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Böker Puts Subtle Twists into Traditional Design with the Caballero

March 27, 2020

Among the inbound Böker Plus releases is the Caballero. This knife leans into traditional folding knife visuals while quietly incorporating more modern features.

It isn’t accurate to call the Caballero a “modern traditional” per se; rather, it is a mostly faithful adaptation of classic folding knife tropes, with a few key updates to make it more relatable to users used to modern folder design. The basic pattern it adapts is that of the mid-size lockback folding knife, a standby for the most any reasonable definition of EDC. Whittling, opening boxes, slicing an apple – these are the kinds of chores the Caballero aims to accomplish.

It does so with a 3.03-inch blade that sports a classical, narrow drop point blade that opens via nail mark. D2 has been making inroads in the budget-conscious lineup of pretty much every knife company, so it’s no surprise to see it here as well, with the capable, venerable semi-stainless replacing more common Böker Plus candidates like 440C. The swap in blade steel should give users a bit more edge retention at the expense of rust resistance.

The Caballero’s handle hews to tradition in its materials, with a stainless steel frame and bolsters and cocobolo wood covers. However, there are two somewhat subtle modern elements at play here too. The first is the overall handle profile, which is a bit more aggressively shaped than the traditional bow-shaped handle of the folders the Caballero references. In particular, the curvature towards the back of the spine provides a more sophisticated ergonomic setup than other knives of its ilk.

The second modern twist is less visible. Böker has outfitted the Caballero with a new, patented lockback mechanism. The difference is one of construction: rather than the standard tension spring, Böker’s mechanism uses a smaller, more compact wire bail. The result is a mechanism that functions the same way but takes up less space in the overall construction of a knife. Thanks at least in part to this, the Caballero is light for its size, weighing just 2.75 oz.

The Caballero is slated to be available in May. There is no price in USD yet but the price in euros is 79.95 €.

Knife in Featured Image: Böker Caballero

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