These two photos show how Effective Handle Length can make a difference in how comfortable a knife can be. I have large hands and look for knives with handles long enough to extend to the edge of my palm. (EHL refers to the distance from the indentation near the front of the handle where your index finger locks in, to the butt end of the handle, in other words the length of the handle that your hand actually grips.)
The black and white photo shows a Bear Paw with a handle length of 5.0". Its steel is 5/32" with a tapered tang, and the palm swell thickness is .782". My pinky finger won't fit on the handle in a pinch grip. In fact I typically place it to the back to ease the spot where the top edge of the butt end bites into my palm.
The color photo shows a Bushfinger with a handle length of 4.94". Its steel is 5/32", SFT, and the palm swell thickness is .815". The handle extends almost all the way to the end of my hand, far enough so that the butt edge doesn't bite. There's even room for the pinky to squeeze on.
In my hands the Bushfinger is considerably more comfortable. The main reason is that its EHL is longer than that of the Bear Paw, even though the overall length of the Bear Paw's handle is slightly longer than that of the Bushfinger. The Bushfinger's EHL is longer than the Bear Paw's primarily because its index-finger indentation is considerably closer to the front of the handle than that of the Bear Paw, and also, as a friend has pointed out, because the location of the Bear Paw's palm swell farther back forces one's hand to choke back on the handle. The handle of the Bear Paw is very comfortable -- as far as it goes. But if you have large hands and want a knife handle to extend to the edge of your palm, the Bear Paw may not go far enough because of its shorter EHL.
Other aspects of this Bushfinger's handle's also help my grip: (1) its palm swell is thicker than the Bear Paw's; (2) the top of its handle seems to curve a little more downward at the butt end than that of the Bear Paw, so that there's less chance for the top edge to bite into my palm; (3) the Bushfinger's pommel is thicker, so there's more to grip; and (4) the underside of the Bushfinger's handle has more of a hook to it, which locks my pinky into place. It's a bit of a squeeze, but it works. The squeeze occurs both forward, because of the palm swell's forward location, and aft, because of the hook. It's possible that a Bear Paw handle that had more handle length aft of the palm swell would be very comfortable for someone with large hands. Overall, the Bear Paw's handle feels as if the front half, including palm swell, was shaped for large hands, while the handle section aft of the palm swell was shaped for smaller hands.
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