Which Dozier Hunting Knife?

A

Akwacko

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Jul 1, 2001
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I'm looking to buy a decent hunting knife and have heard good things about Dozier knives. At this point I'm leaning toward his Professional Skinner or the Yukon Pro Skinner. I'd also be using it as a camp knife. Does anyone own said knives and can comment on them?

I have medium sized hands and am fairly new to hunting. My skinning experience is limited, but I did cut up a rotten whale once for a museum. (never again!) :barf:

Recently I went on a Dall Sheep hunt with a friend and had a great time. Gotta get a new knife now. :D I have a new found respect for those guys that get a legal ram. Talk about a butt kicking experience! We didn't bag a full curl ram, but we saw about 100 animals. Most were in the next valley unfortunately (out of his hunt zone). A legal ram was casually looking over his herd from the top of a steep rock face. Two wolverines also chased a few of the sheep with no luck. Groaning glaciers, jagged peaks, ... I want to go again!

Oh yeh, Dozier Knives. I guess I'd be possibly be cutting up everything from black tail deer to moose. Which one would you suggest?

Akwack
 
I like my Dozier K-1. My primary use is whitetail deer hunting, hiking and camping.
Jim
 
I have the Pro Skinner along with a half-dozen other Dozier fixed blade knives. The Pro Skinner is my favorite Dozier hunting knife hands down. The 4" blade length is exactly what works best for me for field dressing deer. It also has my favorite Dozier blade design and the finger grip handle makes the tip easy to control. One of Bob's best knives IMHO. For hunting knives, only my Denning GM 4 ranks higher - mostly due to it's significantly lighter weight.

Bill
 
I own 8 Dozier's. And I appreciate Dozier's approach towards knife making for what it is... he makes very cost effective, very high quality slicing type hollow ground hunting knives out of near-stainless, abrasion resistant D2.

So when I criticize the Pro Skinner design below, you'll understand it isn't a criticism of the whole product line by ANY stretch.

Ok, here goes, one guy's opinion, certainly won't be shared by all, but it may help you to think through what you want:

Pro Skinner
The Pro Skinner is a neat looking knife. It looks more like a tactical / defensive knife than a hunter, but the blade grind caused me to order it. Is has finger grooves in the handle, a sort of "double guard" ground out of the stock on the top and bottom, and a neat grind that is sort of a spear point / drop point with a swedge. The blade grind makes the knife plenty useable right-side-up, or upside down in game cleaning chores. Pro Skinner is sold through AG Russell only I believe, so it might have been designed by or for AG exclusively.

http://www.agrussell.com/dozier/index.html

I ordered the Pro Skinner a couple years ago, but sent it back for two reasons:

1. the "guard" nub on the top simply gets in the way for a knife that is to be used for game cleaning or utility chores of any kind. It simply gets in the way of putting your thumb exactly where you want it on the spine, and when held upside down it adds nothing and pokes you somewhere in your hand. It limits the number of hand positions you can use comfortably, and for no particularly good purpose. In fact, the guard isn't big enough to really serve any purpose e.g. in a defensive mode. And yet it's big enough to limit the ways in which you can hold the knife in your hand comfortably. Looks cool, but alas, impractical. If you are worried about grip, have the micarta bead blasted instead.

2. the blade was ground very crooked... not just asymmetrically side-to-side, but crooked as you sighted down the blade, to-boot. A rarity that such sloppy work would get out of Bob's shop, but there it was. Of course you are 99% likely to get a good one and AG is great about customer service.

The finger grooves are of nebulous value also. A single index finger "groove" is fine, and you can work around that just fine, but for all four fingers?... that is for looks and doesn't add much except slight awkwardness when holding the knife in various positions (like for cleaning/skinning game). If you really dig the finger grooves for some reason, they don't get enough in the way to not buy the knife at least in Bob's rendition. Again, bead blasting the micarta is what suits me better than finger grooves.

Yukon Skinner
The Yukon Skinner on the other hand is pure Dozier simplicity and is a well designed blade profile that makes a good all around utility and game cleaning knife. It looks like it is nearly a straight hunter blade... may have a bit of drop. I haven't handled this knife, but don't need to since I have so many Dozier's already. This one would make a great all around hunting knife. Pretty pointy, but has a modest amount of belly for skinning. Using your index finger to guide the "zipper" cut, this would work great upside down. Simple clean handle, one guard on bottom side.

