Howling Rat Question

I'm no expert but from what I recall the original Howlers had Resiprene C handles and a slightly different blade shape. A bigger choil too.
 
Learned how to upload pics......
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Technically I think you have 2 Gen 2's pictured along with a Howling Rat Little Micshief. The Gen 1 Howling Rats had a much smaller choil and a res C handle
Edit: I just looked closer and see that the middle one does look like a Gen 1. Sorry
 
I’m out of order, you’re out of order……………my freakin HR’s are out of order!?!?!?!?!?!

Yes, bottom Gen2, middle Gen1, top recent run.
 
I'm bringing this thread back up for more questions.

I recently got a gen 2 Howling Rat; I just couldn't pass up the deal.
I own two other knives with choils, a Spyderco Native and an Ontario Ranger RD7.
Choils make sense on these two knives. The Native needs one because the handle is so short and the knife is basically designed for fine cutting and the RD7 needs one because it's so big that you need to choke up on it to do any finer cutting.

After receiving the HR I realized how much cutting edge is lost to the choil on a knife with a full sized handle that is not too big for fine cutting. For most cutting I use two spots on the blade, the third closest to the tip and the third closest to the handle. On the HR that means the lower third is effectively placed at least half an inch more away from the handle unless I use the choi on a knife that isn't big enough to necessitate choking up on the blade. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I've only used it a little bit in case I decide I don't like it and want to sell it.

What's everyone's opinion on this? Is the choil really a waste of space on the HR?
I was hoping the HR would replace my Fallkniven F1 as a medium sized knife that would be tough enough to handle batonning, but the HR's effective cutting edge is is at least 1/4 inch shorter than the F1 despite the HR being half an inch longer overall. The HR handle fits me well and I believe it's a much better handle than the F1's, but is the choil going to annoy me if I don't use it?

Let's hear some first hand experiences to help me decide if I want to keep it, sell it, or trade it for something like a Scrap Yard Yard Keeper
 
The choil doesn't bother me, and sometimes I even use the "secondary point" at the back as a perforater when skinning. That said, others do not care for the choils at all. I do personally prefer Gen 1 over Gen 2, but own many Gen 2s and have used them just fine over the years.

I'm afraid you're asking a "tell me whether this girl is attractive" type of question. We can all give you our opinions, but none of them mean a damn in terms of whether YOU will be interested in her or not. My suggestion would be to engage in some *light* use, stuff that's not going to rip the coating off the blade, but will give you an idea of how much the choil does or doesn't bother you. Considering how well/quickly even well-used Rats move on the exchange, I don't think you're honestly knocking down the likely price you could get by cutting a few things with it.
 
Thanks for the input. I know the answer is something I have to decide on my own, but i still value your (and anyone else's) opinion.
You're right, I'm just going to have to use it. Compared to what others have paid I should be able to get all of my investment back even with a little light use.

Do you ever find yourself unintentionally overshooting the edge and hitting the point on the choil?
Why do you like the first gen more?
In pics it appears that the first gen choil is the same length, just not as deep. Is this correct?

If anyone else has something to say I'd like to hear it :)
I have large hands but skinny fingers. The choil could easily spare 1/8 inch more blade edge and still be useful to me.
 
I also have 2 HRLM/Gen2, it's a great knife! I have seen some pics of heavy use with batoning, bushcrafting, and other hard use task and the knife certainly hold's up to it however, being a hard use knife and also having the ability to skin very well is a big plus. When skinning, I never needed to use the choil. The choil did not cause me any problems so, if you need it, you got one. I would love to see the HRLM in INFI, choil or choiless, it would not matter to me as I would be all over it.
 
The HR Gen2 is a great knife. I love the knife design and the SR101 steel. But, just like any other knife, it is not for everyone.

I did pick up a SYKCO 511 and it is getting a lot more attention than my HR Gen2 lately. It sounds like you may like the 511 a bit better.
 
I had both gen 1 and gen 2 Howling Rats. I preferred the smaller choil of the gen 1.

Now the HRLM? Love it! I own a couple - one lives upside-down on a backpack strap. Compare the HRLM to the grail ABA Busse... very, very similar.
 
Sounds like what I want is a HWLM but I doubt I can find one for a reasonable price. Anyone wanna trade? Lol

The Sykco 511 looks great, but I've got the 711 on order and the 511 is a little bigger than I want for this type of knife. The 411 would probably be a good one.

I've looked pretty closely at the handle. It looks like if I don't like the choil I may be able to take the handle off, do some grinding on the ricasso and end of the tang, then reattach the handle so the knife is at least 3/8 inch shorter overall and the cutting edge will be that much closer to the handle. I wonder if anyone's tried that. While its off I could refinish with gunkote.
 
They come up pretty frequently and Eric still sees them at the store on occasion. You should be able to find one for factory pricing.
 
I like the Gen 1 slightly better because I have big hands, and like the reach out to the shallower choil better than the deeper one. You absolutely can modify one, I and others have done so over the years. Technically it voids your warranty but the chances you would ever need to make use of that warranty are slim.
 
I've been digging around the forums and have looked at the War Dog. It's an interesting design that looks like it might be a little better for fine work or as a fighting knife.
I've posted my Howler in the for trade section just to see what pops up.

Whats yalls opinion on the War Dog?
Is it as useful for general cutting tasks as the Howling Rat?
 
Love the WD- better woods knife and is fast in the hand. I let my 2nd generation go and regret it though...such a nice little knife.
 
How's the WD a better woods knife? Overall shape? What aspect of the HR did you like?
 
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