Böker’s Heckler & Koch line has two new folders, and both keep the color palette on a short leash. FD04 and FD05 wear black blades, black aluminum handles, and black hardware, with a red ring at the pivot and a red backspacer supplying the only contrast on either knife.
Pricing keeps the pair inside a working everyday carry budget. FD04 sells for $69.95 and FD05 sells for $74.95, both in stock at Böker USA, and both run D2 tool steel with a liner lock and a flipper opener.
Five dollars separates them, and that five dollars buys a different knife rather than a bigger logo. FD04 is spring assisted and carries a partially serrated edge, while FD05 opens by hand and keeps a straight edge on a slightly longer blade.
Earlier knives in this Heckler & Koch family set the look these two follow. FD01 and FD03 folders came first, alongside the FX01, FX03, and FX06 fixed blades, and the black handles with red accents carried through the line, so FD04 and FD05 read as a matched pair rather than two unrelated releases.
FD04 pairs an assisted opener with a serrated edge
FD04 runs a 3.23 inch drop point blade in D2, black coated, with a swedge ground along the spine and serrations cut into the rear half of the edge. Blade stock measures 0.12 inches thick, and overall length comes in at 7.68 inches with the blade open.
A spring drives the blade out once the flipper tab starts it moving, so the knife deploys with a snap that manual folders at this price rarely match. Weight is 4.33 ounces, which keeps FD04 reasonable in a pocket for an aluminum handled knife of this size.
D2 is a working steel choice at this price. It holds an edge through cardboard, rope, and strap work longer than the soft budget stainless steels most folders under $75 ship with, though it asks for a wipe of oil now and then, because D2 is a tool steel rather than a true stainless.
Price: $69.95
Where to buy: Böker USA
FD05 goes manual with a longer straight edge
FD05 stretches the same formula a step further. Its drop point blade measures 3.40 inches, again in black coated D2, though the edge runs straight from handle to tip with no serrations anywhere along it, and blade stock steps up slightly to 0.13 inches thick.
Overall length grows to 8.27 inches and weight climbs to 5.29 ounces, so FD05 fills the hand in a way its sibling doesn’t. Opening stays manual through the flipper, with no spring helping the pivot, and the lock is the same liner lock design.
Reach for FD05 when the job list runs past opening mail. Extra length buys a full four finger grip for hands that feel crowded on the smaller knife, and a straight edge pushes through material cleanly instead of tearing at it the way serrations can when a cut needs control.
Price: $74.95
Where to buy: Böker USA
Aluminum handles and two hits of red
Handles on both knives are aluminum, milled with the flat planes and hard angles the Heckler & Koch badge implies. Each knife carries a pocket clip for pocket carry, and a lanyard hole sits at the rear of the handle, worked into the backspacer on FD04 and tucked at the tail of FD05.
Red shows up in exactly two places, an anodized ring around the pivot and the aluminum backspacer itself, and that restraint is the best decision in the design. Blacked out folders are common under $75, though few of them keep the contrast this disciplined.
Both knives lock with a steel liner that snaps behind the blade tang as the blade swings open. It’s a proven layout, easy to close one handed by pushing the liner aside with a thumb, and simple enough to build at a price that leaves room for good steel.
FD04 and FD05 side by side
| Model | Blade length | Blade thickness | Opening | Edge | Weight | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FD04 | 3.23 in | 0.12 in | Spring assisted | Partially serrated | 4.33 oz | $69.95 |
| FD05 | 3.40 in | 0.13 in | Manual | Straight | 5.29 oz | $74.95 |
Read down the columns and the split is clean. FD04 is the quicker, lighter knife with the busier edge, and FD05 is the longer, heavier knife with the simpler one, and neither model charges real money for the difference between them.
Five dollars decides it
Shoppers who want the same badge for less have an Amazon route in the line’s SFP Tactical Folder, which sells for $59.46. It runs D2 steel with a manual opener and a liner lock inside a polypropylene handle, so aluminum handles are the clear upgrade the FD pair charges for.
Price: $59.46
Where to buy: Amazon
Licensed knives often charge for the logo and deliver a soft blade in a plastic handle. This pair charges for the logo too, though the money also buys D2 steel, aluminum handles, and a spring inside FD04, which is a fairer trade than the badge usually gets at retail.
Pick FD04 if you want the fast opener and an edge that saws through cord, strap, and clamshell without a fight. Pick FD05 if you want the longer cutting edge and a blade you can sharpen on any stone you own, and skip both if a sub 3 ounce knife is your ceiling, because neither of these pretends to be a lightweight.
