A choil on a blade smaller than 6" does nothing for me, personally. Bigger blades yes, but even then it's not a must have. More importantly, if the ricasso is short enough and the edge comes up to the handle, fine cutting is easy. However, in knives with big guards like my ASH-1, the choil does facilitate in getting a closer grip to the edge.

Here are 2 pics, ASH-1 and BRKT Canadian Camp. Both work well, but I prefer no choil.





Having said that, the blade shape of this Scrapper is gorgeous. I will have one, thank you very much...