Fixed blade handle advice

[VermontEdge]

Hi all,
Choosing a new Bark River and trying to decide between desert iron wood, cocobolo or linen micarta. Any pros and cons for those choices? I'm a little worried about wood cracking, but it's pretty gorgeous. On the other hand, I feel like micarta would be more durable, and a black handle is classic and handsome in its own way.

Any thoughts appreciated!

 

[bodog]

If you're going to use your knife as a knife then any will work and I'd suggest going with what you think looks the best. A knife you like carrying is better than not carrying a knife you don't like. Ironwood and cocobolo are really stable. You probably wouldn't really need to, but if it gives you peace of mind you could probably rub some oil on the handle every once in awhile and it won't absorb water or crack from being too dry.

If you're going to hammer with the butt then I'd go with something else like the micarta.

 

[Charlie Mike]

Micarta for grip.

 

[onojoe]

I really like their Micarta. Tough and you don't have to worry about it.

 

[EChoil]

You aren't going to wear out your knife handles regardless of which you buy. Bark River woods are not going to crack, shrink, etc. Even if they did, warranty would take care of it.

Go ironwood for hard/toughness, cocobolo for beauty and depth of grain....or micarta if it feels better to you. IMO, micarta is the least attractive; I also like the look of nice wood, it ages gracefully and gains a richer look as opposed to synthetic materials.

For a Bark River I'd certainly go with one of their beautiful woods. You'd really choose black micarta over one of the Bark River woods??

 

[Spyder59]

I got the micarta to save money, and every time I see one in cocobolo I wish I'd have spent the extra bucks!

 

[VermontEdge]

You aren't going to wear out your knife handles regardless of which you buy. Bark River woods are not going to crack, shrink, etc. Even if they did, warranty would take care of it.

Go ironwood for hard/toughness, cocobolo for beauty and depth of grain....or micarta if it feels better to you. IMO, micarta is the least attractive; I also like the look of nice wood, it ages gracefully and gains a richer look as opposed to synthetic materials.

For a Bark River I'd certainly go with one of their beautiful woods. You'd really choose black micarta over one of the Bark River woods??

Haha, good advice! You know, honestly...yeah. I kind of would.

I have a habit of getting things in unique colors or woods or metals, whether it's pens or knives or flashlights. And a lot of the time I end up wishing I had just kept it simple and classic/classy and gone with black. Not to suggest that desert iron wood isn't classy, I'm just trying to listen to my past decisions and make the right choice. I have a couple other knives in micarta, a spyderco temp 2 and a blind horse lumberjack at and I really do love the way they look.

And, of course, I've been staring at these two pictures since...10 oclock this morning and I've made no progress in choosing, so I'm probably just totally blind to both choices at this point!

This is what happens when you don't have a huge knife budget and purchases are few and far between!

 

[bodog]

Then close your eyes and pick. If you carry nice pens and wear nice watches, then you'll be fine either way.

I'd still choose the nice wood, bit instead of a bark river, I'd go with a craftsman on this site.

 

[killgar]

If there's going to be the chance of the knife being dropped on a hard surface (rocks, concrete), or if there's a chance of the knife getting banged around while carrying it in it's sheath (bumping into things), I'd go with micarta.

I believe that micarta is more durable and less likely to crack/split or lose a big chip if dropped on a hard surface. And if the handle gets gouged by banging into something while carrying it, it's easy enough to sand it, and unlike wood you don't have to worry about applying a sealant.

I am biased. I like micarta. I like wood for looks, but micarta for work.

 

[bdmicarta]

I like micarta if you can believe that, but I like ironwood too, and various burls and spalteds.

If I was choosing a knife for hard work, or if I was trying to save a little money, then I would go for micarta. Otherwise I would pick the nice wood.