Choils

O

Ontario/Esee Knives

Joined
Apr 7, 2013
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9
What do you guys think about choils on medium camp knives like the Rat-7 or large camp knives like the Rtak II. I understand why it would be on something like the RC 3 or the Esee 4 but what's the point of putting it on such a big knife? Also which do you prefer choil or no choil on bigger knives?
 
I'm not big on choils in general - the way I see it, the blade is the blade and should be sharpened the whole way down. The only choil I'm a fan of is the one on my Kershaw RAM, because it's built into the handle.
 
To me, they're a waste of blade space.
I no longer carry a knife with a choil. Less efficient overall.
Denis
 
As far as preference goes I can go with or without, but I do find choils quite useful and utilize them often on my knives that have one. I like the additional control I get by having the index finger closer to the blade via the choil. The millimeters of edge I lose for a choil at the very heel I do not typically use.
 
I'm mixed on choils, there's small sharpening choils like the Benchmade Mini Onslaught.
Then there's lockbar choils like on the Delica.
Then there's ergonomic choils like the Paramilitary 2.
And at what is the most extreme of the "Edge wasting" side, take a look at the Spyderco Barong.
I however decide on a knife for the overall package, it having a small choil or maybe even one as extreme as the Barong doesn't completely influence my decision
on getting it or not. As FCM415 said, the few millimeters at the very heel I don't use, heck most of the folders I have were completely dull at the heel of the blade out of the box. I also don't think most people even need those few millimeters at the heel of the blade for what most people actually use knives for.
 
I like them for chocking up on the blade, but when you need to use the whole edge they can cause hangups. So small knife yes, big knife no.
 
I generally hate the way choils look on a blade, and I agree, they waste space that could be used for a longer blade. But a couple of years ago, I got on a kick of carving wooden spoons and forks from a dead cherry tree that I had to cut down years ago that I saved all the wood for smoking meats with.
And you know what? I really found myself using the choils all the time. The specific models that I used were the Ontario rat 5 in d2 ( What a wonderful knife that is- seriously, especially after I rounded out the blocky handles), the Esee 4, the Esee 6 were faves.

I also carved a few things with the MK 1 navy knife from Kabar, and also the traditional marine utility knife from Ka Bar ( that 7 inch blade was the worst carving knife ever, but an SUV isn't a race car, either ).

Overall, I respect what a choil can do, so Im ok with them, but not on all my knives for sure.
John
 
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