Do you need a finger guard?

Different strokes for different folks.

I enjoy using both for different circumstances. My GB folders and Enzo Birk put your finger nice and close to the edge, which I personally prefer rather than finger choils for controlled cutting. I tend to use knives with some sort of finger guard for field dressing because I'm clumsy sometimes.

I also echo not really liking a full guard on the top, but I don't do much stabbing. If I was brave enough to knife hunt wild pigs I would absolutely want a full guard.

It is pretty neat that we have options!
 
I have no problem using a knife without a guard. I lean toward either a handle fashioned to prevent (reduce) the chance of your hand hitting the sharpened edge or a guard. I go both ways. Many of the classic fighting knives have guards and I believe they should for the most part. The hog sticking thing or sticking anything forcefully, having a guard would be prudent. I seldom do anything really rough with a knife, and the guard is optional for the most part. I don't stick things..... even logs. My recent purchase of the Bark River Wilderness Adventurer knife illustrates perfectly my general preference for an all around use woods blade. I can't see the guard getting in the way much. But there is a lot of personal preference. Generally speaking, I think a fixed blade looks better without a guard.

The example I like to use from a knife I own relative to a guard (or a choil) is the Blackjack 155 neck knife. It is a very nice knife (I think), but your hand is VERY close to the sharpened edge due to handle size and could very easily come in contact with it if you aren't paying attention. The knife needs something to protect your hand (guard of sorts), something. Certainly that would either increase the length or mass of the knife...
 
Blackjack 155 is a little knife I like a lot but the transition from handle to blade is much too fluid (and the handle is small for my hands...) An index notch of some kind would make it one of the bestest neckers ever...
 
This seems to be as contentious an issue as batoning. I think it's a matter of personal preference. I own very few without either choils and jimping or guards. I have cut myself while handling a bb13, but it's still my favorite chopper.
 
Thank you for your valuable comments. I like traditional puukkos, and also I like metal finger guards. Unfortunately puukko rarely have metal finger guard, but I myself make puukkos with guards. I think it is good to learn to use knife without guard, do not rely that there is always a guard which saves fingers. When my son was 7, I taught him safely cut and stab with a knife, and said that do not use a knife alone. However, he secretly took my puukko and stabbed a tuna fish can open. When I noticed that, I was a bit angry, but my son said: "Daddy, calm down, I kept my thumb on the handle butt".
 
I myself don't see the perceived benefits of giving up some sort of "guard" for a little bit more edge at the back of a blade to be worth the risk of injury . so many guys like to have their fingers right next to that edge and that extra 1/2"-1" of edge is crucial to their survival but I just don't see it

If its a folder I only go for those with a solid finger choil which is why I tend to go Spyderco . there are many folders and brands I like but don't consider because of no choil. I guess I just have this phobia about the blade collapsing during use.

On fixed blades once again a deep choil or the wonderful Perrin index finger hole are once again a necessity
 
Juha Perttula said:
Thank you for your valuable comments. I like traditional puukkos, and also I like metal finger guards. Unfortunately puukko rarely have metal finger guard, but I myself make puukkos with guards. I think it is good to learn to use knife without guard, do not rely that there is always a guard which saves fingers. When my son was 7, I taught him safely cut and stab with a knife, and said that do not use a knife alone. However, he secretly took my puukko and stabbed a tuna fish can open. When I noticed that, I was a bit angry, but my son said: "Daddy, calm down, I kept my thumb on the handle butt".
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This is one of the best things I have ever read on BF, and the net. Bows to you !
 
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