The Böker JTN is a fixed blade knife, designed by Jesper Voxnaes . Jesper is a famous knife designer from Denmark, who has designed several knives for Böker and many other knife manufacturers. He has a very distinct design language that is also apparent in the shape of the JTN.
Although the Name of the JTN ( JoinTheNavy) suggests a relation to the famous US Navy MKI knives of the second World War (If you are interested check out my YouTube review of the Ka-Bar USN MKI) the knives don’t have a lot in common. The original MKI knives were hidden-tang or stick-tang constructions. The Böker JTN features a much more robust full tang.
Another significant difference is the handle material. As many other Second-World-War era knives the MKI knives had a handle made of stacked leather washers. The handle of the JTN on the other hand is made of green linen micarta. The handle is shaped in a “Coke-Bottle” contour and has some very attractive looking and great feeling flat surfaces. Another nice addition to the looks of the handle are the yellow liners which add some color to the design. The hook at the end and the finger guard at the front aid in a secure grip. The scales are fixed with very large hollow rivets that add a modern touch. The last rivet also functions as a lanyard hole.
However, there are some similarities as well. Both knives feature a pommel designed for striking. The pommel of the JTN forms a point that should be very well suited for breaking glass. A feature that adds to the versatility of this modern design.
Furthermore, both knife designs have short clip-point blades. The modernized version of this classic design comes with a nicely stonewashed blade made of 4mm thick N690. A steel that offers a very balanced performance to maintainability ratio. It has a high saber grind. In addition to the very broad blade profile this makes for a nice slicer. Wide blades are a trademark of many of the knives designed by Jesper Voxnaes. At first the blade appeared to be a bit wide for its length, however I quickly warmed up to the design. In my opinion this knife was designed as an outdoor tool and it performs many of the typical tasks that you would do around the camp, such as slicing onions or meat, carving & splitting wood, very well.
The only drawback of this tool is its sheath. The sheath does its job, nonetheless it disappointed me. It appears to be of low quality material and construction. Furthermore, I doubt it was made in Solingen. The belt loop can be opened to take the knife off your belt without removing the belt. The loop is secured with velcro and button snaps. The color on the snaps rubs off just by touching them and there is a lot of excess glue that was supposed to hold down the velcro patches. I fixed this problem by sewing a leathersheath according to my likings.
Finally, I have to admit I did not buy this knife because I needed a workhorse for my next outdoor adventure. I bought it because I liked the modern design, the good materials and the fact that the knife is made in Solingen by a knife company that has a lot of history and many years of experience. Unfortunately Böker no longer produces the JTN. I cannot understand this decision because for me this is one of the most practical and good looking designs by Jesper Voxnaes.