I don't consider the regulator a chopper either, but what I do consider it to be is a knife that is perhaps more versatile than a camp tramp or sod. The reason I say this is that the regulator can certainly chop, and nearly as well as the sod, and other than the guard issue (easily fixed by cutting the top guard off), it batons extremely well.

Where it beats dedicated choppers, though, is tip and detail work. Because the blade is thick, it's more comfortable in a pinch grip, and because of the way the tip is tapered, you can do some pretty intricate carving and bushcraft with the tip, which is surprising for such a big, thick blade. And for tip work specifically, the regulator bests pretty much every knife I own. For drilling, or prying fatwood chunks out of a log, the regulator whoops the butt of a dedicated chopper.

I chop when I need to, but I like the variety of other tasks the regulator is capable of. That is why I prefer it as a camp knife over many dedicated choppers (guard issues notwithstanding)