Better EDC Blade: Kabar Dozier or Byrd Cara Cara

M

MichaelScarn

Joined
Oct 27, 2008
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My main point is price, which is why I've narrowed my choices down to these two knives. The Dozier is shorter, but I'm not really looking for length as much.

Does anybody have any votes on which one I should buy?

Thanks.
 
Welcome to BF....I'd get the byrd cara cara, I've heard they are the best in the 'chinese bargain EDC' catergory.
 
Both rock, but I like the Ka-Bar.

You can't go wrong with either one. It's really a matter of personal preference.

The Byrds are made in mainland China. The Ka-Bars are made in Taiwan.
 
Welcome to BF. Flip a coin. Both are great bangs for the buck. Either way, you won't be disappointed. I happen to own both (actually I have a meadowlark instead of the cara care, stupid MI laws) and love them both. Go with whatever has the best price you can find.
 
+1 for the Byrd. Take a dremel, mod the thumb hole and ya got a slick wave feature..... I did it on my meadowlark and it works great man:thumbup:
 
I love the Cara Cara, It has awesome ergonomics, My friend got the steel handled one and it's great.
As for the blade steel I think I'd rather have Aus8.
At least comparing my Tenacious to my Aus 8 knives 8cr13mov seems to be a little prone to edge rolling, but maybe it;s just my knife's heat treatment is off.
I think you should get a Ontario RAT1 folder, Flat ground, Aus8, G10 and great design for 28$ what's not to like. I'm going to take mine apart and lighten the liners like nutnfancy did.
 
I think it would be a toss up. I'd go with the Cara Cara. However, you really can't go wrong with either of them.
 
My vote is for the Ka Bar Dozier, but as many have already said it's pretty much a toss-up.
I like the feel & build quality of Taiwanese knives - particularly over the past couple of years - more than mainland Chinese knives.
But Spyderco's QC is excellent.
 
diananike said:
I love the Cara Cara, It has awesome ergonomics, My friend got the steel handled one and it's great.
As for the blade steel I think I'd rather have Aus8.
At least comparing my Tenacious to my Aus 8 knives 8cr13mov seems to be a little prone to edge rolling, but maybe it;s just my knife's heat treatment is off.
I think you should get a Ontario RAT1 folder, Flat ground, Aus8, G10 and great design for 28$ what's not to like. I'm going to take mine apart and lighten the liners like nutnfancy did.
Click to expand...

could just be the steel,sal said they do a good heat treat on them.
 
I would suggest the cara cara for more heavier duty work, I prefer the 8cr13mov, I find it rusts less and holds it's edge better at angles of around 10degrees than AUS8.
 
+1 for the Byrd Cara Cara.

I carried mine simply because it was cheap and I wanted a beater knife. A year later, the blade still sharpens with ease and holds a decent eade (a little better than AUS-8, IMHO). No blade play after hard use, great ergonomics, cleans easily, can be used in wet conditions, and a strong lockback. I speak specifically of the G-10 version.
 
The one I'm gonna get is the stainless steel, the only one available at the place where I'm getting them. I'm hoping its not gonna get to heavy.

I might get a Kabar Dozier later, but for now I'm gonna go with the Cara Cara. What other companies actually use 8CRMov13?
 
8Cr13MoV is a Chinese-made steel. Several companies sell knives made from it or from very similar alloys. Benchmade and CRK&T among them.

The difference in edge retention between 8Cr13MoV and AUS8 is solely a heat treat issue. The Byrd knives run between 58 and 61 HRC. The Ka-Bars run 56-57. When both steels are heat treated to an equivalent hardness, they perform the same in edge retention.
 
I've carried the Byrd CaraCara G10 for several years. I have been pleased with it's performance. It is easy to sharpen using my Spyderco Sharpmaker. For less that $30.00 you can't go wrong.

Regards,
Gary
 
The byrd Cara Cara is one of the most effective and excellet knives for the price, no doubt. Sal and the folks at Spyderco put in a lot of time and effort in the design, and finding a quality overseas manufacturer for production. It's about as good as economical mainland China can get. :thumbup:
 
sensei78 said:
+1 for the Byrd. Take a dremel, mod the thumb hole and ya got a slick wave feature..... I did it on my meadowlark and it works great man:thumbup:
Click to expand...

Me too.
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l_3b3a6822a29cfd0d06b78c28fb945ba6.jpg
 
I just received my Dozier Hunter Aus-8 and love the light weight of this knife, tip-up carry, lock-up and blade. This is a great value. I looked at the CARA CARA and would probably get the G-10 version for a heavy weight folding hunter and the frn for EDC. This is a lot of knife for packing every day.
 
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