Ka Bar Bobcat Dozier Folder
Jan 8, 2011 3:19:57 GMT
Post by Sébastien on Jan 8, 2011 3:19:57 GMT
Ka Bar Bobcat Dozier Folder Review
by
Sébastien Bilodeau, Montréal, Québec
I love big, bad, mean-looking knives. I don't care if such a knife has no real purpose or little practical purpose. Which brings me to the subject of today's review ......
Introduction
Christmas was coming and I wanted to pay myself a treat, so I decided to buy a bunch of knives from www.yourcornerstore.com. I bought this folder because I wanted a big, tactical-looking folding knife (the Cold Steel Recon 1 was my first choice but it was on backorder). I was curious about the look of the knife ; its wanna-be fixed-blade knife ''handguard'', its beefy handle and its mean-looking blade....
My shipment arrived about 14 days after I placed my order, in the expected deadline. Shipping was a bit slower than shipping from knifecenter.com, and without a order number. However, it was a little bit cheaper than with knifecenter. The knives were all well-packaged in brown paper, but most of their boxes weren't sealed, like somebody had opened each one of them to check their wasn't any defect in these products.
Here's a few numbers taken from www.knifecenter.com ;
•Blade Length: 4"
•Overall Length: 9.25"
•Steel: AUS 8A Stainless Steel
•Lock Style: Lockback
•Handle Material: Foliage Green Zytel
•Pocket Clip: Yes (
•Made in Taiwan
The weight isn't officially listed, but some internet reviews and sellers list it as about 8 1/2 oz. (www.agrussell.com/ka-bar-dozier- ... /KA4081FG/).
Fittings
The blade is 4'' long and made of AUS 8A stainless steel. It has a drop-point style shape. It is painted black with a reflective, slick finish. This paint is very easy to remove, it will likely get chipped off by any light working tasks. The blade has an ambidexterous thumbstud. It has a false-edge that is too thick to be easily sharpened but who also gives the blade a subtly agressive, tactical look. The edge is paper-cutting sharp.
Overall, the blade doesn't look as menacing as the one on the Cold Steel Recon 1 or other ''tactical'' folders, but it is still a larger than average, mean-looking blade.
The handle is made of ''foliage green'' (grey, actually) textured zytel, with three big, black, rubber-feeling circles. It is one big, beefy handle. It is ergonomically made and offers a firm and comfortable grip. This handle comes with two projection right before the blade starts. These two projections give the blade the look of a fixed-blade knife when its blade is open. They also increase the ''grippiness'' of the knife. The pocket clip is made for tip-up carrying and can be modified for right or left-hand use.
The lockback locking mechanism was a disappointment for the first few days that I had this knife. Although I had no difficulty opening the knife, it took me lots of effort closing it. The lockback ''button'' was stiff and, even when pressed firmly, wouldn't release the blade until the 8th or 9th attempt on my part. It was getting so bad, I cut myself once because I put too much strenght on the button and the blade closed quickly on my finger (luckily, no big harm was done, but it was an unpleasant, messy experience). After many trial and error, I today have no trouble opening and closing this knife, but I don't know if it is because I got used to the knife (I don't feel like I am using it differently than from the first day I had it) or because I ended up softening the lock ...
Handling
The knife is easy to open one-handed, but one-hand deployment is a bit sluggish, requiring either slow finger-action only or a mix of finger and wrist action. I wasn't able to find a way to quickly and easily snap this folder open (which was a slight disappointment), but was pleased by the smooth, easy to open locking mechanism.
Although it is quite heavy and a bit bulky for a folder (8.5 oz, or a half-pound if you prefer ...), this knife feels light yet solid in-hand, thanks to its large, comfortable and responsive handle. People who don't mind dragging a Cold Steel Rajah folder in their pocket will probably don't mind carrying this knife (although I would adivse against that, this is a mean-looking knife which will likely look very suspicious to any police officer). Most people, however, will probably find this knife too bulky and heavy for EDC.
Conclusion
Pros
-Big, mean, cool-looking blade
-Very sharp out of the box
-Large, comfy, grippy handle
Cons
-It might take you some unpleasant time to get used to the lock
-Large and heavy
-A bit unpractical for real tactical use, IMHO (no rope-cutter, glass-breaker + slow deployment)
Frankly, I believe this knife is for what I'd call the tacticool crowd ; testosterone-fueled buyers who want big, mean, cool knives who look made to hurt bad guys, even if those knives might not be the best tools for the real world.
It is a cool-looking folder and is very fun to fool around with (as long as you give proper respect to the edge ...), but is too big and thratening-looking for EDC, and doesn't come with the kind of qualities that I would expect from a knife made for tactical applications* (for example, a glass-breaker, a rope-cutter and a quick & easy to deploy blade).
So, in the end, I think this knife has much in common with my huge 6'' blade Cold Steel Ti Lite ; it is a cool, casual collectors item, but a mediocre/poor real life knife.
