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