Big Choils on Folders?

[d762nato]

I'm curious as to why manufacturers cut out a big choil on folders ie...Hinderers,Striders, ect. ect. I can see small sharpening choils on folders but you lose blade cutting length overall with them and I don't see a need for them on an already short blade/knife/folder to begin with. Is it just a looks thing for knife buyers in general? Heck you even see them on short sheath knives as well.

 

[Gideons]

Some people like to choke up on their blade for more detailed worked. But, frankly I agree I never use them and frankly dislike them greatly because of how much cutting edge they cost me.

 

[d762nato]

I see what you mean as far as folks liking to choke up on a knife but like you mentioned already you just lose the blade cutting edge length and I don't really use big choils either on already short blades of any type. I guess manufacturers go where the $$ is in the end and more folks prefer big choils on their folders.

Some people like to choke up on their blade for more detailed worked. But, frankly I agree I never use them and frankly dislike them greatly because of how much cutting edge they cost me.

 

[Gideons]

I see what you mean as far as folks liking to choke up on a knife but like you mentioned already you just lose the blade cutting edge length and I don't really use big choils either on already short blades of any type. I guess manufacturers go where the $$ is in the end and more folks prefer big choils on their folders.

It seems some manufactures get stuck in their ways. I was lucky and was able to purchase 2 XM-18's without the finger choil on a limited edition run.

 

[d762nato]

I've been admiring those Hinderer no big choil xm18's for a while now and hopefully one day will own one myself.

 

[Shorttime]

They're not for everybody, and they have to be done properly.

The Jesper Voxnaes/CRKT Large Batum has one that I like. The small Batum, not so much. For a big choil to work, it has to be large enough to actually fit around your finger, without the blade biting you.

If it does that, then the little "bit" between choil and the proper part of the handle makes it easier to control, especially when the angle of the blade is important (sharpening a pencil with your knife will tell you a lot about this), or where getting the point to do exactly what you want (packing tape and a box marked "fragile" are a good example).

 

[evilgreg]

IMO, finger choils are awesome on tiny knives because they can make a minuscule little pocket shrimp magically still provide a full size grip area (examples: Cold Steel Mini Tuff Lite, Spyderco Dragonfly, etcetera).

Finger choils on large folders, or worse, big fixed blades, are beyond stupid (examples: Striders, every large fixed blade with a pointless finger choil ever made, etcetera) because you don't need any gimmicks to get a full size grip, you've already got a big handle to work with.

 

[mbp]

IMO, finger choils are awesome on tiny knives because they can make a minuscule little pocket shrimp magically still provide a full size grip area (examples: Cold Steel Mini Tuff Lite, Spyderco Dragonfly, etcetera).

Finger choils on large folders, or worse, big fixed blades, are beyond stupid (examples: Striders, every large fixed blade with a pointless finger choil ever made, etcetera) because you don't need any gimmicks to get a full size grip, you've already got a big handle to work with.

This. Smaller knife, sure, helps to get a full 4 finger grip. Using a larger folder or fixed blade though, I've never felt "man, I sure wish my fingers were right up against the heel of the blade." So it doesn't really appeal to me, and I've tried several knives I otherwise really liked with finger choils.

 

[Razor]

Their is some real good knives I would buy if they did not have the large choils. I have sold some real good knives because of this. I don't really see the point of them. I never choke up on the blade to cut anything.

 

[GB940Rookie]

I generally don't like choils but I do like the ones on my Spydie Chaparral and Gayle Bradley.

 

[spyderg]

It depends on the knife and intended uses for me. Spyderco does choil very well, it allows full grip on a smaller knife like the df2. On others like a pm2, it allows for detailed work with that fine tip. On a model like the native5 however, I'm not a fan. You lose too much cutting edge for what I'd like to use that size of knife for. On my brous Bionic 2, I turned the poorly designed sharpening notch into a choil and it's great, I did the the same to my newly acquired Bionic xl. Done right you don't really lose any usable edge and still get a choil for controlled detail cuts. One thing to keep in mind about folders is everyone's edc tasks vary, and a choil adds more versatility. Another nice thing about a choil is if you are using a larger knife around "sheeples" you can choke up and cover much of that scary blade to open a box without anyone wetting their pants.

 

[Sergeua]

I like it. I don't think like I'm losing edge on say a pm2 for example

 

[Gideons]

I've been admiring those Hinderer no big choil xm18's for a while now and hopefully one day will own one myself.

They are amazing. TBH, if DLTTrading or Eric@DLT made another batch with XM-18 or heck Maybe even XM-24 with a nochoil and DLC coated blade/framelock again I would buy another 2-3 myself!

 

[herisson]

Sharpening notch ? Oh yes ! That's a useful feature. Finger choil ? No. I have and see no use for it.

 

[Lapedog]

Another great feature of finger choils on blades that hasn't been mentioned in this thread is a choil can save your fingers should the lock fail.

 

[Gideons]

Another great feature of finger choils on blades that hasn't been mentioned in this thread is a choil can save your fingers should the lock fail.

Yes, that is a very good redeeming feature. However, like the OP mentioned Hinderer or other similar designs the flipper acts as a safety feature if the lock fail which can make it redundant.

 

[Sergeua]

Here is a small example of how I find the choil useful on PM2.

Notice how the angle of the blade towards what your doing is changed

I like this versatility myself and like I said again i don't feel this robs me of some useful edge on this model

 

[evilgreg]

I like it. I don't think like I'm losing edge on say a pm2 for example

I'm the opposite--I think the PM2 is a great example of a pointless finger choil. The knife's handle is already massive, over-large even, to the point that it's a pocket hog, why waste blade space with a choil when you've already got that gigantic handle?

These two knives have about the same amount of sharpened steel, for example:

. . . now maybe the 707 could use a finger choil, it has a bitty little handle. Not the PM2, though.

 

[craytab]

It seems some manufactures get stuck in their ways.

Set in their ways like manufacturing some of the most liked knives and making money doing it? Then yes.

IMO, finger choils are awesome on tiny knives because they can make a minuscule little pocket shrimp magically still provide a full size grip area (examples: Cold Steel Mini Tuff Lite, Spyderco Dragonfly, etcetera).

Finger choils on large folders, or worse, big fixed blades, are beyond stupid (examples: Striders, every large fixed blade with a pointless finger choil ever made, etcetera) because you don't need any gimmicks to get a full size grip, you've already got a big handle to work with.

Just because you don't like them doesn't make them "beyond stupid". It is the difference between fact and opinion.

I don't love, hate, think are genius or "beyond stupid" large finger choils. Life is too short to get worked up over such things. A number of times I have found Large choils useful on folders and fixed blades. Sometimes I don't. It can depend greatly on what I am doing so I usually come to the task prepared. Some fixed blades I wish had a finger choil others I am glad they don't. Good thing is, we live in a time were there is almost limitless variety in knives so you can get just about what ever you want.

 

[DocJD]

I'm OK with the choils that are functional to actually give finger space to choke up for fine control . Really dislike the type that are mostly a cosmetic sales gimmick . Some are even dangerous to use , especially for the sausage fingered .