Tell me more about Bob Dozier knives

golok

golok

Joined
Oct 20, 2000
Messages
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I have been hearing friends extolling the virtues of those Dozier knives. Personally, I know zilch about Bob Dozier. I only know he is widely respected and highly regarded for his blades.

I have seen Internet pictures and even held one or two of those Dozier knives. But in a pair of untrained hands like mine, a good knife is given an unfair assessment.

Will someone enlighten me on those positive things that I have missed about the Dozier knives.
 
From his site:

A knife is first a tool; which is why "Built For Life" accurately protrays Bob Dozier's philosophy for the design of his knives. Bob began making his knives as a valuable tool for the hunter. More than 30 years later, he is a master in the art of handmade knife making. the tool he provides hasn't changed in application, but the style of his knives have matured to their own unique elegance.

On blade grinding, Bob states, "With few exceptions, I grind blades to have thin edges and thin points. The number one function of a knife is to cut. A thicker edge will never cut or sharpen as well as a thin one. A knife is purchased for a cutting tool, not a pry bar."

Sounds like a smart guy, from a "knife grinder's" point of view. :)

~ashes
 
until you own one, you just will not understand... that was the case, at least for me. I obtained my first, a new personal, at ECCKS earlier this month, and now I have 3 Doziers.
 
Golok, Bob makes a great blade and his experience with D-2 puts his knives over the top.

They hold a great edge and are easy to sharpen. (I use a fine diamond DMT) The 2 I own have slightly hollow very thin grinds and a razor sharp V edge (Bob will do any grind/edge combo you want). Dozier knives are one of, if not the sharpest, out-of-box blades I've ever held.

The handle design fills the palm of your hand making it real comfortable and easy to get a good grip, which, in turn, allows long periods of use. (I'm using the K-2 General Purpose Hunting and K-7 Wilderness knives as my references.)

Then there is the kydex sheaths Bob makes, one word "Eeeexcellent"
:D . The pics on the website are old (at least A and B are) the newer versions are far more contoured. His sheaths are on par with any custom sheath maker out there.

All in all you can't go wrong with a Dozier Knife. Find one that interests you, get it, and if you don't like it, send me an e-mail :D . With that said, I'd like to suggest the K-3 Pro Guides Knife ;) :rolleyes: .

On a side note.
I didn't know Bob had the prybar remark on his site, I wonder if he recommends his knives to the military :rolleyes:.
 
The search function will yield months of reading--just about all of it extremely positive. You cannot go wrong. Also, check out his website for the forum. On the phone, his wife Linda is as helpful and nice as you could ever imagine.:)
 
Those who have struck me as knowing their stuff - Buzzbait for one - recommend Doziers a lot. When you look at the product on the website or in various images people provide, you can see why. That Pro Guides Knife for example is a corker. I gather also that Bob Dozier has been doing this for a long time now - since the 60's. So he's due a lot of respect - not at all a 'latest flavour' proposition.

The only thing about his product I don't take to is the lack of steel choice other than D2. I appreciate he knows how to use it and accept he can produce a great knife with it, but that steel is going to have particular rust concerns, over and above say S30V. Given the environments for knife use here in Au for example, that is a worry.

So I'd like to see Mr Dozier branch out a little, steel-wise.
 
Switched, Bob will use S30V (upon request). He had a few blades at ECCKS made of S30V. With some care rust shouldn't be a problem.
 
cgd you've just made my day in a big way, thanks for that.

There are indications that S30V is harder to work with than other high end steels. I'm sure Bob Dozier would know what he was doing, but do you happen to know what the heat treatment spec.s are?
 
No, I don't, but if you can give them a call or go to their MB, you'll get an answer.
 
I held and examined a couple of the S30V pieces at ECCKS recently, and they were exceptional... of the same grind quality as the good ol' D2's.

LT
 
Dozier currently has a tanto for sale over at Blade Art. It's made of A2.
 
Sorry for not replying to this thread earlier. I’m in the middle of moving into a new house, so online time is at a precious minimum.

Bob is somewhat unique in the knife industry, because he has such a broad range of talents. There are many great knife makers. There are some excellent heat treaters in the business. You can even find a good number of excellent Kydex sheath makers. But how many people do all of these jobs as well as Bob? Not many. And there are certainly very few makers who can provide all this at Bob’s inexpensive prices.

Bob does prefer D2 at the moment, but who could blame him? He’s got the heat treatment of D2 down to a science. D2 is a highly respected steel in the knife industry, and Bob is pretty well known as the undisputed champion of D2. If I knew how to do something better than everybody else, I’d also be doing it all day long. This is no line of bull either. His D2 is simply amazing. It sharpens relatively easy and holds an edge like crazy.

It is true that Bob grinds his knives thin. When you get a knife from Bob, you can expect it to cut VERY efficiently. If you’re accustomed to thickly ground tacticals, this’ll take some getting used too. His hollow grinds more resemble Buck 110s in their thinness than thick modern day tacticals. Bob is also doing convex grinds now, and even has some semi-production flat grinds available through A.G. Russell.

I am very impressed by Bob Dozier. His knives do not tend to have the high polish of some expensive makers, but they are pure functional tools. The knives feel good in the hand and cut like crazy. When they aren’t cutting something, they’re sitting in a well-made sheath. Bob places his attention where it needs to be, on making sure that the knife does its job with as much ease and convenience as possible.

If you get a Dozier the size of the K-4 or larger, I highly recommend ordering a Wilderness style sheath. It’s the best designed vertical Kydex sheath I’ve have the pleasure of wearing. Don’t be afraid to stop there either. With Bob’s prices, you can afford to order a couple different style sheaths for your knife. I always make the mistake of not ordering enough sheaths for my fixed blades.

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Buzz that is a real beauty .

Did you get a chance to go to ECCKS ? Bob had quite a few fully convexed blades, that are works of useful art.
 
Here are some pics, some bad, some not so bad.

edited: They will not load from imagestation :mad:.
 
Originally posted by cgd160
Did you get a chance to go to ECCKS ? Bob had quite a few fully convexed blades, that are works of useful art.
Click to expand...

No. I couldn't go to ECCKS this year. Buying a house didn't even leave me with enough money for the train ride to the city, or the bubble gum to chew on the way. Even if I did magically come up with the train fair, seeing all of those beautiful Doziers would driven me over the brink of sanity. I really would have enjoyed meeting Bob though, and talking knives with him for a while.
 
Buzzbait I've come across a post or two of yours with a comment like this before - about obtaining more than one sheath.

I'd thought you meant as some kind of 'reserve' in the same style, although I didn't fully understand why, given Kydex's durability etc. But are you really saying get more than one STYLE, for different carry? I'd be happy with the Wilderness sheath all the time I'd think, after reading what you had to say about it on the Dozier forum.
 
Don't flame me, folks...

I was not overly impressed with the Dozier I handled a few weeks ago. It was the only one I've ever seen/held in person, so it does not mean much. Another (though somewhat un-noted) maker which I have also handled (own) one knife is Will Stegner. For the same price, the two pieces are completely uncomparable in finish. IF anyone else here has used/seen Will's work, now would be the time to chime in... Otherwise, I'm sure the Dozier is fine.... obviously the one pictured above is beautiful! Anyway... I'm just sayin' weigh your options!
 
Bob's sheaths are solid enough you are very unlikely to ever need a backup, but there are definite advantages to having more than one style. I originally got my Texas #6 with a standard vertical sheath, but I sent it back to him a year later for a horizontal version. I use both at various times, depending on what I'll be doing and where I expect to be.

--Bob Q
 
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