Anyone ever broken a Dozier?

R

R.H.Clark

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Aug 23, 2007
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I've been a knife nut all my life but just recently started to spend big bucks on knives.My first custom is a Bob Dozier YPK with sheep horn handle.To me,it is about as much as I want to spend on a user.

I don't abuse my blades but the cost of this blade has got me being much more careful than usual,maby to the point of being silly.With deer season coming up,I was wondering if any of you folks have ever broken a D2 Dozier doing normal field dressing including cutting through the chest cartilage along the ribs?

If you have broken or chipped a Dozier any other way even through abuse,I would like to hear about it.

I don't want to bash Dozier no matter what.My YPK has cleaned two deer last year and is probably the best blade I've ever owned.I really just want to stop being paranoid,if possible,by hearing how hard it was to break your Dozier.
 
I think to break any knife you have to be insanely incompetent or have insanely cheap knife. Dozier makes some of the best hunting knives out there and does wonders with D2, I wouldn't worry about "breaking" it.
 
If you break it under normal use it will probably be replaced or fixed. Dont be dumb and not use your knife--otherwise sell it and buy one you will use.
 
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I have beat the crap out of knives that cost a hundredth of your Dozier. Trust me, if the $3 Buck 110 knockoff I got when I needed a knife to abuse hasn't died, yours won't.
 
I broke the tip off of a Delta Traveler.

A couple of years ago, I butchered a a hog, including tapping it lightly through the brisket and through the pelvis with no damage. I went camping the next weekend, and was attempting to split some small fatwood sticks with it. I put the fatwood on a tree stump, and then put the DT on top of it, pointed straight down, tip first. I was lightly (and it was light) tapping it with the heel of my hand, and I lost the last 3/8 of an inch of my tip. I finished the job with a Busse Active Duty. I later re-ground the tip so it has a little more drop, and is a little thicker. It's not noticeable unless you look closely.

Here's the offending wood.
p1010461.jpg


I was very surprised by the break, but this knife does have a very thin hollow grind, especially at the tip. I must have hit some waviness in the grain of the wood that deflected the tip sideways "just enough". I didn't think I was abusing the knife, but oh well, lesson learned. What I was doing was outside it's intended scope of work. I still think Doziers are some of the best knives out there, bar none. If I ever use this knife like this again, I'll lay it down edge-first, rather than tip-first. It never ocurred to me to send it back in, 5 minutes on a belt sander did the trick, plus, it was 100% my fault.

I now use Doziers only on animals, and other knives for wood, except for my Pro Guide. It's thick enough to handle this kind of work. So I would say, listen to your gut.

The hog didn't produce any noticeable dulling on the Dozier, by the way.
 
On a backpacking trip we got some unexpected early season snow. The only fixed blade I had was about a 4" clip point Dozier. I batoned it through some wet wood to make a fire and it help up fine. However, next time if I think there's a chance of snow I'll bring something a bit heavier. That Dozier and my Yukon Skinner are more suited to field dressing game.

DancesWithKnives
 
I don't think you have anything to worry about, As long as you use it the way it was intended to be used.

Dozier makes knives that are designed to be USED, but not abused. In general, they were designed to be users, not collectors, which explains the very limited options for scale material...


BTW congrats on your Ram Horn, you won't see those everyday :thumbup:
 
I have a Companion that developed a hairline vertical crack in the grind just in front of the choil. I can honestly say I don't know how it occured, I noticed it after cleaning it one day.
I had taken a few spills in climbing up mountains, had dressed a few deer and cut right up to the bones and the pelvis, and probably even dropped the knife a time or two on concrete from table height.
Dozier took it, gave it a minor re-grind, and it is as good as new! Free of charge! It had to be my error in use. They stand behind their products 100%!
That's why I own four of them, and one of Dan Crotts' masterpieces as well!
 
About four years ago ,or so,I traded a knife,I was having a tough time selling,for a Dozier Elk Hunter (I think its called,you know,the "butcher" shaped blade)
Anyhow,I sold the Dozier & recouped my original monies
The fella who bought the Dozier,called on me,about a week or so,after he had got it ,with pics of a chipped blade.He did this,chopping a sapling he said

I told him,his knife was intended to process big game,cut meat,etc,not chop wood. He said he realized this,after the fact

Same two week period,I sold a PJ Tomes trapper slipjoint,that fella dropped it in lake Washington

What a week,I guess
Vince
 
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