Delica - Why No Forward Finger Choil?

rogatsby · Jul 24, 2018

I just got into collecting Spydercos and bought the Delica. Overall, I love it and for me, it is almost a perfect knife.

The only problem? It does not have the 50-50 forward finger choil like many other Spydercos. Does anyone know the rationale for this? If the Delica had the jimped finger choil like the Dragonfly, it would literally be the perfect knife for me. It seems strange, and I was just wondering if Spyderco ever laid out a reason for this.

Despite the lack of a choil, I love my Delica and consider it to be almost the perfect EDC knife.

Hopefully there is a Delica 5 with this feature.

91bravo · Jul 24, 2018

If the Delica had a choil, there wouldn't be much cutting edge left!

lieferung · Jul 24, 2018

There is. It's called @BOOMER52 scale mods lol.

You can click his name here to check out his work. The Lil Para is a more traditional shape for a Spyderco handle, but his new Verrazano scale set looks just as neat.

Jordan@DLT · Jul 24, 2018

The Caly 3 or 3.5 would be about right for you, its very similar to a Delica with a forward finger choil.

rogatsby · Jul 24, 2018

91bravo said:
If the Delica had a choil, there wouldn't be much cutting edge left!

But there is already a little unsharpened portion there. It seems adding a real choil would not reduce the cutting edge by that much.

91bravo · Jul 24, 2018

All of the FRN models are choiless and they are Spyderco's bread and butter knives! It would be nice to build to suit every single person, but I don't see them adding a choil to the FRN series any time soon...

Jordan@DLT · Jul 24, 2018

91bravo said:
All of the FRN models are choiless and they are Spyderco's bread and butter knives! It would be nice to build to suit every single person, but I don't see them adding a choil to the FRN series any time soon...

The Dragonfly, Native LW, Squeak, Rescue, Saver, Chapparral LW, Manix LW and UKPK are all FRN with choils.

rogatsby · Jul 24, 2018

Jordan@DLT said:
The Dragonfly, Native LW, Squeak, Rescue, Saver, Chapparral LW, Manix LW and UKPK are all FRN with choils.

Exactly. And I think most of them have jimped choils as well. A Delica with that would be perfect and amazing.

harronek · Jul 24, 2018

It wouldnt be a Delica anymore if it had a choil .

Ken

lieferung · Jul 24, 2018

The

rogatsby said:
Exactly. And I think most of them have jimped choils as well. A Delica with that would be perfect and amazing.

Spyderco R is larger but basically looks like a Delica wqith a choil.

uxo2 · Jul 24, 2018

harronek said:
It wouldnt be a Delica anymore if it had a choil .

Ken

Beat me to it.

James Y · Jul 24, 2018

The Delica doesn't need a choil. Also, not everybody wants or needs a choil on every knife. There are plenty of other models that do have choils, like the Native 5 LWT.

Jim

vilePossum · Jul 24, 2018

Actually the lack of that choil is one of the things j like about the delica.

rogatsby · Jul 24, 2018

harronek said:
It wouldnt be a Delica anymore if it had a choil .

Ken

So when they replaced the plastic pocket clip on the Delica and went to the metal clip, did the knife cease to be a Delica as well?

AlwaysTomboy · Jul 24, 2018

rogatsby said:
So when they replaced the plastic pocket clip on the Delica and went to the metal clip, did the knife cease to be a Delica as well?

That's not even remotely the same, though. A choil changes the ergos; the way the knife is held and the way it's used. It changes aspects of the functionality of the knife. Plastic to metal clip is just a change to a more durable and versatile type of clip. I'm in the pro choil camp, but not for the Delica. There are plenty of knives in that size range that have choils already - Calypso Jr, Caly 3, UKPK, Native, Para3, all of the Sages, just to name a few. Delica should stay choil-less for the non-choil folks.

rogatsby · Jul 24, 2018

AlwaysTomboy said:
That's not even remotely the same, though. A choil changes the ergos; the way the knife is held and the way it's used. It changes aspects of the functionality of the knife. Plastic to metal clip is just a change to a more durable and versatile type of clip. I'm in the pro choil camp, but not for the Delica. There are plenty of knives in that size range that have choils already - Calypso Jr, Caly 3, UKPK, Native, all of the Sages, just to name a few. Delica should stay choil-less for the non-choil folks.

If the handle remained the same, there would be no change in the ergonomics. Just slightly change the existing ricasso and make it into a choil. Preferably jimped. You honestly don't think that would be an improvement? It gives you another option to grip the knife, and doesn't change the existing grip.

rogatsby · Jul 24, 2018

AlwaysTomboy said:
That's not even remotely the same, though. A choil changes the ergos; the way the knife is held and the way it's used. It changes aspects of the functionality of the knife. Plastic to metal clip is just a change to a more durable and versatile type of clip. I'm in the pro choil camp, but not for the Delica. There are plenty of knives in that size range that have choils already - Calypso Jr, Caly 3, UKPK, Native, all of the Sages, just to name a few. Delica should stay choil-less for the non-choil folks.

One other thing - did going to a bi-directional FRN texturing cease to make the knife a Delica?

AlwaysTomboy · Jul 24, 2018

I like a knife with a choil, so of course *I* think it would be an improvement, but I still don't think it's necessary to take away an option from all of the folks who prefer not having a choil when there are already so many options that have the feature you desire.

rogatsby said:
One other thing - did going to a bi-directional FRN texturing cease to make the knife a Delica?

I still see that as being very different from the choil/no choil debate. Just my perspective. I prefer the Calypsos and Natives to the Delica specifically because they have choils. Before the Hap40 Caly 3 came out, I wanted a Delica with that steel so I bought one and ordered a set of Boomer52's Li'l Para scales to add a sort of choil. Adding a choil to the Delica isn't as simple as just changing the ricasso on the blade; the handle and liners would need to be changed as well. In my mind, changing the knife's shape in such a major way would alienate the folks who prefer the Delica without a choil and would, again in my opinion, make the knife no longer a Delica. I don't feel the same about the change from, say, Delicas 1-3 to Delica 4, going from the boxy, square end one to the one that's more rounded, because, again, when you hold the knife your fingers fall in the same spots. Adding a choil changes how the knife feels in hand regardless of whether or not you use the choil.

Kiteman72 · Jul 24, 2018

The Delica is perfect just as it is.

Also, all current versions of it are equally perfect.

Furthermore, all previous versions of the Delica were, in their time, perfect.

Embrace the wonderful perfectness of it, in this, The Year of the Delica.

Lapedog · Jul 24, 2018

rogatsby said:
I just got into collecting Spydercos and bought the Delica. Overall, I love it and for me, it is almost a perfect knife.

The only problem? It does not have the 50-50 forward finger choil like many other Spydercos. Does anyone know the rationale for this? If the Delica had the jimped finger choil like the Dragonfly, it would literally be the perfect knife for me. It seems strange, and I was just wondering if Spyderco ever laid out a reason for this.

Despite the lack of a choil, I love my Delica and consider it to be almost the perfect EDC knife.

Hopefully there is a Delica 5 with this feature.

They used to have a knife called the Spyderco R which was something like a slightly larger Delica with a finger choil.

Also I believe the Bird knives have a 50/50 choil oddly enough.