Wow, I know I'm getting popular when I get requests for specific comparisons LOL. I member asked me to review and compare two very different-style knives that both fill the niche for a lightweight, inexpensive EDC. The Boker Trance and the Kabar Dozier Folding Hunter are both Taiwan-made, AUS-8 bladed slicers, and both are worth the money. Here's my break-down of the two...
Price: We start with the prices. The Kabar Dozier 4065 costs about $20 in stores, while the Boker Trance will cost you about $25-$30 in the same stores.
Blades: Blades are what makes knives cut, so let's look at those. They're both made of AUS-8 stainless steel, at 56-58 on the Rockwell scale. The Kabar's blade is 1/8" thick, while the Trance's blade is just a hair under 1/8" thick. The Kabar's blade is 3-1/4" long with a 2-7/8" cutting edge, and the Trance's blade is 2-15/16" long with a 2-3/4" cutting edge. The Kabar is hollow ground, and the Trance is saber-ground. The Kabar's blade is 1" wide at its widest point; the Trance is 1-3/8" wide at its widest point. The Kabar ends in a clip point, and the Trance has a somewhat reverse tanto-shaped point. The Trance has jimping on the back side of the blade, as well as the underside of the flipper; the Kabar has no jimping. They both came sharp enough to shave paper, but for some reason the Trance was easier to get a hair-shaving edge on.
Opening: I guess this could be under "Blades" since they're technically on the blades, but oh well. Both knives open nicely; the Kabar via oval cut-out hole, and the Trance via thumb studs or flipper. The oval cut-out on the Kabar is 10/16" by 6/16", which is enough to get your thumb nail in and flick it open. It rides on an adjustable (T-8 Torx) pivot pin, but has no bushings. opening is smooth, but a bit tricky at first until you can find the right angle.
The Trance opens via dual thumb studs, or via flipper. The flipper is jimped as mentioned before, and it sticks out 3/16" from the back of the handle when closed. A flick of the flipper and a slight roll of the hand pops the blade into place. The blade rides on an adjustable (T-8 Torx) pivot, and has a nylon washer on each side of the blade. The Trance is definitely easier to open.
Locking Mechanisms: How do they lock open, and which feels more comfortable? The Kabar locks open via lockback, positioned mid-way along the spine of the handle. Lock-up is solid, with no blade play in any direction. Releasing the lock barely required me to change grips, and is well-executed. I can even open the knife by holding the lockbar down and flicking the blade open. This will close the knife also.
The Trance locks via frame lock. The lock engages the blade for its (the lock's) full length, and there's no blade play in any direction. The lock is jimped for nice finger placement without slipping. The frame lock is recessed into the handle so that only the jimping is visible, which pretty much guarantees that you won't unlock the knife by twisting it gripping it the "wrong" way.
Construction: The Kabar is made of black Zytel, with the exception of the blade, pins, lockbar, and pocket clip. It's not able to be disassembled by the user. It feels solid in the hand, but I can bend the handle sides together with just finger pressure when the knife is open. The Zytel feels nice and is good to work with, but it will abrade your hand with extended use. The handle is 4-3/16" long by 1" wide at the butt (the widest spot on the handle) and has enough of a curve to be useful for work or every-day tasks.
The Trance is made of 410 stainless steel, except for the AUS-8 blade and the black Zytel scale. The back of the handle is open to allow debris to be blown out, and the entire knife is assembled with Torx screws for easy disassembly. I can't squeeze the handles together. The Zytel feels nice and grippy without being too aggressive. The Trance is 3-15/16" long and 1-1/8" wide at its widest point, and is truly a pleasure to hold due to the handle size and flipper / guard. I like the Trance's construction better.
EDIT: Both knives include a lanyard hole, and both will accomodate 550 cord. The Trance's lanyard hole is a bit harder to use since there's a gap between the holes because it's an open-back knife. I had to take mine apart to get the cord through the hole.
Pocket Clips: They both come with clips to attach to your pocket. The Kabar's is tip-up only, and it's adjustable for left or right-hand carry. It's stainless steel, coated black. You can remove or reposition it with one T-8 screw. When clipped to a pocket, about 3/4" of the knife handle is visible. It holds with a nice pressure; not too tight and not too loose.
The Trance's pocket clip is right-hand only, but is adjustable for tip-up or tip-down via three T-6 screws. A word of caution: the middle screw for the pocket clip is longer than the other two because it serves as the pin for the spacer right behind it. Moving the pocket clip to the tip-down position will have to be accomplished with only the two smaller screws, while tightening the middle screw down into the spacer. The Trance's clip is stainless steel, uncoated; the same color as the frame. When clipped to a pocket, 1/4" of the handle is visible; this is the same in tip-up as it is in tip-down carry.
How Do They Cut? Honestly, they performed about the same. They're both AUS-8 steel and about the same usable edge length, so it all comes down to edge angles. I think the Trance has an angle of about 16 degrees per side, while the Kabar has about 18-20 degrees per side. The hollow-ground Kabar didn't seem to stay razor-sharp as long as the saber-ground Trance. They're both worth every cent of what I paid for them.
