How much do you care about guards on a blade?

I care a lot. I'm pro-guard. I'm averse to any knife design that facilitates my hand slipping forward and slicing along the blade during use. Not every knife must have a full guard - most of the time, handle contours are sufficient to be confident of grip.

On the other hand, what is pictured is far more guard than I need in a typical knife. I very seldom perform tasks that would require knuckle protection. I say that now, but knowing my luck, by the end of the day I'll find myself in a hand-to-hand kukri fight, eating those words...

I would also like to see more of those blades.
 
IMO, that particular blade is too small/short for a guard like that...looks silly and might get in the way. But I could see it on larger versions, like the left one on the table.
 
Guard-less knives have a place and purpose, but generally, a small guard or finger choil is enough to ensure a good, safe grip. I actually like some Scandinavian designs as they are good for EDC cutting tasks, but anything that will require any forward directed force will benefit from some form of a guard.

Never understood the use of oversized guards on modern knives, but to each there own.
 
navman said:
Guard-less knives have a place and purpose, but generally, a small guard or finger choil is enough to ensure a good, safe grip. I actually like some Scandinavian designs as they are good for EDC cutting tasks, but anything that will require any forward directed force will benefit from some form of a guard.

Never understood the use of oversized guards on modern knives, but to each there own.
Click to expand...

Is that a finger choil integrated into the guard of the knife you currently have for sale?
 
navman said:
Guard-less knives have a place and purpose, but generally, a small guard or finger choil is enough to ensure a good, safe grip. I actually like some Scandinavian designs as they are good for EDC cutting tasks, but anything that will require any forward directed force will benefit from some form of a guard.

Never understood the use of oversized guards on modern knives, but to each there own.
Click to expand...

I second this. It only took one instance where my hand slid forward onto a sharpened edge to dispel any illusions.

I'm not generally concerned about a guard when it comes to Khukuris as long as the angle of the handle and the ring in the middle of the grip are executed well, both of which provide security against slipping forward in normal use.
 
navman said:
Guard-less knives have a place and purpose, but generally, a small guard or finger choil is enough to ensure a good, safe grip. I actually like some Scandinavian designs as they are good for EDC cutting tasks, but anything that will require any forward directed force will benefit from some form of a guard.

Never understood the use of oversized guards on modern knives, but to each there own.
Click to expand...

All of this is more or less exactly what I was about to say. I enjoy knife designs without a guard, because I think it's an extremely clean look and it's what I prefer. Also, I tend not to have any needs for a knife where I'm stabbing into something, so I'd need at least a deep Spyderco-esque finger choil for a knife that might see that sort of use. Most guards on knives I own or have owned, a significant guard tends to get in the way.
 
Obviously, it depends on the use, but generally.. I don't find much need for guards (especially exaggerated ones), or concern for safety without them, in my normal knife tasks. If they exist in a design I like, then.. cool I guess? I don't love full guards and am definitely not a fan of anything that interferes with comfortable thumb placement in my usual saber/Filipino grip, like the one pictured in the op probably would for me..
 
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