Cord wrapped handles?

[pitty]

Hi everyone,

What are the pro's and con's of paracord as a handle material?

 

[fedaykincmndr]

Comfort, Cordage in an emergency/survival situation, ease of handle repair/replacement, doesn't get slippery (i.e. absorbs sweat,blood, water, etc.), cuts the cost of the blade, and it looks cool.

That's the good side. The only down side is that it can come loose and you have to rewrap the handle but that's no biggie. It's better than replacing micarta or POM or something like that. Para Cord is CHEAP; It can be replaced for next to nothing.

 

[djolney]

For any knife that is regularly going to be used for food prep, or to process game, cord handles are hopeless. You can't get the blood or fat out, and it becomes the ultimate haven for bacteria.

Easy replacement is no advantage when the handle renders the blade useless for certain tasks.

David

 

[Chiro75]

Also, if it gets wet and it sits around it will corrode the steel nicely over time. I don't like them, personally.

 

[dennis75]

Also, if it gets wet and it sits around it will corrode the steel nicely over time

that's true indeed. i believe the only company that swears that that will not happen to their blades is Strider, because they give the handle special treatment before wrapping it.

my personal pro's and con's about cord-wrapped handles (i have 3 knives with them, 1 strider, 1 tops and 1 POS buck-strider):

pros:

*very comfortable when wrapped thick (as on my strider mtl)
*cord could be used for different purposes in survival situations
*it looks real nice (subjective)
*cheap to replace

cons:

*the thought of it getting filthy with blood, oil or whatnot, makes me cringe. i can imagine it's a pain to clean and dry properly
*it can be cut, which leaves you with a bare handle
*uncomfortable when wrapped thin and flat (like on my tops black rhino)
*hard and time-consuming to rewrap properly (imagine the strider-style)
*and what chiro75 said about corrosion, especially on carbon steels.

just my 2 cts.
denn

 

[ronsec]

I don't buy them. I don't like the looks or the feel of a cord wrapped handle. YMMV

 

[Chiro75]

Well, I don't know the corrosion resistance of the S30V that Strider uses, but between the beadblast and the wet cord sitting on the tang I would be surprised if people unwrap ones that have gotten really wet a few times and don't find rust. I've seen 440C blades rust and that stuff is really corrosion resistant. Especially in salt water environments I think wrapped handles would probably take a beating, but I don't know what Strider uses for a coating. The good thing is most of the rust that happens on knives is caught pretty quickly and can be cleaned up with a little steel wool, so unless the owner is really abusive or completely ignores all maintenance it probably isn't a huge problem.

 

[pitty]

Thanks for the input, much appreciated

 

[Arcticnomad]

Depends on what you'll be using the knife for. I have a becker neker that I wrapped w/550 cord, it's a utility use blade, and this provides a very secure grip and warmer than bare metal. For any blade used for food perp, to include field dressing, I shy away from it.

 

[Knifeclerk]

I don't know for sure about paracord, but I did hear something interesting from a customer. We were talking about the CRKT First Strike. The topic of cleaning the handle came up and he said that it was easy as cake. All need be done is immerse it in oil. The cotton wrap sucks up the oil and pushes all of the blood and guts out of the handle. Maybe this works for paracord?
Just an after thought: I don't know this for sure. This is what a customer told me and whether it be true or false, I have no idea. I suppose it makes sense though.
-KC

 

[dePaul]

All need be done is immerse it in oil. Maybe this works for paracord?

Wouldn't this procedure render a slippery handle and thus useless knife?

~Paul~

 

[nyeti]

For blood and gook-Hydrogen Peroxide. I like the Strider wrap. It is very secure, especially in an environment that is covered in slick liquids-hydraulic fluid, oil, blood, etc.

 

[Knifeclerk]

Wouldn't this procedure render a slippery handle and thus useless knife?

~Paul~

Well, on the First Strike, the cotton is extremely coarse. I doubt it would be an issue for that. But other knives, it's quite possible.
Still, I think the idea was to let it dry out afterwards.

 

[Greg45]

Cord-wrapping a bad or poorly-designed handle can save a knife. I have a few that I use, but wouldn't if they had the original handles on them. I think the cord feels pretty good, depending on how it's wrapped, and tying the cord in different designs is kind of fun.

