Recommendation? Crooked River Dymondwood opinions

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Apr 12, 2020
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Hey everyone, I hate beating a dead horse but I searched this forum and didn't find the answers I was looking for. If this has been discussed, and there is a thread to it, please direct me there and I'll shut up.

I'm buying a CR but can't decide if I should go with dymondwood or not. G10 or dymondwood. I just love how the dymondwood models look but have never seen one in person and likely not for a while as we're still locked down here.

I've Googled it and read that people say it's cheap, brittle, used on budget knives. Now does that also apply to the dymondwood BM or just other manufacturers? Is BM maybe using higher quality material? BM charges a little more for it than G10.

Has anyone's BM with dymondwood failed on them? They've been out for years now. If there were problems you'd be seeing it right? Do they feel cheap?

While I have your attention. Are there any good aftermarket scale options out there? I know of Flytanium but don't like theirs.
 
I've had a couple and I liked them both very much. I also have carried their dymondwood loose in my pocket with my keys and it still looks like new, same as spydercos pakkawood.

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I haven't had any issues with my Crooked River. FWIW, I believe Benchmade stopped using Dymondwood brand stabilized wood before they started making the Crooked River, I believe it's just a generic stabilized wood now.
 
I haven't had any issues with my Crooked River. FWIW, I believe Benchmade stopped using Dymondwood brand stabilized wood before they started making the Crooked River, I believe it's just a generic stabilized wood now.

Yeah, unfortunately we stopped using DymondWood when they went out of business after their factory burned down years ago.
 
The dymondwood (or whatever brand they use... Dymalux maybe?) is just fine. Looks great, is stable, and feels good. Their G10 is great too, but you can't go wrong with the dymondwood.
 
Found an interesting article: Apparently Rutland Plywood bought out the "Pakkawood" brand and renamed it "Endurawood" which was eventually marketed as "Dymondwood" for the knife market until their entire facility did indeed burn down on 8/21/2014. Also of note is that they would name the wood after the strain as it was almost entirely all Birch. So my "Mahogany Pakkawood" Dragonfly isn't really Mahogany after all... Crushing. Still looks good though a has held up well through some heavy use, as has my CR, but the CR hasn't been tested as much.
 
All of that stuff has always been dyed birch. I know it has been on Buck Knives anyway.
 
I love wood but I can't say I'm a big fan of Dymondwood or dyed birch veneer. There are plenty of better woods out there that could be stabilized and I'd pay extra money for them.
 
I got my dymondwood and love the knife except that the wood isn't as dark as I'd like. Any tips on darkening or staining dymondwood? Figured I'd ask before doing something I'd regret.
 
With their warranty you can go wrong with either one. I think it depends on what kind of look your going for. For myself, I wanted a folding hunter so I went with wood on my custom mini.20200623_183002.jpg 20200623_182946.jpg
 
Has anyone's BM with dymondwood failed on them? They've been out for years now. If there were problems you'd be seeing it right? Do they feel cheap?

I EDCed a BM 690 for a couple of years, and never had any issues with the Dymondwood. It still looked basically new when I sold the knife, it didn't feel cheap, and aesthetically it complemented that model beautifully.

For my Crooked River I went with G10 because I prefer how it looks on that knife, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy the Dymondwood model if you like how it looks. :thumbsup:

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I have been considering getting the Carbon Fiber handles custom version. I think I will eventually get one. When you ordered your G10 handle CR, how long did it take to get it? That is assuming you got it through a custom order directly from Benchmade.
 
I can't remember if I heard that there was an issue if you used a lanyard a lot with it, that the impregnated wood in that area would crack. I have one, but I don't use a lanyard. I don't use it that often so I can't remark on the sturdiness of the material with that knife. I haven't had issues with my Bucks with it, though.
 
When you ordered your G10 handle CR, how long did it take to get it? That is assuming you got it through a custom order directly from Benchmade.

I'm not sure if that was directed to me, but since I posted a G10 one I'll answer just in case: I bought mine when they discontinued the G10 version, so it's just a production knife rather than one from the custom shop.
 
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