Best knife handle

I remember some years ago I tested the different handles of some knives and how they performed doing some very agressive cutting.

Bark Rivers, an A1 Fällkniven, a Mora Companion HD and a Mora Classic #2.

The Mora Classic #2 was by far the most comfy handle when having to carve hard for some lenght of time.

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Wil lRogers said:
What's your favorite knife handle (ignoring everything else about the knife, including the blade)? Criteria can be anything you want: comfort in hand, grip, handle material, etc. My favorite is the Spyderco Sage 5 handle in carbon fiber.
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For me..shape is more important than material. If it is likely to rot, swell, crack or shrink when exposed to water, moisture or temperature changes then it likely stays on the shelf, an just sits there looking good. I love some burl grain wood,mammoth ivory or compressed leather. Which is fine,beautiful, comfortable and unique, I just dont enjoy using those pieces as much as synthetics that need less care.
When choosing a handle shape, I have found, simple is good, think kephart , barlow or katana.
Curves,swells an finger Dips are great but kind of a personal taste
 
My Hinderer Eklipse. I like the 2 choils on the handle and the width is just right for me.
 
killgar said:
My favorite are rubbery-type materials. Kraton, Krayex, etc. And if one of my fixed-blades doesn't have a rubbery handle, I give them one with Plastidip (bottom three fixed-blades below).

My next favorite is coarse G10. The knife in the bottom pic has extra-coarse G10. It's not something I would want to be using for long periods of time with bare hands (feels like 100 grit sandpaper), but for short periods it offers a very grippy surface.

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Does the plastidip stay on with hard use?
 
The user in me is keenly aware of what fits my hand best. HOWEVER, the collector in me concerns himself more with what the handle actually LOOKS like. Thus my "Hommage a Mondrian"........

But I must admit, it is not the "best handle" I ever had. This 700 diamond/49 ruby Main Gauche (image by Coop) was: b2d9e9bb03621ead93b6bc2863ecef95.jpg204.jpg
 
For pure practical work knife then the man made rubber material used on the Skrama and Terava range of knives is hard to beat.
Next is wood. Like Hickory on axe handles. Many are plenty good and some look fantastic. I do love natural materials. Annoyingly a lot of wood is force dried and so goes brittle. Aged wood that has naturally stabilised and shrunk may well survive several generations. Needs to be used and oiled from use though. Same with most natural materials.

All the resin based ones like mecarta maybe very stable and long lasting, but most don't keep that grab like natural materials can. Most of the plastics deteriorate over time or in sunlight. 2/3rds of my knives have man made material handles.
 
For fixed:

- for ergonomics, I love Busse handles. One of the things that kept me coming back after I bought my first one. Micarta or G10 doesn't matter, I have to look close to see the difference.
- for touch and feel, it doesn't get better than my OKT wood + CF, IMO.

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For folders, the XMs feel safe and very comfortable, even the 18, which I consider on the small side. Favorite XM scales are textured CF.

Note that I have 3XL motorcycle gloves, so all that is probably very personal.

Roland.
 
knoefz said:
Spyderco Bushcraft UK

Nothing else comes close.
This handle melts into you hand.... Super comfy.

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came here to ask about this, as I've heard the same enthusiasm elsewhere - looks like you have the rarest of the rare of these too
 
I just want the handles to be the same on both sides. Titanium frame lock, titanium handle. At least the same color. Black G10, black titanium frame lock.
 
DMG said:
Does the plastidip stay on with hard use?
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The edge can peel with repeated friction, but I've been surprised with how durable the stuff can be. And it's easy enough cut the old dip off and re-coat.

Originally I wrapped my handles with strips of bicycle innertube for a rubbery grip. Worked great, and it allowed me to change the shape of the handle and make it thicker if it was too thin. But on construction sites with dirt, drywall dust, sawdust, etc, it was a pain to clean all that crud from between the wraps of innertube. That's what prompted me to try Plastidip.

Here's an occurrence that happened several years ago on a construction site early on after I started using the Plastidip that made me a convert-

I was carrying the second knife down from the top (Master) in a belt sheath and I felt the handle hit a piece of wood sticking out as I passed by, and it hit hard. My first thought was "Well that must have ripped the Plastidip right down to the G10. Guess I'll have to recoat it when I get home". But when I checked the knife there was only a scuff mark, and no actual damage. That left me thoroughly impressed with how durable the stuff is.

Similar occurrences happened a few more times. That's been my experience anyway, and I haven't gone back to bicycle inner tube since. Each of the three coated knives in my pic have three coats (dips) each. The Master had three coats on it that day on that construction site. I wouldn't use less than three coats.

Here's a link to a thread where I offered some advice on using Plastidip (post #9) http://www.bladeforums.com/threads/electrical-tape-for-wrapping-knife-handles.1774526/

I was at Walmart recently and I noticed that Plastidip comes in a variety of colors. I don't know if that is a new development, I was previously only aware of black and yellow. But apparently there are several more options.
 
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barleywino said:
If I had the money, I would get the lignite handled knives from Palli knives (Iceland). Not practical but one of a kind and cool.
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is it actual lignite (brown coal) that they use? or is it more like petrified wood??....

brown coal is not very strong or robust normally... when its exposed to air it breaks down quite quickly
thx for putting palli on my radar in any case ;)
 
For folders, I think Vaquero XL is genius <for my L hands> ...so many versatile hand holds possible <all comfy>

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But the ultimate handle combo for me with fixed blades is: >>> material : canvas or linen Micarta, shape : coffin

Micarta just feels good to my neurons, and coffin-shaped blades are so intuitively easy to index, even when not looking!

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dirc said:
is it actual lignite (brown coal) that they use? or is it more like petrified wood??....

brown coal is not very strong or robust normally... when its exposed to air it breaks down quite quickly
thx for putting palli on my radar in any case ;)
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Correct, he says he dries it very slowly for a year inside a sealed plastic bag with a pinhole, and even then a lot of it is unusable
 
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