The harsh wind of the Scottish Highlands relentlessly lashes rain into his face. The cold seeps through his entire body. His stomach rumbles. His reaction: a contented smile. Because he loves nature and breathes adventure. Since 2007, Hajo Wilkes has been sharing his passion for the extraordinary with Böker's major clients and specialist retailers in Germany, the Benelux countries, and Great Britain. His background and diverse hobbies make him an indispensable member of Böker's product development team. There's hardly a product group in the range that doesn't include this outdoor enthusiast among its target audience. Below, the affable adventure sales representative offers fascinating insights into fire, gunpowder, and magic.
What brought you to our knife industry?
My maternal grandfather was a butcher and hunter, my paternal grandfather a toolmaker. When other children went out to play, they were asked if they had a hat. I, on the other hand, was asked if I had a knife. A knife was always something tangible. I could do practical things with it, and it gave me an added sense of adventure when roaming around in the woods. I started making simple knives from lawnmower and saw blades at a young age. Besides, I can't do any of my hobbies without a knife.
What kind of hobbies are those?
I like anything to do with the outdoors, old crafts, fire, embers, smoke, and shooting.
That's quite a lot. Okay, let's take it one step at a time. What do you usually do outside?
I've hiked the entire length of the Pyrenees (700 km from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic), Sardinia, the Cévennes, the Massif Central, and the Scottish West Highlands. I'm lucky that my wife was always enthusiastically by my side. Often, she's the one who displays a hair-raising sense of adventure when planning routes and stages. We've slept in tents, old bunkers, and once even in a disused slaughterhouse. I also enjoy cycling tours. In Iceland, we cycled the Kjölur mountain route with a tent. The dust, wind, and rough roads made it one of my toughest projects. Sometimes the tours were a close call. We were dehydrated and severely hypothermic. Statistically, most people die of hypothermia between 0°C and +10°C. In the Pyrenees, we were caught in a thunderstorm at an altitude of 1,400 meters. That was a truly life-or-death experience. I've completed two alpine rock climbing courses and one ice climbing course. From the age of 16, I was a very active scuba diver for a while. The last dive I did was in 2008 to the remains of the Tirpitz. No, I didn't retrieve the steel for our knives. I was there purely as a tourist.
Are there already plans for new projects?
Last year I fulfilled another childhood dream. I got my hunting license and joined the hunting horn ensemble of our local hunting association. I think there will be plenty to experience here. However, I still have some unfinished business with the Watzmann. I've had to abandon my attempt to traverse the ridge three times already due to bad weather.
What do you mean by embers and old craftsmanship?
I love our wood-burning stove and chopping wood for it. Every now and then, I also heat old files and rasps in our stove until they're glowing red-hot—if necessary, even with a cutting torch. Using an angle grinder and a file, I then rework them into simple blades. Afterward, I heat them again until they're red-hot and harden them with pre-warmed salad oil. Finally, I bake the blades for two 20-minute periods at 200°C in our oven. The finishing process doesn't interest me. My colleagues at Böker are much better at that. What I find fascinating is the thermal process itself. Let's not forget: whether my colleagues are the professionals or I'm an amateur—we metalworkers are magicians! We rearrange atomic lattices! What other tradesperson can claim that? Speaking of old crafts: I shave exclusively with a traditional straight razor . Under all circumstances. It's a matter of honor!
Then you also talked about shooting.
I started shooting muzzleloaders in 2017. Noise, smoke, and flames – fantastic! I have a permit for handling black powder according to Section 27 of the German Explosives Act. Meanwhile, I also shoot pistols, revolvers, and rifles in small and large calibers, as well as shotguns, with great enthusiasm. For clay pigeon shooting, I even still have my grandfather's good old Italian over-and-under shotgun. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I also took up archery because the shooting ranges were closed. And here, too, the rule applies: anything you can do outdoors is the best.
That means you belong to many of our customer groups. The only area where you haven't yet made your mark is in military tactics, right?
That's not entirely true. During my basic military service, I was in the reconnaissance and liaison platoon at the tank barracks in Hemer. In that short time, I received training in urban warfare, guard and security duties, anti-tank warfare training with both standard weapons and homemade weapons, as well as radio operator training. I guarded an ammunition depot in the woods. That was a so-called "real" deployment, meaning with live ammunition.
As a sales representative, you travel a lot. Do you have any tips for our customers based on this experience?
- Check the water at the hotel the night before to see if it's warm – it's too late in the shower in the morning.
- A basic rule in English hotels during a fire alarm: Stay put! Guests in pajamas with money and passports in the hallway are easily recognizable to UK novices.
- Cycle paths in Amsterdam are red. Red is a warning color. This should be taken very seriously.
- Even if rest stop toilets are unappealing, don't hide in the bushes. Unexpected things happen there. Your presence could be misinterpreted.
- And most importantly: To avoid a life-or-death struggle: do not eat fish sandwiches outdoors in English coastal towns! The seagulls there are large, experienced, aggressive, and work as a well-coordinated team.