To choil or not to choil?? Do you medium size Tusker users like a choil or do you find it not necessary? It seems that the way Scott shapes his scales , they kind of already have a choil. I guess I could see it on a larger blade for balance purposes, but on 6" and under, I'm not sure I'd want one.
Choil
- Thread starter dcycleman
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I don't like choils on any knife. They just seem to get in the way.
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To me the primary purpose of a choil is to choke up on a long blade for both detailed cutting as well as to offset a possibly blade heavy design thus lessening wrist fatigue.
An additional purpose of a choil is for use as leverage when twisting the blade -- think of it as an optional finger groove.
The first point is probably not applicable to a blade in the size range you describe.
The second point can be solved using a forward lanyard or ensuring that the thickness of the handle slabs is 3/8".
Based upon your post above I recommend going WITHOUT a choil.
-Stan
An additional purpose of a choil is for use as leverage when twisting the blade -- think of it as an optional finger groove.
The first point is probably not applicable to a blade in the size range you describe.
The second point can be solved using a forward lanyard or ensuring that the thickness of the handle slabs is 3/8".
Based upon your post above I recommend going WITHOUT a choil.
-Stan
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I've got both, but in general I prefer a shorter knife without a choil. For me the edge near the handle is a kind of 'sweet spot' where you can apply power with control. The other drawback with a choil is that the choil can sometimes snag when cutting line or rope and inhibit the cut. This is a small detail, but worth consideration.
Gossman Knives
Edged Toolmaker
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Here's alittle history behind the Tusker design. The first large 8" camp knife/chopper I made was the Buffalo Blade made for Ron Hood which he featured in Woodsmaster Bufflao Butchers vol 17 DVD. He wanted a large camp knife similar to that of which a buffalo hunter from the 1800's would have carried. That design did not have a choil and was similar to a large butcher knife of the period. Ron gave me a few suggestions to the design which one was an added choil which he prefered in a large knife. I reworked the desgin adding a choil and changing the blade profile. The knife looked totally different and I felt a new design was born, the Tusker. I still made the original designed Buffalo Blade because people wanted the knife in the video.
As far as the choil, I prefer it only on knives 7" on up. I like to be able to slide my hand forward onto the blade for better control when doing close up work. Anything with a 6" blade or less I find it ok to have but not necessary.
Scott
As far as the choil, I prefer it only on knives 7" on up. I like to be able to slide my hand forward onto the blade for better control when doing close up work. Anything with a 6" blade or less I find it ok to have but not necessary.
Scott