Love of the Nub

[araneae]

Splitting hairs here, but the Watu doesn't have a full choil, it basically has a jimped ricasso, sometimes called a kick.

I prefer a full choil with a nub. For larger hands, a choil that fades to the edge is a real safety issue. I've been nipped. Nobody does choils better than Spyderco IMO.

[Manifestgtr]

Agreed…it’s a bit annoying to see that point come up on a near-constant basis when people talk about the Shaman. I’ve been “moving my finger” for so long, it’s just a nonissue…it wouldn’t even occur to me if it wasn’t for the fact that other people bring it up.

It’s just odd that “the nub” is a non-starter for certain people when the reality is that it fades into the background after about 20 minutes worth of involuntarily adapting your technique

[ladybug93]

the nub doesn't bother me on choils generally. it does bother me on the shaman. it's not that i can't move my finger out of the way or that it hurts if it hits my finger. to me, it just looks like a bit of an inelegant design. i think spyderco could've engineered the knife so that didn't happen, but just settled on the easier route with it popping up there. maybe that sounds like harsh words from a monday morning quarterback, but it serves no purpose coming into that cutout, so it's clearly just some kind of compromise in favor of some other feature.

i'm not saying it's a bad design. i'm just saying it's part of what makes the shaman, yojumbo, lil native, amalgam, sliverax, tropen, etc. less compelling to me from a design standpoint. some people want a handle that is completely full of blade length. i want a blade that doesn't swing through the compression lock path.

[Albertaboyscott]

I'm pro nub

[Bolster]

Splitting hairs here, but the Watu doesn't have a full choil, it basically has a jimped ricasso, sometimes called a kick.

I prefer a full choil with a nub. For larger hands, a choil that fades to the edge is a real safety issue. I've been nipped. Nobody does choils better than Spyderco IMO.

Hairs well split, and I agree: a jimped ricasso is a more accurate term for the Watu. To split hairs even further, I'll not call it a kick because the apex of the ricasso does not serve as a standoff against a backspring, which I believe is a kick's traditional purpose.

You can see why there wasn't more 'nub' on the Watu...ran out of room, when closed.

[TimButterfield]

My question (out of real interest, not to criticize you by any means, btw!) is rather what that nub does for you concerning safety in the particular scenario of dropping the choil on the finger.

I can understand how the nub / a more pronounced guard can keep the finger from slipping forward on the edge when cutting - but when the choil just "falls down" on the finger from above while closing the knife, I don´t really see how the nub enhances safety.

Here is a photo example given my particular finger position when closing it (after pinching the back lock across the handle and using the index finger to push the blade closed).

Notice how the little nub touches the back of the finger. If the choil and sharp part of the blade aligned, closing would have sharp part also touching the finger. Of course, with a shift in my finger down the handle, the nub would then be beside my finger and offer no protection there. But, given that it does touch my finger first as shown here, that lets the nub add a little protection for me.

[Wartstein]

...

...
Notice how the little nub touches the back of the finger. If the choil and sharp part of the blade aligned, closing would have sharp part also touching the finger. Of course, with a shift in my finger down the handle, the nub would then be beside my finger and offer no protection there. But, given that it does touch my finger first as shown here, that lets the nub add a little protection for me.

Thanks, Tim, for the further explanation and posting the pic.
Appreciate it and can see now what you mean. You have a point here.

[ZrowsN1s]

Nub is good.

[Ramonade]

Oh yeah, did not think about the comp locks. Does not cause me trouble but I have 100% of my capacities when it comes to hand movement. Knives like the Watu can be closed easily cause I can remove the finger without risking to throw the knife at myself (and that's good).

I did not think much about safety either, now that I've read the other replies I guess that depends on the handle. For me it's more of a "feeling" thing on the N5. The nub makes the choil more like the original, which had a weird shape compared to most. Handling the knife using that choil is really comfortable. I guess that if it was directly going into an edge, it wouldn't cause me trouble in use. I would feel like the choil is making me loose more edge though, since the kick would be way behind where it sits now Psychological edge to handle ratio stress is a reality !

[Bolster]

Was looking at other designs the other evening. This is the choil type that looks good, but worries me. Yes, it's just personal opinion. Yes, I should have an open mind, etc. But there's something about a finger choil that terminates in the actual edge that disconcerts me. Wouldn't stop me from buying the knife if I liked everything else about it, but still. When using such a knife in a forward grip, my index finger keeps exploring that sharp corner at the front, as if to reassure itself it's safe. I understand that such choils cause others no problems at all, so it must be a unique issue to me. Perhaps I have "index finger anxiety" and need treatment.

[Coastal]

Since using the otherwise outstanding QuietCarry Drift, I will never again buy a folder with a nub-less choil. The corner where the choil meets the blade is even more pronounced than the one above, and it can, and definitely will, cut a less-than-careful finger, as I have proven. I'm talking about while cutting or simply squeezing, not while closing.

I'm not saying I shouldn't be careful when using a knife, just that I shouldn't have to think about it so much. I've never had the same problem with my similarly sized Chaparrals, for instance.

[wrdwrght]

“In for a penny, in for a pound”, I prefer a nub on a finger-choil, especially when the finger-choil is not jimped and a sharpening-choil sits just beyond.

[Danke]

I do not know the official term for them but I love the small guard that Spyderco puts on their finger choils. I have seen people call them the nub, or a protrusion but I do not know what they are referred to as by professionals in the knife making world.

I love those little finger guards. They are such a simple and effective safety feature for a knife and they are helpful for sloppy sharpeners like myself . I took a picture of my Bradford Guardian 3 and my Shaman for an example of what I am referring to in this post.

Nub.jpg

The small choil guard/nub is very helpful when push cutting on the fly. It reduces the chance that your hand can slip forward on to the edge. While it is not necessary for all knives it is a safety feature that Spyderco often employs for which I am grateful.

It also helps make sharpening knives on fixed angled system easier and more precise since you have a protrusion that stops when you have reached the end of the edge.
It is hard to see on my picture but I my sloppy sharpening had extended slightly into the finger choil cut out on the Guardian which made for a less comfortable hand hold.

This post is not meant to serve as a detractor for knives that do not have the nub. There are plenty of wonderful designs that do not employ a nub or a finger choil at all. The Guardian 3 is a great little knife and I know that Bradford recently added those nubs to their 3.2 and 4.2 models and I think that it is a useful addition to any knife that employs a finger choil.

Spyderco seems to have mastered the choil quite well. You can see it on the Manix, PM2, Native, Shaman as well as others. It is a great design choice that makes knives safer to use for harder work tasks and for that I am grateful.

Most folks will call that the "kick".

[riclaw]

But there's something about a finger choil that terminates in the actual edge that disconcerts me.

The Hogue K320 has the same style choil. I couldn't tell that from the photos since they're all taken from the side. I had to order it to find out, but I knew as soon as I held the knife that I didn't like it.

I now appreciate that Spyderco keeps the full thickness of the blade throughout the length of the choil.

[Bolster]

But there's something about a finger choil that terminates in the actual edge that disconcerts me.

The Hogue K320 has the same style choil. I couldn't tell that from the photos since they're all taken from the side. I had to order it to find out, but I knew as soon as I held the knife that I didn't like it.

I now appreciate that Spyderco keeps the full thickness of the blade throughout the length of the choil.

Ouch.