I'm in love

[KenpoTex]

I've heard about Bob Dozier's knives here and there for quite a while. However, I'd never actually taken the time to look at any of them. I was browsing his site last night and found the Arkansas Toothpick.

In my mind, this is pretty much the ideal "concealable" fixed blade for self-defense. I'd normally prefer a blade slightly longer than 3.5" but with that blade length, you have options for carry that might not work with a longer blade. It can be had in either single or double-edge and it looks like it'd be very comfortable in either sabre or reverse grip (or pikal with a DE version). A double-edged version is definately high on my wish list.

besides all that...it's purty

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[P95Carry]

Some fine knives there altogether Matt - many highly desirable. Prices I guess reflect the quality.

I notice no orders being taken for folders right now. Backlogged I guess.

This KM-18 ''Freedom Fighter'' rather appeals to me -

[BigEd63]

Nice blades I got one made by him. A friend of mine does some equipment repair for Mr. Dozier from time to time and gets some knives in trade for work.

[Betty]

Nice! How do you like micarta grips on a fighting knife? My hands can get sweaty easily and slide on micarta.

[KenpoTex]

I haven't handled one of these yet so I don't know how it's going to feel. Usually though, I think that being able to retain the knife has more to to with how it fits your hand as opposed to the actuall handle material. I think this one would be pretty good despite the fact that the micarta isn't as "grippy" as other materials. For one thing, it looks like it's got a bit of a "swell" to fill the hand more, it's also got the finger grooves.
I'm not big on finger grooves on some knives, usually because they can preclude the use of certain grip methods and they sometimes, in my experience, make it harder to establish your grip rapidly. However, this seems to be the case more often with knives that have a groove for each finger as opposed to knives like this one, or like the CRKT Companion I carry at the moment (which only has one groove).
Another reason that I wouldn't be too terribly worried about slipping is the fact that I usually prefer the reverse-grip methods. Since the butt of the knife doesn't have a "skull-crusher" you can easily thumb-cap it for better retention and/or to keep from "riding" up the blade on a hard thrust.

Of course, all that aside. If and when I get one of these, if I don't like it, I could always stick some "step-tape" on the handle or rough it up a little with some fine-grit sandpaper.