First Becker: BK5. What handles are best for Aggressive Grip?

Ironballs

Ironballs

Joined
Nov 18, 2006
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I see G10 & Macarta. My preference is to with G10, but...

My question is, what scales are more aggressively grippy from the factory?

And can you recommend other scales for this purpose?

And anyone here who is making a kydex sheaths, drop me a pm.
 
Both good choices, I believe they are milled with a coarse texture in either case.
In the meantime, slip a section of bicycle inner tube (wash & dry the segment first) over the middle part of the handle. Works wonders.

GREAT choice of blade, and welcome!
 
Bicycle inner tube is on all mine! I found an old tube and cleaned it well. Originally I slipped a piece on all my Beckers intending to eventually get better scales...but it works so well, they are all staying as is!
 
Congrats on your first Becker!! Great choice for your first too!

I love the micarta on mine. The extra weight of them makes the knife feel faster in hand. I've played with the vz g10 from kabar and thought they were a little too aggressive. I'm not familiar with any other manufacturer of g10 Becker scales.

Any way you go you'll love that knife!
 
Take a look in here for some inspiration.

Though the stock handles are smooth, they attribute their grip to the ergonomics, not the texturing. Due to this there is a lower likelihood of hot spots and other nuisances.

Give it a try before you change it.
Would you change the stock tires on a BMW M5 or Mercedes black edition prior to driving it?
 
Ironballs said:
I see G10 & Macarta. My preference is to with G10, but...

My question is, what scales are more aggressively grippy from the factory?

And can you recommend other scales for this purpose?

And anyone here who is making a kydex sheaths, drop me a pm.
Click to expand...
I like the VZ's from KaBar they are G10 with a good aggressive grip.
 
NJBillK said:
...Give it a try before you change it.
Would you change the stock tires on a BMW M5 or Mercedes black edition prior to driving it?
Click to expand...

Not now, but when I was sponsored by Kuhmo, I put their tiers on everything. This Holiday month has my CC smoking. I'll listen to your sound advice bro.
 
Yeah, honestly the stock scales are just as "grippy" as micarta or G10.
Maybe G10 wins out, but the stock scales are not slippery. They're just smooth and some people equate smooth to slippery. But that's not really the case.
Micarta gets slippery in my hands when they're sweaty...
 
NJBillK said:
Do you sweat butter?
Click to expand...

Yes...:D


My hands sweat a lot.
And since I don't clean the micarta very often, it makes a slippery film when combined with the aforementioned highly abnormal buttery hand sweat.
 
I like the stock scales, Plenty grippy enough

I put some custom wood ones on for awhile, took them back off because they didnt feel as robust and the tang was proud of the wood, put the stock ones back on
 
Use it for real before investing in scales. The factory ones are great and if you need a little more, you can always rough me up a bit or get creative with a dremel as others have.
 
plenty of good sounding options there
 
I modified Glock frames for years (stippling & reducing), never occurred to me to stipple my bk5. Another 6 days for the bk5 to land in my hands! But, I'm an Impulsive Planner! 😬🙄😁🇺🇸
 
Angus McGunnigle said:
Use it for real before investing in scales. The factory ones are great and if you need a little more, you can always rough me up a bit or get creative with a dremel as others have.
Click to expand...

IB,

Congrats on the new 5, there's nothing else out there like it.

I agree with Angus and others on this thread. I'll give you my experience using these scales. I 1st thought the stock grips were slippery. I initially used the bicycle inner tube which gives it a great feel , no doubt. However if you are really using the knife for extended hard use, the inner tube works against you. Then I followed a members advice to sandblast the scales. It's nicer looking than sanding them and adds just a bit more grip without causing hot spots with hard use.

Then I bought a bk21 with I modified stock scales and slayed 100's of dead pine branches while cleaning up my back yard, probably maybe 4 hours of swinging that kukri. I realized how perfect that handle was; the geometry prevents your hand from slipping. I also realized that for hard use you should wear work gloves, then the gripiness of the scale really doesn't matter. Later on, I used the 5 for some relatively fine work tasks ( not chopping) and I came of the opinion for this type of work the very slightly roughened scale and/or the bicycle tube worked very well for fine work. I'd recommend that you try the bicycle tube 1st; they are free (go to a bicycle shop, they will be glad to give you the ones they discard) and you can remove them if you don't like them. Just use some soapy water and tape the blade edge or install them while the blade is in its sheath while putting them on to protect your hands.

Enjoy!
 
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