Well explained !

I agree with you too !

Not gospel, but helpful.

Much appreciated.

Hi RL Diehl,
I think it comes down to how well the finger choil is designed and integrated into the design/function of the knife as a whole. For example, the finger choil on the Spyderco ParaMilitary 2 is superbly designed and very functional for more controlled cuts without reducing or interfering with the actual cutting surface on the blade. You’ve got to hold one in your hand and use it to see the difference between power cuts without using the finger choil and controlled cuts while using the choil.

I do agree with you that there are many knives with poorly designed finger choils that are either unnecessary for the size and handle design of the knife and/or reduce the blade’s cutting surface and/or are too small to safely use without cutting your finger, etc.; however, if it is done right, a finger choil can dramatically improve the funtional use of the knife.

Sorry GomeznSA, but I disagree. I think this was a VERY helpful article that summarized several design issues we can check for when evaluating and selecting a knife. Sometimes we might just be drawn to a knife by how it looks, but not consider some of these ‘dysfunctional design’ issues until we have already bought the knife and discovered the problem during use.

One of my hobbies is to research, collect, and use knives. I guess I’m a ‘knife nerd’, but love taking time to read articles such as this one. I also think there are MANY other guys in the “knife community” out there who feel the same way.

Thanks for another great article Tim!

Good point.

The only think a finger choil is useful on is smaller folders. Something like a Cold Steel Tuff Lite, Civivi Baby Banter or several Spyderco designs. Then you can have a design that folds up very small but you can still get a nice full grip on the handle.

My first knife was the simple elegance of a three imch Buck at the age of nine. I’ve had a knife of some description all my life. My favorites are the Buck, which I also handed down to my oldest son, Case knives and Uncle Henry Schrade blades. I don’t buy cheap crap, so most of these are off the table from the jump.
Today, I’m tooling up to make my own blades and found this thread after months of Master Smith video tutorials which all concur that the more features you “cut” into a blade design, the more you undermine the strength of the steel. Even an etched maker’s mark at the wrong location or concurrent along the grain of the steel can cause a catastrophic failure under stress, much less a useless and gaudy hole in the middle of the steel.

The one with the holes under the “two many holes” caption has the Benchmade butterfly on the blade…what model I cannot say!