowding.
It's a compact knife, but it also has the functionality of a larger blade. The G10 scales
are smooth and lightly textured but not slick... the liner is nested and skeletonized... to
make the handle slim in overall thickness and light. It has a lanyard hole in the
back, has a closed back design and comes with a small leather pouch. Now the absence
of a pocket clip means this blade isn't for everyone- I see it being popular for people
who need a light duty functional knife.. for places that have worser knife laws... for
people not in the jungle baby. I would have liked to see a clip on the pouch though...
that way it could fit in a pocket vertically, and not fall to the bottom horizontally.
Which brings me to the deployment. Now if
you have old pocket knives, you know they're functional tools and not fidget toys like
most modern fast deploying tactical survival self defense urban warfare rambo fighting
things. This knife can not be deployed or put away with a single hand. So let's cover
deployment in the only way I've really found. First you have the knife... opening it is
easy, one hand on the handle and pull out the blade. Even without a thumb knick you
can do it easily. Cool... putting away is tricky. I handed the knife to a coworker
and he was like.... I'm scared. While the blade doesn't lock... when open it's held
into place tightly...you hold the handle without having your fingers in the way of closing...
apply a good amount of pressure to the front 2/3 of the blade... not the clip point tip...
and it breaks once... then there's a second much easier break and you close it the rest
of the way. Blade retention when closed is excellent as you might assume with the
very deliberate way you have to close the knife. I will assume the reason the blade
is so firm when it's open it to fucntion sort of like a locking blade but without being
one. I'd be lying if I'd say the clip point didn't bite me a few times when closing the
blade.
Ok let's wrap it up, while I cut boxes, from all the crap I've been getting lately.
This is an interesting folder... judging from Mr. Durands website, he's a fan of traditional
functional tools and not ridiculous tactical weaponry. Not that there's anything wrong
with that. You're like wrong with which one. This is a knife older european men,
with excellent hand strength might appreciate best. It has excellent ergonomics when using...
a long functional edge, good blade steel... and it looks slick. But it requires a deliberate
thought process when closing the blade. Boker provided a reduced cost sample for me to review...
so thanks to them. And if I'm not mistaken and I often am, this is the first review anywhere
of the knife. If you like this review and like this channel... make sure you subscribe
comment and give the video a thumbs up. Thanks for watching.