RAT - I love the knives but please lose the choil..

retzius

retzius

Joined
Sep 17, 2009
Messages
1,102
Hi guys.

I have used most of the RAT knives so far. I like em. Very utilitarian. But I have to say, other than the RC6, I find the choil to be a complete waste of blade length.

On a knife like the RC3 I find it completely useless. I dont need to choke up on a 3 inch blade.

Furthermore, its really to small of a choil to be much use. If youre really using the knife, which I do, I find the knife edge digs into my finger and its not chamfered.

Anyways, I hope in future products you either lose the mini-choil or only put a usable sized one on knives that are long enought for it to be a benefit.

Ret
 
I like the knife as is and use the choile. Im glad it doesnt have the thumb ramp of say a Becker but It gives me a finger index that tells me my hands are in position without looking.. sort of like RAT braille. thats just my opinion and subjective..:D
 
Never cared for a choil until I got a few RAT knives and now I have to have one.

One of the things that throws me with the RC-5, I repetedly try to put my finger onto the edge.
 
I hate a choil myself. I find no real reason for it, especially on a small blade. I find that it just hooks on rope and stuff I'm trying to cut....and then no cut. I can appreciate others appreciation for it, it is just not great for me.
 
Just used the choil a little while ago on my RC3 to peel a carrot. I've used it to make shaving for a fire..I think it's useful.
 
I like the choil so much I might try to grind one in my rc5. Has anyone done it?
 
shotgunner11 said:
Never cared for a choil until I got a few RAT knives and now I have to have one.

One of the things that throws me with the RC-5, I repetedly try to put my finger onto the edge.
Click to expand...

I've done that a couple of times - stick my finger on the edge of my choil-less knives..... :D
 
I'm neutral on the choils. I really like a blade sharp all the way back for bushcraft work. However I use the RC4 a lot in that role and the choil doesn't seem to affect the blades performance in any negative manner at all.

Gotta thank ya Jeff. You advised me to go ahead and get the RC4 when I was concerned about the handle length. You explained the amount of development and tweaking of the design that went into it. I love this thing.
 
I just made a spoon for a competition for another forum using my RC-3 and I found the choil is very helpfull when trying to do small controlled cuts, it just feels right to me.
 
I don't have an opinion on a Choil, I really don't use it. But it definitely isn't a show stopper for me. With, without, either way is OK by me. And for those who do like a choil it's there.
 
I really like the choils on my RAT-3s, but that's partly because the handle is a little short so it encourages me to choke up on the blade. I'm interested to see how my RC4 feels when it gets here.
 
I would love to see a choilless version of the RC-3. Never cared for them on small blades. I prefer the blade to run up to the guard.
Like on this blade.
IMG_4816.jpg


To each his own, that is for sure!
 
The Junglas Machete will not have a choil. Does that count? :D
 
I'm the complete opposite, I love choils. The closer I can get my finger to the cutting edge the better, and you can't get much closer than the one on my RC-3 :)
 
Jeff, would you guys consider offering a choilless version as an option? Down the line when you start to offer more mods on models.
 
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