Why Are Knife Nerds So Obsessed With This Weird, Inexpensive Pocket Knife?

Big-name designer. Marquee materials. Exorbitant pricing. Impossible to find. Typically, a “grail knife” has at least one of those qualities, if not several, which only contributes to its lore. 

Then there’s a knife like the one we are talking about today, which has none of those traits, but does have multiple Reddit threads dedicated to photos of and commentary upon it, each with a healthy sprinkling of “grail”-level reverence. So, what exactly is the deal with the Boker Magnum Rainbow Mermaid, anyway?

Boker

Boker Magnum Rainbow Mermaid

• $35 at BladeHQ
  $43 (19% off)

Just a bit fishy

At its core, this knife is pretty unspectacular. Part of Boker’s affordable Magnum series, it features a 3.74-inch drop-point blade made of 440A, which the brand itself calls “a decent starter steel.”

The handle is made of stainless steel, the pocket clip is of the deep carry variety, and when deployed the blade is held in place with a liner lock. Its overall length is 8.62 inches and it weighs 6.35 ounces.

Boker

These relatively pedestrian specs have, however, been brought to life in quite an eye-catching way. A fetching sea siren beckons from the ridge of the blade, the handle is adorned with a scaly texture and holes in the blade recall undersea bubbles.

The metal itself is iridescent, not unlike the scales of a fish, and let’s not forget the clever coup de grâce — the tab you use to deploy the blade is in fact the mermaid’s tail. Hence, as Redditor Perioscope has pointed out, the flipper’s flipper is a flipper.

No less an authority than BladeHQ rhapsodizes: “For those who haven’t heard its siren’s song, wax your ears now or risk the expansion of your knife collection: The Boker Mermaid is a knife possessed with the sensual grace of man’s better half, and the unfathomable allure of the unknowable ocean.”

Here’s to cheap thrills

Whether or not they are taking the piss, let’s be honest: Not unlike a Gordita Crunch, this knife is incredibly cheesy and gimmicky. It’s inauthentic, cheap and not exactly good for you.

But just as there is Mexican food and then there’s Taco Bell, there are grail knives and then there is the Mermaid. While you respect and value the former, sometimes you just crave the guilty pleasure of the latter. That appeal — and perhaps the opportunity to troll your buddies — appears to be what’s going on here.

Boker

All that said, the Mermaid is a perfectly functional and reliable pocket knife — not to mention a guaranteed conversation starter, as we are reminded by this priceless Reddit exchange.

“Looks like something I could find in a Texas gas station.”

“Ya, that’s the point.”

Boker

Boker Magnum Rainbow Mermaid

• $35 at BladeHQ
  $43 (19% off)

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