Do finger choils add safety on a folder

Yo Mama

Yo Mama

Joined
Sep 25, 2011
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I usually have always stuck to designs that have a finger choil on folding knives thinking that if the lock were to fail my fingers would be safer with the unsharpened piece of metal.

Then I got to thinking if something was forceful enough to make the lock fail would my fingers be destroyed anyway whether it's a sharpened piece of metal or not? I mean if something strong enough to defeat something like an axis lock or button lock the blades going to come down pretty hard on your fingers either way.

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I feel they add control and that can equal safety.
If the lock failed and your finger was in the choil, you might be able to counter the closing . I guess it just comes down to how much force is behind the failure.
I don't want to test the theory with my fingers :)
 
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I really like a finger choil on a knife when I am trying to do finer, more precise controlled cuts.
Non-choil knives for general (i.e. casual or heavy-duty) use.
 
There are companies that make knives with choils and no choils that design the knives so that if the lock fails the blade tang contacts your finger instead of the sharp edge. Simple testing will tell you which. In general, I find that Spyderco (not the value line) tends to make knives that will not lop off your fingers if the lock fails. Cold Steel also has a few, like the Mini Recon 1 and the American Lawman. I do not know of any Benchmades that are so designed, though they are great knives.
 
Sometimes you just have to use the choil :)

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DocT said:
In general, I find that Spyderco (not the value line) tends to make knives that will not lop off your fingers if the lock fails.
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lol...Spyderco makes great knives, so this is not a dig at them, or any maker...but I love that line...I know the point you are trying to make and I agree with it....but it sounds like a horribly failed advertisement...."At marcinek Knives Inc, we make knives that will not lop off your fingers if the lock fails! Count on it!"
 
I hate finger choils on a folder. Wasted blade space and awkward ergonomics... I've never needed any additional "safety features" other than common sense.
 
marcinek said:
lol...Spyderco makes great knives, so this is not a dig at them, or any maker...but I love that line...I know the point you are trying to make and I agree with it....but it sounds like a horribly failed advertisement...."At marcinek Knives Inc, we make knives that will not lop off your fingers if the lock fails! Count on it!"
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But no one would say that an automaker makes crappy cars for including seatbelts and airbags. I'm all for using tools properly but people make mistakes and mechanical devices will fail.

+1 for choils.
 
dsmegst said:
But no one would say that an automaker makes crappy cars for including seatbelts and airbags. I'm all for using tools properly but people make mistakes and mechanical devices will fail.

+1 for choils.
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+1

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It's more that if you have a lockback folder, it's easier and safer to close it one handedif there's a choil or kick.
 
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Just pay attention and watch your fingers. You only have eight and two thumbs. That is a whole lot better than eyes and ears however. A choil on a folder is mostly a design thing on smaller knives for me. A good example is the Cold Steel Tuff Lite which I like. I do like them on fixed blades for safety reasons, but I go both ways on the design. I like variety.
 
Blues Bender said:
I hate finger choils on a folder. Wasted blade space and awkward ergonomics... I've never needed any additional "safety features" other than common sense.
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We are in agreement .
The only knife I own with a choil is a Spyderco Dragonfly , and the only reason I accept that is because it is part of the design to allow short folded length , but reasonable four finger grip when open .
On anything bigger than a DF I refuse to buy .

Ken
 
Some folks have posted on this very forum how they had a lock fail (usually a cheaper knife), and the choil kept their finger from getting cut.

So real life experience of some people says that yes, it does provide a measure of safety, depending on the size of choil.
 
stabman said:
Some folks have posted on this very forum how they had a lock fail (usually a cheaper knife), and the choil kept their finger from getting cut.

So real life experience of some people says that yes, it does provide a measure of safety, depending on the size of choil.
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Yup. It's not happened to me, but I have disengaged a lock and dropped a choil or kick onto my finger hard enough that it easily would have cut had it been the bare edge. I typically knew exactly what I was doing, but nonetheless could not have done it without that feature.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Yup. It's not happened to me, but I have disengaged a lock and dropped a choil or kick onto my finger hard enough that it easily would have cut had it been the bare edge. I typically knew exactly what I was doing, but nonetheless could not have done it without that feature.
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Yep, I like a choil or ricasso on a lockback that allows easy one-hand closing. :)

As to whether a choil/ricasso is "wasted space" or not depends on the overall knife design.
On some it is.
On some it isn't.

People who get too hung-up on single features of knives end up missing out on some really great offerings out there.
I just follow the "I don't like that knife, so I won't buy it" method, and it works really well. ;)
 
My daily carry seems to do well if I ever went dumb, and caused lock failure......
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And I still have enough blade length compared to weight/overall length of the knife.
 
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