Striking the top of the Res-C handle repeatedly with a wood baton might eventually cause minor damage, but I doubt the occasional mis-hit to the handle would ever cause a problem.
Noss didn't destroy the Res-C handles on either the Scrapper 6 or the Basic 9, even pounding their butts with his 3 lb. steel mallet to drive their points into concrete. A couple of small splits and deformities were the only result. The B9 handle is in my possession, still completely functional/usable/comfortable, and the S6 handle looked perfectly usable at the end of his video.
On the other hand, the tube-fasteners for the micarta slabs on his FFBM began coming apart under the impacts of the steel mallet before he ever made it to concrete testing. And that damage was not from direct hammer impactsjust the remote effect of impacts while holding the handle in hand, together with the considerable vibration set up by hammer strikes on the spine. The first tube fastener broke while he was striking the spine with the edge against a 2x4. Jerry commented that the vibration set up by full-power strikes with that heavy mallet was one of the most destructive things you could do to a knife, and Noss agreed that the vibration he experienced through his hand was painfully horrendous. Still, the Res-C handles absorbed that shock and much more without damage.
This is only to illustrate why I don't see micarta slabs--especially with the tube fastening system--as more durable than Res-C in terms of impact resistance, though obviously the Res-C will burn/melt while the micarta won't. Personally, I'd rather have the Res-C both from a durability standpoint as well as for its remarkably greater comfort.
Here's a stock DF that Ban worked over recently--I'd have to classify it as "da bomb":
Res C is my favourite grip as well for "users" .... so comfortable :thumbup:
