I hate choils.

K

kgriggs8

BANNED
Joined
Jan 28, 2002
Messages
1,634
There, I said it! This has been on my mind for some time. I don't see the point of them. At best, they are not too bad but most of the time, they ruin a knife. Some knives have big enough choils to actually use but most are too small. If it is too small, I move my finger back to the main grip area. When I do this, I loose some control.

I find the best knives are the ones that have your index finger as close to the blade as possible but not on it or in a choil.

When I really need to use a knife, I don't want my finger on the blade where it will slip. What am I missing about choils? To me, they are almost a defect and I avoid them.

For Example, the choil on the Rescue is too small and I would NEVER use it. The Rescue is a hard use knife and I am not putting my finger on the blade when my hands are wet and slipperly. I use my Rescue as my water/boat knife and I would never think to use the choil. OTHO, I have a Calypso C54 (the large one in micarta) and the choil not only makes sense but is large enough to use if I wanted to.
 
I completely agree. Way too many knives, both production and custom, have the cutting edge begin too far from your hand. Typically, knives that have guards will have a ricasso that's too long. On tactical folders, the width of the "guard" (area around the pivot in front of the index finger cutout area) is too long. That is why I never liked the Millie, which is otherwise a great knife.

My favorite utility knives are ones that have a broad flat-ground blade with the edge dropping below the handle, like a chef's knife. I think most manufacturers and makers don't consider the choil area when designing a knife.
 
I like the choils on the knives I have with them. I feel that I have a more secure grip on my native than any other knife I own. They work well for my Cara Cara & Meadowlark as well. I suppose that depending on the size of your paw they may not work for everyone.
 
When closing a knife one-handed, I like having the choil so the blade doesn't cut my index finger
 
I like choils when they serve a purpose. I agree that the one on the rescue is too small to be safe (I also never understood the use of the cut out hump on the model from a year or two ago:confused: ). However, I love the choil on my Native. It's a good way to choke up on a knife and still keep it sheeple-friendly (I use mine at work around customers).

I also don't mind them on smaller belt knives that have a bit of weight to them. I have a fairly heavy belt knife that when gripped by the handle and used to snap cut will make short work of most 1/2" material. However, if you move your finger up to the choil, it balances the knife perfectly so that the point goes right where you want it to go.

Basically, I could live without a choil, but I don't mind them either:thumbup:

Jake
 
Love the choil on my Native. With the right size blade and choil, I can lay my thumb on the spine and use it as a depth stop. I can adjust the thumb forward or back to limit how much blade pierces the material. It's handy when cutting boxes that require careful opening. It also allows you to use the thinnest part of the blade when breaking down cardboard. No need to thin the blade to get a better stiff material slicing geometry. That's already built into the tip.
 
For what it's worth, I love the choil on my Dragonfly. I don't have any of the bigger Spydies yet, but the ones I am most drawn to have choils. I can see how having one that was too small could be a problem though. One big advantage I can see to a well designed choil (besides control) is that when you choke up on the blade it relieves some of the stress on the blade pivot and lock.

I was looking at the Native, partially because I like the choil, but think a waved Delica will be my next knife because I want to try the wave. I'll probably modify it by filing away a bit of the handle and blade to make a choil. I saw a post recently where someone had done something similar and I've done it myself with a cheap 5 dollar knife. It works quite well.
 
I love the choil on my Mini Manix. It's one of things that makes the Manix designs so great. I get excellent control while using it and if I don't, it just the same as using my knives without the choils like my Endura Wave. I do NOT like the mini choil on my Busse Skeleton Warden. I can't use it to enhance my grip in any way and it tends to get in the way (the material I'm cutting will slip into the choil and interfere with the motion).
 
Full size choils can be helpfull on knives over 7" and on some folding knives, and I appreciate the very tiny choils in my Fallknivens. However, anything to small to use for a finger and bigger than the Fallknivens is wasteful. :D
 
I just want to know if you pronounce the ch or is it just a C, like Coil, other than that I have no problem with them as long as they are large enough to use.

The rescue model is not large enough. and yeah what was with that hump blade ?
 
I love finger choils on my knives. I always use them, when I sharpen knives and on smaller knives like Caly3, Native or Kopa, I always use choils, they helps to hold knife secure.
 
Well, kgriggs8, it looks like you've been outvoted. . . the choils have it! ;) I do appreciate hearing other people's opinions though, and thank you for starting the thread.

I just thought of another reason that I love the choil on my Dragonfly. I don't need a very large blade on a work knife. The one one the Dragonfly is just about perfect. But without a choil a blade that size would probably have a handle that would be way too small for me to use comfortably. The Dragonfly lets me get almost a full hand grip. . . Call it a thumb and 3 1/2 fingers. I could stand to have a bit more bulk in the handle, but length wise it works just fine.
 
Why bother putting handles on knives if people are going to grip the blade. :confused: I don't like choils. I have a few Byrds with them that I purchased at the same time without "handling". I'll never buy another knife with a choil.
 
I love finger choils, provided they're large and deep enough to be useful.

It allows the designer to build a substantial and deep guard into the main handle for power cutting, while allowing the user to choke up and get right onto the blade for finer cuts.

The worst choil I've had the (dis)pleasure of using is on the Caly 3. Such a sad design -- deep and rough enough jimping/grooving to be painful to the finger, and yet the curve is shallow enough that with an absent-minded wiggle, your finger is on the blade. The worse of both worlds, unfortunately.

Otherwise, the rest of the knife is amazing, which is such a tragedy.

-j
 
Duke05 said:
When closing a knife one-handed, I like having the choil so the blade doesn't cut my index finger
Click to expand...
Thats what I like most about them as well, and one reason my meadowlark knocked out the others for EDC. I dont have a huge selection but the other knives dont have a choil.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top