Does anyone honestly enjoy the look and feel of non-natural scales?

As for the original question...

Yes, I do honestly enjoy some man-made handle material.
I LOVE yellow Delrin on a non-stainless traditional folder...the dark patina of the blade and back springs contrasted with the yellow Delrin looks beautiful.

I also like saw-cut brown Delrin like the old USA made Schrade Old Timer line had.

And my old Gerber Gator's rubberized handle was really rather awesome.
 
I have no issue with man made materials for knife handles as to me they look good, feel good, and are durable. That said, I am not a big fan of plastic handles such as come on the Delica and other knives. But those plastic handles are tough. I am neutral on Victorinox's plastic scales on their knives. Generally speaking I would rather have something else but I don't want to forgo the tweezers and toothpick. So, I carry them..... every single day.

I totally dislike the Mora plastic handles. Generally I won't buy a fixed blade knife any more that has a plastic handle. I'm neutral on the factory Becker handles.
 
Yes, I appreciate the looks of the non-natual materials as much as those provided by nature when done right. While beauty is in the eye of the beholder I would offer that the skill of the craftsman is more important than the source material.
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Well i do. I figure micarta was good enough for Bob Loveless it's good enough for me. I do despise celluloid, and the hard rubber and guttapercha used before 1930 is problematic, but there are way to many other choices out there for that to keep me up nights.

Here's some nice Westinghouse micarta:
hTy9yR8.jpg
 
allenC said:
As for the original question...

Yes, I do honestly enjoy some man-made handle material.
I LOVE yellow Delrin on a non-stainless traditional folder...the dark patina of the blade and back springs contrasted with the yellow Delrin looks beautiful.

I also like saw-cut brown Delrin like the old USA made Schrade Old Timer line had.

And my old Gerber Gator's rubberized handle was really rather awesome.
Click to expand...
+1 for yeller handles!

CA9A7C30-015E-49B3-9883-40E3A4EC0768.jpeg
 
I do like the look and feel of Osage orange and desert ironwood. But there is some appeal to orange or tangerine canvas and lemon yellow I have seen on some Fiddlebacks. I also like the feel of sawcut Delrin on the OTs.
 
I really came to Knives with SAK, so for me it is just the opposite, I don’t like natural materials for handles

I am all about titanium, G10, micarta, FRN and even aluminium or CF rather than horn or wood for example
 
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-Don't particularly like metal handles, but my current favourite is a standard 940, so go figure.

-I do like G10 and CF the most. as my humble collection shows.

-Am somewhat neutral to "plastic", I can be fairly happy with Benchmade's grivory (or whatever it's called) but not a huge fan of Spyderco's FRN. Both are useable of course, just not my preference and I have examples of both.

-Wood, bone, etc on a slipjoint can be breathtakingly beautiful and is what I also have examples of and pine for.

-Micarta? I don't have any so this is from just what I see in pictures. Some examples are nice looking but most look terrible to me. It makes a nice knife look worn out and dirty, kind of like a homemade temporary looking handle recover job that someone did on a Friday night in their garage after the consumption of a few beers. I realize the need for a good grip and micarta probably delivers that, but I don't need extra grip all that often and the aforementioned Spyderco/Emerson g10 fills in quite nicely.

However, some micarta really looks nice as the way Mcusta does it. Very smooth black scales that look polished. Very similar to G10, so only micarta in name and not in texture, so g10 wins once again.

Just my insignificant preference and observations.
 
Houlahound said:
your modern materials and all my latest acquisitions do not have natural scale materials but does anyone actually prefer any of these modern synthetics

Gives knives a cheap feel imo.
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A more relevant question might be, "Does anyone prefer natural scales on a knife that actually gets used?"

Bone handle? Gross. I'd rather trade in my HK and start carrying a Colt Single Action in .44-40.
 
herisson said:
So, you would call this "gross" ? It's one of the nicest folder I have ever seen.
Click to expand...

That's a pretty knife there, Herisson. For me, it wouldn't be my first choice for something to carry. But if I was to carry that knife, I'd have to wear my velvet-lined pantaloons so the knife would stay all shiny and nice.
 
Generally speaking, I prefer natural materials for traditional / slipjoint knives and man-made materials for modern and tactical knives. Natural materials (wood, bone, stag, mammoth, etc) have a certain "warmth" that man-made materials (CF, G10, Micarta, delrin) lack IMO. That said, there are a few notable exceptions that make me a hypocrite...

Hinderer Vintage Skinner w/ custom ironwood handles...
DwA29MH.jpg


CRK Sebenza 21 with Honduran Rosewood...
7fZlnpy.jpg


CRK Annuals...
bUsMtap.jpg


Some of both w/ Dr. T knives...
hUk4YOD.jpg


To every rule there is an exception o_O
 
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