REVIEW: Böker Plus Rold Black

The egg-laying woolly milk pig - with it everything would be so easy - but as it is in life, every thing has its purpose and can only do one thing really well. This also applies to knives. Although there are many all-purpose knives that fulfill multiple tasks, but usually there are compromises here and there, and also one cannot carry knives with a blade length over 12cm in Germany. Böker offers cost-effective utility knives for various purposes. Martin has taken a close look at the Böker Plus Rold Black for you and extensively tested it.

The Böker Rold is available in three variants: There is the Böker Plus Rold Scout (EDC variant), the Böker Plus Rold, and the Böker Plus Rold Black presented here.

The difference between the Plus Rold and the Plus Rold Black is actually only the blade and the material + color of the handle. While the uncoated Rold uses black G10 for the scales, the Rold Black uses fine brown linen micarta. Blade material, dimensions, weight, and accessories are exactly the same.

By the way, Böker produces individual knives in series according to designs by knife designers. Thus, the Rold by the Danish Jesper Voxnaes costs about 590€ if you can get it ...

Naturally, with such a long blade, it's difficult to spread butter on bread or perform other delicate tasks, but thanks to the finger recess at the end of the blade, the knife can be gripped short and used to make very fine tinder fans, for example.

When working longer with the finger recess, it is recommended to wear a glove, as the edge towards the handle is quite straight. On the top of the blade, three waves are integrated as thumb ramps. The overall length of the knife is 28cm.

The D2 steel is - as mentioned before - black coated and comes very sharp from the factory.

Unfortunately, the coating is not as durable as one would wish, so it can be seen on the pictures that it is already worn out after a few logs.

The handle of the Rold is beautifully crafted and firmly riveted to the steel. At first glance or grip, the whole thing seems quite thin, but thanks to the elevation in the middle and the thick pommel at the end, the knife fits perfectly in the hand.

For limb removal, you can also grip the handle behind the elevation (and secure it with a lanyard). For weight savings and as anchor points for the paracord, two large holes have been drilled. A subtle red lining can be found on the inside of the micarta scales, which do not close flush. Therefore, the steel of the handle can also be used as a hammer, etc.

The only really negative thing noticed is the accessories. While there is already a "kydex sheath" included, which securely locks the knife, the knife in it has so much play that it rattles unpleasantly. The quotation marks in front of the kydex sheath mean that the sheath is not really made of kydex. The material seems to be more like Zytel or similar - it is not easily workable. The supplied belt clip is okay - a Tec-Lock would have been better and more straightforward.

CONCLUSION: The Böker Rold Black has exactly the right size and weight to qualify as a camp knife. With the choice of D2 steel and micarta handle scales, Böker has created a very usable knife that you will like to use often. The blade coating could be a bit more abrasion-resistant and for the price, one could expect a better sheath, but fortunately, this is nothing that can be easily changed. In practical use, it performs very well and remains quite sharp even after several days of intense use.

You can get the Rold directly from Boker.de for 169€.