Other Dozier's to consider
If you like the pronounced belly on the Pro Skinner, check out the Master Skinner and the K-2 General Purpose Hunter (I own a K2) ... both very clean Dozier designs that gives up some pointiness but give you a nice round belly for the skinning chore. The Master has more belly, the K2 is that rare grind that is a cross between a drop point and a semi-skinner. I bought a Master on the web, beautiful wood, but alas the wood warped and pulled away from the steel, so I returned it. Just never bought another one. That's just what happens even with stabilized wood sometimes, and is why Bob prefers Micarta for cost and use reasons.

http://www.dozierknives.com

If you want something more like the Yukon skinner, see also Bob's K4 Straight Hunter, which is a little less "tall" but is in a similar vein. (I'd like to own a Yukon or a K4)

The K7 Slim Outdoorsman is like the K4 but less "tall" again, and is a dandy small game and general utility knife. (I own a K7)
 
I love my K-4 Straight Hunter as a "do all" utility slicer. I'd would make a great camp knife, but there would be a bit of a compromise as far as skinning goes. It has kind of a pointy tip for a skinner, which could cause some small problems. I guess you have to balance how much actual skinning you'd be doing with the knife, in contrast to basic camp style chores.

If I were doing a lot of hunting in my outdoor play, I might consider something more like the Master Skinner that A.G. sells. It's got just enough point for most outdoor type chores, and a very nice skinning style blade. Either that or the K-2, which has Bob's wonderful deep finger coil. I love how Bob's finger coil locks the knife into your hand. The K-2 looks to have a handle size much akin to the K-4. I own a K-4, and it fits perfectly with my medium sized hands. It's as if Bob had a plaster cast of my own hand when he made the K-4.

For your purposes, I would definitely tend towards Bob's micarta or A.G.'s rucarta. I can see blood staining a wooden handle pretty quickly.
 
Better still, buy two:

1. either the Straight Personal, K4 Straight Hunter or maybe the Yukon Skinner (something with a sharp point and a narrower profile for much of the game prep)

2. Master skinner or K2 General Purpose Hunter (something with belly for skinning portion of the game chore)

You could add one of Bob's Elk Hunters or his Pro Guide's Knife if you get to do a big game outing. The Elk Hunter has that top nub/guard again, but Bob would make one without for an extra $25 or something plus the wait.
 
I'd have to agree that any of Bob's other skinning/hunting knives are better for that chore than the "pro skinner." At the same time, the pro skinner probably makes a better general purpose camp knife than most of the others thanks to its blade length. The exception would have to be the pro guide which is a better camp knife, but probably too long for an optimal skinner. I have a master hunter which is a very specialized large-game skinner, but too short for a really good camp knife. The Yukon skinner looks like it might be a good compromise knife, but the A.G.R. site doesn't say how long it is.
 
Originally posted by matthew rapaport
The exception would have to be the pro guide which is a better camp knife, but probably too long for an optimal skinner.
Click to expand...


I agree on both points, save maybe using Pro Guide on large animals, say, elk (arguably). Many people use regular 4" knives on big animals anyway, as 4" is a very controllable length.

Either of the Elk Hunters would also make decent camp knives IF you lose the upper nub/guard via mildly customized order, and your definition of a camp knife is one used for very mild firewood chores and for food prep. See also his KS-7 Wilderness knife, which is sort of like a redesigned Pro Guide... a hair longer, but out of thicker stock and with a bigger handle. (pic near bottom of left menu on his page). The KS-7 is also $245 vs. $165 for the Pro Guide... not a trivial increase in price.

If your definition of a camp knife includes whacking/chopping wood (and none of Dozier's standard knives are really big/heavy enough anyway) I'd steer clear of D2 as it is really too brittle and simply the wrong choice in steel for such tasks.

Dozier does make a Bowie, not shown on his page nor frequently anywhere, but it isn't very long either (from memory, about 7"?).

Dozier will do his knives in A2 steel also if you want something tougher.

Side note: I had Dozier build me one of his semi-skinners but in a 3-3/4" length. It is a good compromise in a single knife between having enough belly for skinning and still being of thin enough height and still pointy enough for other tasks. That little 3" semi-skinner is a neat knife in it's own right.
 
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