Review: Boker 343 scalpel folder

A while back I added a couple of new folders to my collection of pointies. Folding knives are easy to carry, easy to pack and easy to deploy. I've had little folders, from Swiss Army knives, to a more traditional liner lock pocket knife my cousin gave me and I lost in the deserts of the Arabian peninsula.

This delicate and swan-necked blade is the Boker 343, as far as I can tell, a little hard to tell for sure as it seems to be a discontinued line, although it is very similar to the current  Boker Urban Survival knife

This full gray titanium coated, 440C stainless steel blade features ambidextrous thumb bolts for ease of opening. The 5.6cm edge is straight and scalpel shaped, and only 1.9cm at its widest. The long straight edge makes for easy resharpening, although I haven't found I've needed to do much to keep it keen.  This is a paring knife, not a machete, that's for sure.

Featuring a pocket clip on one side, the textured aluminium alloy scales are well formed and fitted, sitting nicely in the hand.

The liner lock has a smooth finish, with little to no wobble to the blade when extended, or when sitting folded. The bolts holding the piece together are very neatly set, and tie the whole look together very nicely.

I liked the feel of the blade in the hand, and the scalpel like wield it offered. Again, this is a precision cutting tool, not a hacker, or slasher.

Slightly too big to fit easily in PALLS/MOLLE webbing, this blade does however sit very unobtrusively and nicely in the pen-slot of admin pockets. The biggest problem I have with it is the slightly awkward opening and closing arc the swan-neck affords when you engage the liner-lock.





For what it is, this is an elegant knife, and sits without drawing attention to itself in my day-bag, waiting for a time when I might need a cutting tool more suitable than the knife in my multitool.