Becker Grivory Handle Destruction

E

europeanoutdoorsman

Joined
Feb 25, 2011
Messages
456
Hi All,
Some time ago, here on the forums somewhere I read that Ethan had used a sledgehammer to break or attempt to break the Grivory scales which come stock on the full size Beckers. It was some time ago, so the facts around that could be wrong, but in any case, I decided I would try to break the scales my own way, just to see how much they could really take. Plus, I constantly read people saying how BAD the Grivory is. I don't really agree with that, but the test seemingly shows that the handles are easy to break. But, I used similar force and the same hammer to destroy a 1/4" thick O1 tool steel knife I made, just to see how much shock O1 can take.

This being said, I like these handles and prefer them over the Micarta in some ways.

Here is the vid...

[video=youtube;bVLMLunRP1Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bVLMLunRP1Y[/video]
 
No, you’re doing it all wrong. You’re supposed to be holding the handle when you hit it. Seriously though; color me shocked that a big metal hammer breaks a piece of reinforced plastic. You and I obviously have different opinions of what “hard use” is for a knife. That being said I do think you did a decent job with the video (whether I agree with it or not) and I wouldn’t mind seeing you do one with actual knife use to test the handles i.e. hit tent stakes, crack a coconut, or whatever else would require the handle itself to be used. (those were the best I could think of as I don’t really use the handle for anything but holding)
 
Tankerwolf said:
No, you’re doing it all wrong. You’re supposed to be holding the handle when you hit it. Seriously though; color me shocked that a big metal hammer breaks a piece of reinforced plastic. You and I obviously have different opinions of what “hard use” is for a knife. That being said I do think you did a decent job with the video (whether I agree with it or not) and I wouldn’t mind seeing you do one with actual knife use to test the handles i.e. hit tent stakes, crack a coconut, or whatever else would require the handle itself to be used. (those were the best I could think of as I don’t really use the handle for anything but holding)
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If you watched the whole video I talk about the use of wood on grivory contact...I also talk about how the hammer broke steel, which obviously is stronger.
 
I dont think ive ever seen a piece of plastic that wouldnt break when hit by a hammer? Heres something to try though........mount them on a knife properly, then hit em.

Edit: I want to add that you did good on the video, and that your right, that sledge will break most materials it slams into.
 
Thanks for that informative video. I'm thinking most real life scenarios would involve the handles mounted on the knife however. Maybe you should try that.
 
tradewater said:
Thanks for that informative video. I'm thinking most real life scenarios would involve the handles mounted on the knife however. Maybe you should try that.
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Honestly, I am not willing to take a hammer to a Becker. I don't think Ka-Bar would cover intentional abuse.
 
europeanoutdoorsman said:
If you watched the whole video I talk about the use of wood on grivory contact...I also talk about how the hammer broke steel, which obviously is stronger.
Click to expand...

I did watch the video in its entirety. I heard what you said I was just suggesting you make one where you do actually test it within realistic parameters. Maybe I missed the point of the video. Is it just to show that a hammer can break plastic? If so, great job! If the point of the video was to show the durability of the Becker grivory then refer back to the second sentence.
 
I have done plenty of batoning and hard use of beckers in many of my videos, but yet, there are still comments on how tough grivory is. Well, you see what it takes to break them. That was the point. Wood will not break grivory, a metal hammer that also can break steel, will. So now, the question comes, is it tough enough? Yes because it can withstand impacts it wasn't meant to take.

Bolting it onto a knife isn't going to do much but also cause damage to the knife.

If you look where the grivory NEVER broke, it was around the screw holes and lanyard holes. Even with extremely rough and hard hits, these areas still took a beating. The reason why this is important is because I have also got questions asking about the grivory breaking if the fasteners are torqued down too hard.

I am providing some info, if you don't like it, then do a video doing it your way.
 
I actually liked the video. Id just like to see it taken a step farther. If funds come available, I might get a new becker and do the test with the scales attached. Thanks for the vid bro.
 
bsmith_shoot said:
I actually liked the video. Id just like to see it taken a step farther. If funds come available, I might get a new becker and do the test with the scales attached. Thanks for the vid bro.
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Thanks. The reason I didn't do that is well even though these knives are tough, I am pretty sure they would break. Another person put a video up on youtube about O1 @ 61 hrc and asking about how tough it is. My first knife happened to be made in that way, so because it wasn't well designed anyway and I wanted to see for myself, how much impact and stress it could take, I beat it with this hammer until it broke. Now, I know what to expect from O1. That steel was a 1/4" thick and I can tell you that a Becker probably would have broken if I struck it with that hammer with the scales attached, until the scales were shattered.

Reason why I say that is it actually took less time to break the steel, than the handles. So, I think that is pretty telling. While the handles broke, they are still incredibly shock resistant.

On my channel, I get comments asking about or stating that these handles aren't strong enough. But, then I guess the next step is to compare this to G10. What do you guys think? I have some G10 on the way. I can shape it in a similar way. I can do the same with wood. The whole point was to destroy the handles and show why the handles broke and how much force is needed to break them. If I had to equate that force in a general way, I would say, a LOT of force. Given that I have done a lot of work with Beckers and have seen a lot of posts on here and nobody ever complained about these breaking too easily, at least from what I have seen.
 
europeanoutdoorsman said:
the next step is to compare this to G10. What do you guys think? I have some G10 on the way. I can shape it in a similar way. I can do the same with wood. The whole point was to destroy the handles and show why the handles broke and how much force is needed to break them. If I had to equate that force in a general way, I would say, a LOT of force.
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Next step would be to put them on a knife and make the test realistic. What in the world would you be using unbolted scales for? :confused:

I also think a 3 lb. hammer will bust up G10 with a LOT (?) of force. In fact, a 3 lb. hammer will bust up a heckuva lot of stuff with a LOT of force.

Save yourself some wasted money and make some scales out of the G10.
 
eo, to do this right, you're going to need an Instron high-speed instrumental drop tower, the perfect addition to any living room.

501656.jpg
 
Speaking of wood, I think I got some watching this bad puppy fall.

[video=youtube_share;Nve1FZWP7uA]http://youtu.be/Nve1FZWP7uA[/video]
 
I don't think I've heard of grivory handles breaking while on a knife. I'm sure it's happened to somebody somewhere. Apparently it's not as common as your friends would lead you to believe. If it were, I think it would pop up here from time to time. I also think the engineers at KaBar would have addressed it if an issue with handle durability were a problem. Thanks again for the vid, I like to break stuff too and it looks like you had a good time.


Edit; Hey! I wonder what would happen if you laid a Case or a Queen (a few million of those out there), or a Benchmade or any quality folder on that stump and hit it with a 3 pound hammer? That would be fun too. You could be the knife Gallagher!:D
 
Last edited:
Didn't somebody run over their BK2 with a truck or something? They posted a video or some pics. Derek, find that for us.
 
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