Knives forged from the barrels of the German Leopard Main Battle Tank
Recently we gave you a look down the 155 mm barrel M109 Howitzer. Now it’s time for something similar, yet different.
Böker Knives, from the City of Blades Solingen (Germany), have been making blades since 1869. Some 150 years later TFB is happy to report about a knife with some pretty cool ingredients: Barrel Steel from the Leopard Main Battle Tank.
Boker takes the gun barrel steel of the legendary Leopard Main Battle Tank. The steel is then forged by hand into a Damascus steel. The quality of the steel is said to be excellent, but I have a feeling most of these knives will remain unused in collectors hands.
According to Boker, this specialty steel was never available to the open market as it was only used for the military. Boker added a chromium-manganese and vanadium tool steel alloy, which is said to create an extremely wear-resistant steel. The result is a high hardness for Damascus steel (61-63 HRC).
Leopard-Damascus II – The successor of our first knife with a Damascus blade forged out of the barrel of the German battle tank Leopard I. The edge holding ability is much higher compared to what other steel can achieve. A hardness of 61-63 HRC gives you an indication what to expect.
The Leopard-Damascus II uses a Damascus pattern called Large Pyramid. The handle material is hard-coated 6061-T6 aluminum with Ziracote wood inserts. The clip can be switched for tip-up or tip-down carry.
The knife includes a certificate of authenticity and a wooden presentation box.
Unfortunately, there are zero Leopard Main Battle Tanks in this video, but a lot of knives made from some of it.
The third generation of the Boker Leopard-Damascus knife is entirely manufactured by hand with over 300 layers of Damascus steel. The three different steel types can clearly be distinguished in every blade, and one of the layers will be from the Leopard MBT.
The Leopard Damascus blades from Böker are priced from 685 to 765 USD. You can find the selection here at Boker USA.
In case that is too much, you can still own a piece of a Leopard’s barrel for about 65 USD, with the Boker Leopard Damascus Bottle Opener.
Ex-Arctic Ranger. Competitive practical shooter and hunter with a European focus. Always ready to increase my collection of modern semi-automatics, optics, thermals and suppressors. TCCC Certified. Occasionaly seen in a 6x6 Bug Out Vehicle, always with a big smile.
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For $800 you'd think they would make one for Lefties. But no! No left-handed liner locks for you!
By the way, which layer is the barrel steel?
If memory serves me from my time at Ft. Knox during OSUT Scout training, the Leopard II and M1 Abrams share the same barrel, only difference is the tungsten/depleted uranium rounds put through it. That has to be some high quality metal to handle those kinds of pressures and heat.
Cool knife, now we just need an American company to do the same, I am certain we have worn out a few barrels from the M1 these last 20 years.