Boker Damast 1998 Titanium Limited Edition Tactical Knife Damascus Blade

I purchased this knife 23 years after it was originally made, so to say this is a rare bird is an understatement. I was after a well crafted knife that showed off true old school Damascus forging. Over the last 20 years there has been amazing progress with blade steel and new ways to craft Damascus like look, often with superior edge retention and stainless properties. However, I was on the lookout for a masterpiece in the old school format true hand forged steel and in this case, coming from the industry giant Manfred Sachse. Boker Damast 1998 has an amazing blade and beautiful modern handle. The cutouts further enhance and showcase the blade steel even when closed which may be the favorite aspect of this knife. The blade is effectively always the center of attention. Blue accents on the edge of the cutouts and inner blade lock add just a touch of color to offset the clean lines. The unique titanium thumb stud adds a great final touch. At 4" closed its perfect for gentleman's carry. Almost 1" wide at the base of the blade this is a larger belly than many smaller pocket knives, providing ample real estate to fully show off the curves and patterns of the steel rolled over and over again upon itself. It feels small in the pocket, it is well balanced and easy in the hand. Liner lock engages with a strong click, if not a bit early on the blade, but this is obviously not something you are doing heavy cutting with. All around beautiful blade and special especially given the sheer rarity of being a limited edition from over 20 years ago. Special call out to EK. This was listed under custom and not previously owned section. I bought on faith wondering what quality I would ultimately receive. To my utter amazement the knife came in what I would have expected from the factory. Original packaging impeccable, paperwork and even inner protective plastic sleeve. I would not be able to say this knife had ever been used. So hats off to EK for somehow providing for sale a 23 year old, limited edition knife which to the best of my ability couldn't find for sale anyplace else on the Internet. This knife is so rare I am unaware of another review and maybe a half dozen unique pictures scattered through various sites if you look hard enough. I wanted to write this up for anyone who might find another and wanted to know whether to make the plunge. I highly recommend the knife so if you should actually ever see one of the few in circulation again, recommend you act quickly.