So, there you go. Those are my opinions on these two knives; both great deals, but overall I like the Trance better. The only thing I like better about the Kabar is the option of left or right-hand tip-up carry since I'm a lefty, but I have no problem using the flipper to quicly open the Trance with my right hand.
Thanks for reading.
Price: We start with the prices. The Kabar Dozier 4065 costs about $20 in stores, while the Boker Trance will cost you about $25-$30 in the same stores.
Blades: Blades are what makes knives cut, so let's look at those. They're both made of AUS-8 stainless steel, at 56-58 on the Rockwell scale. The Kabar's blade is 1/8" thick, while the Trance's blade is just a hair under 1/8" thick. The Kabar's blade is 3-1/4" long with a 2-7/8" cutting edge, and the Trance's blade is 2-15/16" long with a 2-3/4" cutting edge. The Kabar is hollow ground, and the Trance is saber-ground. The Kabar's blade is 1" wide at its widest point; the Trance is 1-3/8" wide at its widest point. The Kabar ends in a clip point, and the Trance has a somewhat reverse tanto-shaped point. The Trance has jimping on the back side of the blade, as well as the underside of the flipper; the Kabar has no jimping. They both came sharp enough to shave paper, but for some reason the Trance was easier to get a hair-shaving edge on.
Opening: I guess this could be under "Blades" since they're technically on the blades, but oh well. Both knives open nicely; the Kabar via oval cut-out hole, and the Trance via thumb studs or flipper. The oval cut-out on the Kabar is 10/16" by 6/16", which is enough to get your thumb nail in and flick it open. It rides on an adjustable (T-8 Torx) pivot pin, but has no bushings. opening is smooth, but a bit tricky at first until you can find the right angle.
The Trance opens via dual thumb studs, or via flipper. The flipper is jimped as mentioned before, and it sticks out 3/16" from the back of the handle when closed. A flick of the flipper and a slight roll of the hand pops the blade into place. The blade rides on an adjustable (T-8 Torx) pivot, and has a nylon washer on each side of the blade. The Trance is definitely easier to open.
Locking Mechanisms: How do they lock open, and which feels more comfortable? The Kabar locks open via lockback, positioned mid-way along the spine of the handle. Lock-up is solid, with no blade play in any direction. Releasing the lock barely required me to change grips, and is well-executed. I can even open the knife by holding the lockbar down and flicking the blade open. This will close the knife also.
The Trance locks via frame lock. The lock engages the blade for its (the lock's) full length, and there's no blade play in any direction. The lock is jimped for nice finger placement without slipping. The frame lock is recessed into the handle so that only the jimping is visible, which pretty much guarantees that you won't unlock the knife by twisting it gripping it the "wrong" way.
Construction: The Kabar is made of black Zytel, with the exception of the blade, pins, lockbar, and pocket clip. It's not able to be disassembled by the user. It feels solid in the hand, but I can bend the handle sides together with just finger pressure when the knife is open. The Zytel feels nice and is good to work with, but it will abrade your hand with extended use. The handle is 4-3/16" long by 1" wide at the butt (the widest spot on the handle) and has enough of a curve to be useful for work or every-day tasks.
The Trance is made of 410 stainless steel, except for the AUS-8 blade and the black Zytel scale. The back of the handle is open to allow debris to be blown out, and the entire knife is assembled with Torx screws for easy disassembly. I can't squeeze the handles together. The Zytel feels nice and grippy without being too aggressive. The Trance is 3-15/16" long and 1-1/8" wide at its widest point, and is truly a pleasure to hold due to the handle size and flipper / guard. I like the Trance's construction better.
EDIT: Both knives include a lanyard hole, and both will accomodate 550 cord. The Trance's lanyard hole is a bit harder to use since there's a gap between the holes because it's an open-back knife. I had to take mine apart to get the cord through the hole.
Pocket Clips: They both come with clips to attach to your pocket. The Kabar's is tip-up only, and it's adjustable for left or right-hand carry. It's stainless steel, coated black. You can remove or reposition it with one T-8 screw. When clipped to a pocket, about 3/4" of the knife handle is visible. It holds with a nice pressure; not too tight and not too loose.
The Trance's pocket clip is right-hand only, but is adjustable for tip-up or tip-down via three T-6 screws. A word of caution: the middle screw for the pocket clip is longer than the other two because it serves as the pin for the spacer right behind it. Moving the pocket clip to the tip-down position will have to be accomplished with only the two smaller screws, while tightening the middle screw down into the spacer. The Trance's clip is stainless steel, uncoated; the same color as the frame. When clipped to a pocket, 1/4" of the handle is visible; this is the same in tip-up as it is in tip-down carry.
How Do They Cut? Honestly, they performed about the same. They're both AUS-8 steel and about the same usable edge length, so it all comes down to edge angles. I think the Trance has an angle of about 16 degrees per side, while the Kabar has about 18-20 degrees per side. The hollow-ground Kabar didn't seem to stay razor-sharp as long as the saber-ground Trance. They're both worth every cent of what I paid for them.
So, there you go. Those are my opinions on these two knives; both great deals, but overall I like the Trance better. The only thing I like better about the Kabar is the option of left or right-hand tip-up carry since I'm a lefty, but I have no problem using the flipper to quicly open the Trance with my right hand.
Thanks for reading.
