Bob Dozier is a knife-making legend known for fantastic hollow grinds, precise D2 heat treats, the best sheaths in the world, and top notch ergonomics. His Companion model is a fairly interesting-looking knife that really shows off Bob’s design genius.

The Companion has a very basic spear-point blade shape. This particular knife has a full flat grind instead of a hollow grind. I ordered the knife this way because I like flat ground spear-points, but you can get the same knife in a hollow or convex ground version. The basic spear-point shape is not fancy, but it is very practical and is very good for draw cuts, piercing, and general utility.

Strider first hit the scene making fixed blades. The knives were big, thick, and strong, not made for slicing. Strider became known for a low level of fit and finish, but a high level of strength and toughness. The are the “Hummer” of knives. But when Strider started making folders, the fit and finish started to become more important since a folder needs to be precisely made in order to work properly. Strider gets a lot of smack talked about them for their folders supposedly being poorly made, but I think that most of the smack comes from people that have never even held a real Strider. It has become “cool” in some circles to bash Strider because most people cannot afford one.

This unassuming little knife is actually a big workhorse. It is the Bob Dozier Canoe model with a Kydex neck sheath.

Being a Bob Dozier you can get the knife in several different steels, with a wide variety of handle options, and in a grind of your choice. This model is a fairly standard version with D2 steel, a hollow grind, and black linen Micarta scales.

Bob’s D2 is legendary. His heat treat is very consistent and provides great edge holding with good toughness. D2 is known to be pretty brittle (which is the drawback of high edge holding), but Bob’s D2 has proven itself to be tough, which is what you want in a thin utility knife.

I have been using convex ground knives more lately and have been surprised by how differently they perform than the normal hollow and flat ground knives. Picking a knife with the right grind for the job can be as important as using the right steel.

Flat ground knives use a “V” shaped primary grind that can be considered the standard type of grind. Flat ground knives are good for making deep cuts into a binding material, such as cardboard or dense foam. However, hollow and convex ground knives are preferred in many tasks.