Poor lock-back in Ka-Bar Dozier folders & Pika Combo question

M

mathu

Joined
Jan 14, 2006
Messages
32
Hi!

I've been reading this forum for a week and choosed Ka-Bar Dozier for my first cheap EDC. You have to know that in my lovely & rich country BM Pika goes for $60 and this KB for $40 :< After all I was ready to pay that sum for Ka-Bar but today I have read few reports on one of our message boards that lock-back in this model is very poor, three people nearly lost their fingers. One of them posted a photo. Check this:

http://img28.imageshack.us/my.php?image=19ot.jpg

That's why they're so cheap :/ Pure Taiwan quality.

I scratched out Dozier and found a bargain for Pika but with combo edge only. Are they worth buying? Plain Pika is great but this one is more serrated than plain... Or should I better get a SAK and stop thinking about cheap folder knife?
 
I have 3 Doziers and I have nothing but praise for them. I have the Pika also and it seems like a very sound knife. They are not Manix strong but for the money they are great IMHO.
 
mathu, welcome to Bladeforums! :)

From my experience, the Ka-Bar Doziers are excellent, well-made knives. I don't know what kind of work those knives were doing for the locks to fail, but I can't imagine it was in simple cutting, which is what a knife with that edge and construction is clearly made for.

I also don't think we can rate knives by country of origin: every major knife-making center has good and bad quality.

You should probably have a SAK around anyway, and add other knives as the specific need arises.
 
My Ka-Bar Dozier Spear Point has a solid lock up, seems as strong as many other more expensive folders I have. I have no complaints on this inexpensive knife. I am sure it is possible to get a lemon from any manufacturer, no matter how much one pays for an item.
 
mathu said:
That's why they're so cheap :/ Pure Taiwan quality.
Click to expand...

All 3 of my Dozier/Ka-Bar's have a solid lockup, and I hate to be the one to break it to you, but the Benchamde Pika is from Taiwan also.
 
Yup, my BM Pika has "Taiwan" right on the blade. But don't let that discourage you from getting one since it's a pretty darn solid knife. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a low priced worker.

As far as the Doziers are concerned, i think the lock will hold up just fine so as long as it isn't abused or anything. As a matter of fact, i'll be picking up a Ka-Bar Dozier in D2 from agrussell next week.
 
What about one of the new spyderco byrds? Can't really go wrong with that stainless steel build. I just wish I had an excuse to buy a pelican.
 
I don't know what kind of work those knives were doing for the locks to fail, but I can't imagine it was in simple cutting
Click to expand...
As far as I know locks failed when stabbing into a tree. These people are knife maniacs. If they say it was a knife fault, I trust them.

Maybe you're right, I need a knife for cutting, not stabbing.

What about one of the new spyderco byrds?
Click to expand...
Spydercos are the ugliest knives on Earth ;>
 
They ARE maniacs! :D

Yu could get a lot of knives, even some folders, that would be OK for stabbing into trees ... but they might not be as light and convenient to carry, or cut as well, or cost as little, as the Ka-Bar Doziers.

It's all about trade-offs. You go for certain characteristics, but you give up on others. It's not a fault of the Doziers that they aren't optimized for demolition. :)
 
Esav Benyamin said:
From my experience, the Ka-Bar Doziers are excellent, well-made knives.
Click to expand...

Look at the picture he linked to, does that actually look like an excellent well-made lock back.

... simple cutting, which is what a knife with that edge and construction is clearly made for.
Click to expand...

While not an overbuilt tactical, that design is still a long way away from a simple cutting tool, hence the knife for example didn't break on the stabbing but the lock released showing an inconsistency in excution of design. You have to go really light to make a knife a simple cutting tool, something like the 0.3 mm blades on the small olfa knives which have an equally weak pseudo-lock. As the Olfa knives increase in blade thickness they lock design also changes to insure the thicker blades can be utilized.

Mathu, on lower end knives there can be a decent amount of variability, Bob Dozier is net active so you may want to drop him an email or post on his forum and see if the engagement you describe and lack of security is the expected behavior of that knife. It certainly doesn't have to be the case, there are inexpensive FRN lockbacks which have far greater security than that and still cut well. There is nothing mutually exclusive above those two abilities.

-Cliff
 
7k7k99 said:
My Ka-Bar Dozier Spear Point has a solid lock up, seems as strong as many other more expensive folders I have. I have no complaints on this inexpensive knife. I am sure it is possible to get a lemon from any manufacturer, no matter how much one pays for an item.
Click to expand...

I agree. I have one in a rucksack that I use when I go rock climbing. Great knife for the money. I'm also considering buying a Mini-Pika for the same purpose.
 
How many of you go tree stabbing?I dont but I can say I have a Dozier and it is very tough. I carry it more often than not.
 
This is typical of the testing-to-destruction mentality. I prefer a test to designed function.

"And never the twain shall meet." [shrug]
 
You need to save up and by a minigrip. That's the best lock for your dollar. If you need something like, really tough, the D`allara drop point is a little more.

Or you can just buy them used here for a lot less and ship them.

Get what you really want. It only seems like a high price now.
 
SGT said:
How many of you go tree stabbing?
Click to expand...

That is hardly a high stress use of a steel knife, you can also do it with an Opinel which is a knife designed simply to cut well, pretty much the optimal design to do so for a flat/convex profile.

Esav Benyamin said:
This is typical of the testing-to-destruction mentality.
Click to expand...

No simply someone who expects quality execution, irregardless of the method used to discover the problem, the fact remains that is a poor execution of that lock, now if it is the expected behavior is another issue, I'd personally ask Dozier before I drew any conclusions.

It also has more relevance than just stabbing, the bare engagement means it will be much more likely to suffer problems with debris in the lock and as well have problems with torques when cutting heavy materials or dynamic cutting in general, all of which is easily within the ability of the blade.

It may also be relevant for anyone considering martial use of the knife as there are several variations of that design, some of them more tactical looking and it isn't unreasonable to expect the lock behavior to be consistent across all blade models.

-Cliff
 
I don't plan to stab every tree I see, I've just read that with such "lock" (not with any Ka-Bar Dozier lock-back) you can close the knife with any harder push from top, like with traditional SAK. It's pretty unsafe I think.

After all I'm going to order that KB. I'll simply try to exchange it if any problem will occur.
 
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