*Take this with lots of salt, I know almost nothing about RL combat and violence and the kind of things a soldier might have to face ....
by
Sébastien Bilodeau, Montréal, Québec
I love big, bad, mean-looking knives. I don't care if such a knife has no real purpose or little practical purpose. Which brings me to the subject of today's review ......
Introduction
Christmas was coming and I wanted to pay myself a treat, so I decided to buy a bunch of knives from www.yourcornerstore.com. I bought this folder because I wanted a big, tactical-looking folding knife (the Cold Steel Recon 1 was my first choice but it was on backorder). I was curious about the look of the knife ; its wanna-be fixed-blade knife ''handguard'', its beefy handle and its mean-looking blade....
My shipment arrived about 14 days after I placed my order, in the expected deadline. Shipping was a bit slower than shipping from knifecenter.com, and without a order number. However, it was a little bit cheaper than with knifecenter. The knives were all well-packaged in brown paper, but most of their boxes weren't sealed, like somebody had opened each one of them to check their wasn't any defect in these products.
Here's a few numbers taken from www.knifecenter.com ;
•Blade Length: 4"
•Overall Length: 9.25"
•Steel: AUS 8A Stainless Steel
•Lock Style: Lockback
•Handle Material: Foliage Green Zytel
•Pocket Clip: Yes (
•Made in Taiwan
The weight isn't officially listed, but some internet reviews and sellers list it as about 8 1/2 oz. (www.agrussell.com/ka-bar-dozier- ... /KA4081FG/).
Fittings
The blade is 4'' long and made of AUS 8A stainless steel. It has a drop-point style shape. It is painted black with a reflective, slick finish. This paint is very easy to remove, it will likely get chipped off by any light working tasks. The blade has an ambidexterous thumbstud. It has a false-edge that is too thick to be easily sharpened but who also gives the blade a subtly agressive, tactical look. The edge is paper-cutting sharp.
Overall, the blade doesn't look as menacing as the one on the Cold Steel Recon 1 or other ''tactical'' folders, but it is still a larger than average, mean-looking blade.
The handle is made of ''foliage green'' (grey, actually) textured zytel, with three big, black, rubber-feeling circles. It is one big, beefy handle. It is ergonomically made and offers a firm and comfortable grip. This handle comes with two projection right before the blade starts. These two projections give the blade the look of a fixed-blade knife when its blade is open. They also increase the ''grippiness'' of the knife. The pocket clip is made for tip-up carrying and can be modified for right or left-hand use.
The lockback locking mechanism was a disappointment for the first few days that I had this knife. Although I had no difficulty opening the knife, it took me lots of effort closing it. The lockback ''button'' was stiff and, even when pressed firmly, wouldn't release the blade until the 8th or 9th attempt on my part. It was getting so bad, I cut myself once because I put too much strenght on the button and the blade closed quickly on my finger (luckily, no big harm was done, but it was an unpleasant, messy experience). After many trial and error, I today have no trouble opening and closing this knife, but I don't know if it is because I got used to the knife (I don't feel like I am using it differently than from the first day I had it) or because I ended up softening the lock ...
Handling
The knife is easy to open one-handed, but one-hand deployment is a bit sluggish, requiring either slow finger-action only or a mix of finger and wrist action. I wasn't able to find a way to quickly and easily snap this folder open (which was a slight disappointment), but was pleased by the smooth, easy to open locking mechanism.
Although it is quite heavy and a bit bulky for a folder (8.5 oz, or a half-pound if you prefer ...), this knife feels light yet solid in-hand, thanks to its large, comfortable and responsive handle. People who don't mind dragging a Cold Steel Rajah folder in their pocket will probably don't mind carrying this knife (although I would adivse against that, this is a mean-looking knife which will likely look very suspicious to any police officer). Most people, however, will probably find this knife too bulky and heavy for EDC.
Conclusion
Pros
-Big, mean, cool-looking blade
-Very sharp out of the box
-Large, comfy, grippy handle
Cons
-It might take you some unpleasant time to get used to the lock
-Large and heavy
-A bit unpractical for real tactical use, IMHO (no rope-cutter, glass-breaker + slow deployment)
Frankly, I believe this knife is for what I'd call the tacticool crowd ; testosterone-fueled buyers who want big, mean, cool knives who look made to hurt bad guys, even if those knives might not be the best tools for the real world.
It is a cool-looking folder and is very fun to fool around with (as long as you give proper respect to the edge ...), but is too big and thratening-looking for EDC, and doesn't come with the kind of qualities that I would expect from a knife made for tactical applications* (for example, a glass-breaker, a rope-cutter and a quick & easy to deploy blade).
So, in the end, I think this knife has much in common with my huge 6'' blade Cold Steel Ti Lite ; it is a cool, casual collectors item, but a mediocre/poor real life knife.
*Take this with lots of salt, I know almost nothing about RL combat and violence and the kind of things a soldier might have to face ....