Alwayslost,

That's exactly what I meant. If there's going to be a choil, it should be big enough to allow for it to be used to choke up on the blade. If it can't be done, eliminate the choil and bring the cutting edge back as far as safely possible. That rearward area of the blade offers a lot of cutting power - think about it, when you make a really tough cut, which portion of the blade do you use?

Use for the ricasso? Other than safe transition from handle to blade, I really don't know. It certainly would seem that a lot of manufacturers overdo the ricasso, wouldn't it?

M