Choils feel unnecessary

[Felr2]

I feel like having choils on knives make the two available gripping positions either too close to the knife or too far back. Neither of which are too comfortable. The Delica 4 doesn't have any choil and it offers only one but excellent gripping position.

Any thoughts?

[Evil D]

I'd argue that the Delica grip could be closer to the edge, but tastes will vary. A design like the Lil Temperance or Polestar is genius. It puts the grip very close to the edge without the need for a choil and without sacrificing edge to one. I wish more models were designed this way.

[Larry_Mott]

IMO it's a matter of taste and preference. I prefer the Raven 2 over Polestar and Tenacious. On the other hand i am a big fan of the Delica

[BrianMcCord]

IMO it's a matter of taste and preference. I prefer the Raven 2 over Polestar and Tenacious. On the other hand i am a big fan of the Delica

You're pushing close to 1000 posts...that's a lot of knife talk!

[Larry_Mott]

I'm not counting, and i do hope i offer some quality as well as quantity

[SF Native]

I'd argue that the Delica grip could be closer to the edge, but tastes will vary. A design like the Lil Temperance or Polestar is genius. It puts the grip very close to the edge without the need for a choil and without sacrificing edge to one. I wish more models were designed this way.

I have to agree on the little temperance. Picked one up recently and it is getting a lot of pocket time. Wonder what it would be like with a thinner blade.

[bh49]

I strongly prefer blades with 50/50 choils. They take away some edge, but giving me more grip options. I also use choil grip when I am using sharpmaker. I have couple blades without choil among my EDCs: Memory and Hungarian, but they are not used as much as Natives and Caly.

[embry386]

I love choils (the Native is my favorite model). They just feel nice in my hands and I like the ergonomics and aesthetics.

[tonijedi]

I'm ok with choils but I prefer designs without them. The Delica fits my hand very well for example.

[TriggerThumb]

The lw manix is the best fitting knife to my hand that I've ever owned thanks to its regular grip and the choil. One of probably 3 main reasons I buy spyderco!

[vivi]

I feel like having choils on knives make the two available gripping positions either too close to the knife or too far back. Neither of which are too comfortable. The Delica 4 doesn't have any choil and it offers only one but excellent gripping position.

Any thoughts?

I agree 100%. I prefer designs with no choil like the Resilience and Chinook 4.

On knives like my Police 3 and Manix XL that have a choil and a full four finger grip behind the choil, I'm using the further back grip 99% of the time.

Knives that do not offer a full four finger grip behind the choil never make my list, much less my pocket. I don't like being forced into a grip I'd otherwise rarely use.

[jimmd]

I can’t get a good grip on the Delica. The choil makes for a perfect grip for me on both the Native and the Chaparral.

On bigger knives, I don’t think a choil is as critical for me. It’s a nice option on the PM2, but my preferred grip on it is behind the choil. The SpydieChef feels great with no choil.

[MichaelScott]

Everyone has their preferences. I like choils on some knives, and don’t find them necessary on others. The Delica, for example, although not having a choil seems to fit my hand just fine and I don’t miss one on it, even though I once campaigned for a Delica 5 with a choil. Just like so much in life, it depends...

[Bill1170]

I feel like having choils on knives make the two available gripping positions either too close to the knife or too far back. Neither of which are too comfortable. The Delica 4 doesn't have any choil and it offers only one but excellent gripping position.

Any thoughts?

I agree 100%. I prefer designs with no choil like the Resilience and Chinook 4.

On knives like my Police 3 and Manix XL that have a choil and a full four finger grip behind the choil, I'm using the further back grip 99% of the time.

Knives that do not offer a full four finger grip behind the choil never make my list, much less my pocket. I don't like being forced into a grip I'd otherwise rarely use.

I agree completely. I never use choil grip on my Manix or PM2.

[Halfneck]

I own 2 Spyderco knives with choils - Caly 3 and a Manix LW. The only one I use the choil on is the Caly 3. I look at choils as a feature on a gentleman's knife or for precision use. For rough use I want less risk my finger will slip up on to the blade.

And then I go and contradict myself using a puukko of some sort on most of my camping/hiking trips.

[TomAiello]

I greatly prefer designs with choils. Basically, all my favorites have them.

[vivi]

I feel like having choils on knives make the two available gripping positions either too close to the knife or too far back. Neither of which are too comfortable. The Delica 4 doesn't have any choil and it offers only one but excellent gripping position.

Any thoughts?

I agree 100%. I prefer designs with no choil like the Resilience and Chinook 4.

On knives like my Police 3 and Manix XL that have a choil and a full four finger grip behind the choil, I'm using the further back grip 99% of the time.

Knives that do not offer a full four finger grip behind the choil never make my list, much less my pocket. I don't like being forced into a grip I'd otherwise rarely use.

I agree completely. I never use choil grip on my Manix or PM2.

The whole thing that sold me on the PM2 is that they designed it for a full grip behind the choil, as opposed to the Para 1 that was more or less a beefy compression lock Caly. I had to mod the handle of my Para 1 to make that work.

Choilc can be nice for precision work, but I find using one often gets my thumb in the way of what I'm cutting.

[phurgawtin]

Finger choil is mandatory for me. I was totally fine with a Delica for about 2 years, then I made this mistake of handling a knife with a finger choil, and suddenly my Delica felt pointless in my hands. Now all of my knives have finger choils.

[The Deacon]

I feel like having choils on knives make the two available gripping positions either too close to the knife or too far back. Neither of which are too comfortable. The Delica 4 doesn't have any choil and it offers only one but excellent gripping position.

Any thoughts?

I, on the other hand, strongly prefer models that have a 50/50 choil. The only knife I carry regularly that lacks one is the Jester on my key chain.

Chalk it up to different strokes for different folks. I'm just happy that Spyderco makes at least some models to my taste, hope you can be content that they make some to yours.

[archangel]

Funny subject. In theory I am a big fan of choils, since they offer a more controlled grip for when it's necessary. It turns out though that the spydies I love the most don't have it, and I don't mind it at all.

Guess what I'm trying to say is that one can very well live without a choil, but when it's there, even better! Just imho.