As for blood and such, I try not to use a cord-wrapped knife for those tasks. If you do, nyeti's got it right: a good soaking in Hydrogen Peroxide should take care of the blood (not general moisture, though). This also works extremely well on folders that are used to dress game. It reaches all the cracks & crevices that you can't get to without disassembling the knife.

 

[Goodmanfj]

If you want to make your paracord waterproof (blood proof ) I have been soaking mine in Tomson water seal , the one coater , soak for 10 min , ring out , dry , works very well ,ring it out well with a towl , Not sure why but it is harder to cut also , wont soak up blood or sweat , uv blocker , give it a try or send to me , Ill treat for NC,

 

[pitty]

some great ideas there......would scoth-guard or similiar work also?

 

[rebeltf]

Cord-wrapping a bad or poorly-designed handle can save a knife. I have a few that I use, but wouldn't if they had the original handles on them. I think the cord feels pretty good, depending on how it's wrapped, and tying the cord in different designs is kind of fun.

Exactly

There are numerous sites on doing this yourself , these links that ARZH posted I found very helpful. I recommond wrapping the blade sturdy in denim or something else tough and clamping in a vice (of course you have to use caution or you can mar your blade) , this way your handle is held secure and you can wrap to your hearts content. Please do be careful though !

http://www.inquiry.net/images/whip.jpg
http://www.xmission.com/~phatch/whip/perfectwhip.jpg
http://www.oldjimbo.com/survival/v-shrake/goloks.html
http://runningdogknife.homestead.com/cordwrap.html
http://www.throwzini.com/cord_wrapping.html
http://www.northcoastknives.com/nor...ls_CordWrap.htm
http://www.m4040.com/Survival/Ghurka/cordwrap.htm
http://www.outdoors-magazine.com/s_...?id_article=160
http://www.therangerdigest.com/Tips...ife_handle.html
http://www.aaawebmaster.com/knife/knife.htm

One site recommends a light brushing of epoxy afterwards , I imagine this would waterproof it and keep it on until you wanted it off , only downside to that is if you were wrapping a camp or survival type knife , you couldnt use the cord for anything else.
The feeling took me a bit to get used to , on a kukri I 'modded' I used two wraps underneath of full paracord , on top I used a 'finish wrap' of paracord that I took the strands out of to make it flat.
Bottom line is after reading how to and getting the hang of it , you can experiment and see what works best for you. Paracord is cheap , make sure to get the real deal and not the fake stuff , real paracord has 7 strands in it.
Interestingly in case nobody knows , each of those 7 strands has 50lb test , the wrap has 150 lb test , pretty strong stuff !

 

[shpshooter]

Also, keep in mind the cord absorbs what ever liquid it is used in (gas, oil, grease, naptha, ect) and then it goes back in its sheath which means your cloths will also absorb whatever was in the handle. Kind of anoying, especially with the staining or volitile fluids. I'm not really a huge fan of cord wrapping, but is a way to make a knife with an ok handle a bit better.

 

[Dave Rishar]

I use cord for building up a handle that was too small for my paws.

I'm not expecting to take it back off again; thus, I paint on a nice thick coat of two ton epoxy. The cord really soaks it up so I make sure to use a brand that sets up slow and I mix a lot. It ought to be fairly impervious to moisture at that point.

If I do have to remove it for some reason, a Dremel with a cutoff wheel works well.

The grip is slick when wet. I sand it down a bit to a #220 finish or so to fix this. Ugly, but it works.

 

[Way-O]

Epoxy or cleaning with oil seem both good ideas.

But I would give Plasti Dip or similar rubber coatings a try. After wrapping, just dip the handle in the stuff and let it dry. It's very elastic and should be pretty durable. It would keep most of the softness of the cord wrap and if done properly should be well sealed against moisture. Doesn't cost too much, and I'd suspect it wouldn't wear out too fast - compared to all the hassle involved with plain cord. And you could always give multiple coatings.

As it would not be too hard cut open and remove, field replacement wouldn't be a huge problem. Just cut it with your other knife and re-wrap. In a tight spot a plain wrap without any gimmicks would suffice anyway. And everyone always keeps a length of paracord in their packs, kits, car trunks or where ever with them, right? I know I do.

I think I'll buy one of those cheap Fox Cutlery cord wrapped knives from their "military" catalog next week and give it a proper wrap and try this idea out. Probably has been done before though, just can't remember. Didn't CRKT or some other company use something similar?