When it comes to plier multitools, the classic Leatherman family has served as the de facto format for over 40 years, sometimes even working as a proprietary eponym. But it's not the only style of plier-equipped multitool out there, as German legacy knifemaker Böker reminds with the new Naturensöhne MK II NXT, a streamlined multitool that takes on a single-handle format more similar to a Swiss Army knife. It's built to travel swiftly and lightly across the great outdoors, slicing, sawing and cranking its weight's worth when things need to get done, and done right.
With familial roots all the way back to toolmakers and sword smiths of the 17th century, Böker traces its modern day founding to 1869, bringing more than a century and a half of knife making experience to each piece it crafts today. It continues to build knives and related products in Solingen, the German "City of Blades" that boasts a deep, storied blade-making history winding all the way back to the Middle Ages and extending through to modern day. The company and its German-built products wear a trademark tree stamp inspired by a chestnut tree that once towered over its Solingen factory, starting from its time as a humble tool shop in 1674 and casting shade through to 1925, when it was downed by lightning and fire.
Suffice to say, Böker brings some experience and heritage to the art of knife and toolmaking. So even if it's not as world-renowned for multitools as brands like Victorinox and Leatherman, its EDC offerings are very much worth a look.
The Naturensöhne (Sons of Nature) represents a collaborative piece made with input from the YouTube creators of the same name, an energetic pair of Berliners who test outdoor gear, practice bushcraft, explore wild spaces, and get into all manners of other woodsy hijinks. Böker has previously collaborated with them on products like fixed-blade knives and fire-starters and now extends the effort into the multitool realm.
That explains the "Böker" and the "Naturensöhne," now onto the MK II NXT itself... The multitool looks quite similar to a light Swiss Army knife, albeit with a forest green handle in place of a red one. It's a pocket knife, first and foremost, featuring a 2.8-in (7.1-cm) drop-point blade that folds out with help from a nail nick and steadies via slip joint.
The non-Leatherman-style pliers are a small set that folds out from the frame, rather than a large tool-defining pair that demands its own distinctive frame design. These pliers won't be up to the same level of heavy-duty tasks as those featured on tools like the Leatherman Arc and Gerber Dual-Force, but they might just be better-suited to EDC carriers who use pliers only for light-duty grabbing and bending, if at all.
Some readers might see those pliers as undersized in comparison to a classic Leatherman set (that very thought did indeed cross our minds), but the 4.2-oz (119-g) MK II NXT weighs less than even Leatherman's lightest plier multitool – the 5-oz (142-oz) seven-function Skeletool – and maintains a sleek single handle with G10 scales that some will prefer over Leatherman's two-part folding handles. And if pliers aren't the primary tool you need, why carry a multitool designed around them?
Of course, the Naturensöhne MK II NXT is far from the first multitool to pack in small fold-out pliers but merely the latest. For instance, Victorinox offers similarly compact pliers in Swiss Army Knives like some Tinker models and the Handyman.
Aiming the tool at a Naturensöhne-like demographic of wild adventure-craving urbanites, Böker rounds out the feature set with a saw for cutting branches and bone, a set of tweezers that will earn its keep the first time you pull out a tick or splinter, and a reamer awl for wood and leather work. There's also a toothpick for pushing out that irritating piece of campfire-seared meat that won't budge on its own and an emergency glass breaker to add a little function to the outer handle. The pocket clip snaps on with the blade point down.
Böker launched the Naturensöhne MK II NXT earlier this month for a retail price of US$128.95. It is made in Asia, not in Germany or Denver, hence the Naturensöhne logo in place of the trademark tree branding that appears on every knife built in Solingen.
Source: Böker
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