Spyderco Forums

...why would they place the slippery titanium portion on the part that you grip the most with your right hand, and the g10 where only your fingertips latch on? :confused:

I've been thinking about grabbing a Chokwe because something about the design catches my attention, however I fail to understand the placement of the big titanium handle where most of your palm contact is

You are overthinking, do some doing. Buy the Chokwe, get it in hand & you will no longer have these thoughts
The titanium is not slippery. If it were, the clip adds grip.
Titanium needs to be that side on a RH RIL or it would be a LH RIL & still be titanium to the left palm.
Just buy it. You will not be sorry.

The majority of the knives with two different handle materials are frame locks. That means they have integral locking bars that require a sturdy material like titanium to maintain strength and rigidity. You could swap the configuration of the materials around, but using G10 for the lockbar isn't exactly safe or practical.

The only other option would be to put the lock on the other side, and that turns a right-handed knife into a lefty!

My mind is pretty set on just getting it because it just looks so geometrically threatening :cool:

However aren't you guys worried about your hand sliding forward on the blade if used for a thrust in some way? The shape of the handle almost encourages it

It does not! In no way does the handle encourage the hand to slide forward.
We have been over this many times on other threads about the Chokwe. This is another thing that you will find out when you get it in your grip.
One really cool thing is that it's the only knife I own that will stand upright on a flat surface.
O.

Wow, you guys sure seem confident in what you're saying about the knife! You're overwhelming me with all the pro's without any serious con's so I suppose I'll just order it as soon as I get that phone call asking me to go to job training (assuming I got hired). I better have gotten hired! I had to go through 4 interviews for this one job!!! :eek:

anyway, back on topic(-ish)
aren't all the g10/titaniums sprint runs? Or was that just for the military?

No sprint run, just standard production.
Hate to see you have to wait. Bummer man
Be happy, order now :D
O.

Chokwe is my favourite ethnic-inspired Spyderco. I like it even more than the awesome Persian.

They are not slippery. Just did 6 pig dissections using the M4 Ti/G-10 Military and it wasn't slippery even when covered in blood, bile, mucus and stomach fluids.

Still pops hairs afterwards and I don't notice any difference in sharpness. Some slight grayish patina after 3 hours of being covered in blood etc. , but not much.

Clean and back in my pocket now.

Sverre

On the side with the titanium, you have the clip which provides grip, on the opposite side you have the G-10.

I was pleasantly surpised at the ergonomics of the Chockwe grip. The handles have such clean lines, yet feel nice and secure when you grip.

I don't think it a knife to horse around with. The blade gets really thin towards the pointy tip, but it is a really nice capable slicer :)

Nothing appeals to everyone. I personally don't like knives where the front and back are of totally different materials, but that's for purely esthetic reasons. Others, however, like the idea of combining the strength of a titanium framelock with the lighter weight and greater traction of a G-10 front slab. Still others will prefer an all G-10 knife, even though that means it will have the liner lock some self-styled experts feel is inferior. Neat thing here is that Spyderco offers three options on the Military - full titanium framelock, full G-10 liner lock, and the G-10/Ti mixed framelock.

SnowCrash wrote:...why would they place the slippery titanium portion on the part that you grip the most with your right hand, and the g10 where only your fingertips latch on? :confused:

I've been thinking about grabbing a Chokwe because something about the design catches my attention, however I fail to understand the placement of the big titanium handle where most of your palm contact is

A titanium framelock design, by definition, has "the slippery titanium portion" on the locking side. Putting G10 or something else on both sides makes the knife a linerlock.

I handled a Chockwe in a pass-around. It is an excellent knife.

DM

I also handled the Chokwe in a passaround (maybe the same one DMgangl was in) and I will throw my hat in the Pro pile, I never noticed a problem with the Titanium being slippery, it actually felt good and secure in the hand. The Chokwe is one I want to get for myself as well, loved everything about it!

SnowCrash wrote:...why would they place the slippery titanium portion on the part that you grip the most with your right hand, and the g10 where only your fingertips latch on? :confused:

I've been thinking about grabbing a Chokwe because something about the design catches my attention, however I fail to understand the placement of the big titanium handle where most of your palm contact is

While there's really nothing stopping them from putting another G-10 scale over the Titanium (like the PPT), that would make it harder to clean. One of the advantages of the R.I.L. is that the locking mechanism is open and accessible.
Also, some people just like the feel of bare Titanium.

Joshua J. wrote:While there's really nothing stopping them from putting another G-10 scale over the Titanium (like the PPT), that would make it harder to clean. One of the advantages of the R.I.L. is that the locking mechanism is open and accessible.
Also, some people just like the feel of bare Titanium.

It would also make the knife thicker unless the titanium slab were made thinner to compensate and, if that were done, you pretty much be back to a liner lock. If the titanium slab were left intact, weight would also increase, unless it was skeletonized. The extra G-10 and extra operations needed to compensate for it would also increase the cost.

Of course, there's nothing to stop someone seriously worried about the traction of the titanium side from having it stippled, slapping a chuck of grip tape on it, or just buying the liner lock version.

You are really overthinking it. If you are planning to use it for hard use then forget it. It doesn't have jimping and the blade is quite thin, so you might be a little disappoint if you wanted to go wacking with it. But if you want it for finer work, and aesthetic value and such jump on it, I have never looked back. Except my lock bar stuck to the blade same as my sage 2, but spyderco is fixing that. I have it and have never even thought about the worry of slippage on the Ti side. If not like the others have said, the clip is there to give your hand something to hold. Also I can twirl this knife around my fingers like a pencil without dropping it, if that gives you any insight as to how slippery or grippy it is.

I might have been in on the same passaround and it is a great knife. I will admit that I haven't bought one, but it was very impressive. I was already signed up for the M4 Military that has the same build. I had no complaints about the build concept or quality and the handle was more secure than I imagined from looking at the pictures. The one thing I didn't care for was the lack of belly on the blade, but that's from using a Military for years and being very comfortable with that blade shape and the dropped handle.

Overall, it's a very nice knife and if you like the blade shape, I could definitely recommend it.

It seems most people say the Chokwe is more secure and comfortable to use than they expected. It really is a great knife. I generally don't like Ti scales, but I don't even notice that half the Chokwe is metal. My Chokwe still gets carried and used often, and is one of my favorites.

Also, its action is silky smooth, and amazingly fast! And the quality out of Taiwan is incredible.