Box arrived from Oso Grande Knife & Tool the other day.
Having seen it in Doug's list of recommended folders, I'd ordered one of KaBar's Dozier folding hunters.

Having carried & examined it for a few days, i'm very impressed with it. While i have neither the knife nor survival knowledge of most members here, I find myself thinking that folder is an incredible value for a knife that goes for around 20 bucks plus shipping.

Anyone else have any experience with this knife? Opinions?

I have the Dozier folding spear. It's a tremendous bargain for $20 and you'll sometimes hear people say it's one of the best buys in the knife world today. The steel is AUS8, which is perfectly adequate for most purposes, although people will be debating its merits until the cows come home. <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> (Search the threads on knifeforums.com or bladeforums.com for much discussion about this knife.)

I think the bottom line is that if you learn how to resharpen it, you should be happy with your knife for a long time.

Thanks. I'll head over to those sites for a little reading.

30 years ago this knife would be on half a dozen magazine covers, garnering awards and with a 6 month backorder and used examples selling for more than retail new. We are blessed with so many superb knives a whole cadre of sleepers pass unoticed. This is one of the best of those sleepers.

Indeed. Twenty-plus years ago, working at a gas station while in high school and junior college, I carried what I remember as a Buck 112 Ranger on my belt .. a shorter folder than than the Hunter, but a brute of a knife. Hard to sharpen. Wish this knife had been around then.

I've been carrying it daily and love how it carries flat and light (front pocket of pants, clipped) but provides a substantial blade and solid handle when needed. Apparently, it's not terribly noticable, either.

Re sharpening, haven't made it actually dull yet, but bet I'd could bring it back to workably sharp with either one of EZ Lap's pocket sticks or one of those yellow Smith's 2-step sharpeners ... and i've got one of those or both littered all over the place... home, truck, office, daypack.

I wuv this wittle knife.

I need a new EDC pocket knife. I have been thinking about the KaBar Dozier because it is so highly recommended. The question is which one?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[pollstart]
[polltitle=Which one]

[polloption=Dozier Skinner]



[polloption=Dozier Hunter]



[polloption=Dozier Hunter spear point]



[polloption=Dozier Hunter thumb notch]



[polloption=Dozier Spearpoint]



[pollstop]
And please some help on why my poll is not working,

I prefer the Spearpoint (the last one in the list of photos).

The best folding knife bargain out there ... that I know of.

When my 10 year old Cub Scout son is old enough for a larger knife that is the knife I'll get him. For $20 if he looses it then no big deal.

Right now he has a Victorinox StayGlow SAK Climber from Knifecenter.com - I'm hoping the color - and a bright orange Countycomm.com paracord lanyard - will lower the risk of loss. <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

IMHO, the Kabar/Dozier it the finest low cost knife made. Period. You would have to spend double this to get much competition.

My preference is for the thumb notch/hole. There is no knob in the way to snag on things or get in the way of a "full blade cut". For me the notch is more positive and less prone to thumb slipping. That said, this is a personal preference. Some guys love the stud. The Dozier stud does a pretty good job of staying out of the way at the rear of the blade. Though, this may provide less leverage for opening. Some knife designs move the stud well into the cutting path on the rear of the blade.

As for blade shape, I much prefer a drop point hunter or a spear point. I don't skin animals, so I don't need a skinner. My primary utility knife uses are whittling and cutting rope/cord. The sharply curved up end of the skinner is like losing an inch or more off the length of the blade. For whittling that curved part of the blade is useless. For cutting cord, the curved, skinner part of the blade angles away from the cord making it near useless. I also like the ability to use the sharp tip of the drop point hunter or spear point for picking splinters or as a make shift wood drill. The skinner points rarely lend themselves to this activity, and when the tip is sharp enough it is less controllable due to its position above the center line of the blade.

Good luck, TR

I spotted the Dozier line of Ka-bars at last years Shot-Show and was impressed right away. I got to talk to Bob Dozier for awhile and he even gave me an engraved Dozier Hunter. I had lunch with Doug later that day and showed him the knife and he was equally impressed. Ka-Bar sent me samples of the entire Dozier line and I selected the Hunter to replace the CRKT knife in our Master Pro survival kit. Yesterday, I completely skinned and deboned the meat from my 13 year old sons first buck, using the Skinner model. It was impressive from start to finish and maintained a razor sharp edge throughout the process.

If you don't have the $ for a RSK, get a Dozier knife. You can't go wrong with any of the models offered.

Take care, George

I've been EDC'ing mine (hunter model) more than any folder I own, and I own four or five that are several times more expensive.

Hands down, the Ka-Bar Dozier and the Spyderco Sharpmaker sharpening system are the two best bang-for-the-buck items I've learned about here and on Blade Forums.

Is it just me, or do the hunter and the spear point look identical?