G10 or Micarta

M

M.Link

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Dec 26, 2014
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I'm thinking about buying a ESEE 4 to throw in my EDC bag. What is a better scale material for everyday use? I've had both, not used either much, and don't know the advantages/disadvantages to either.
 
M.Link said:
I'm thinking about buying a ESEE 4 to throw in my EDC bag. What is a better scale material for everyday use? I've had both, not used either much, and don't know the advantages/disadvantages to either.
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I like the canvas Micarta Esee uses over the plastic feel many G10's have. But I have had good textured G10 and it seems the G10 is more resistant to color changing effects.

As far as toughness goes I never noticed a practical difference.
 
G10's tougher and micarta is more pleasurable to the touch. At least, to me. Softer anyway.
 
If you could handle the Esee4 before purchasing I would recommend it due to it's smallish handle.
There's aftermarket scales that beef up the handle profile and is considered and improvement.
 
I have an ESEE-4 in the orange G-10. The handle is *just* adequate for my hand. The factory G-10 isn't aggressively textured but it feels good in the hand. I've never felt their micarta so I can't compare.
 
Personally I went with micarta because it feels more "earthy" and natural in hand. Also it became a hard user (til I got my Esee 3) and living in a damp environment the slabs spent fair bit of time wet which gives it a slightly more grippy feel when needed.

If you can get them both in hand, you'll know which one you will walk away with.
 
Thanks for the replies. I also live in a wet area, the Pacific Northwest, so if it's better when wet, I'll probably go that way. I don't have anywhere around here where I could feel either of them.
 
You have to be more specific, depending on the material used, how it's made, and how it's finished G10 can feel very different from other G10, or similar to micarta. G10 is layers of fiberglass held together by epoxy. "micarta" is layers of cloth or paper or whatever suspended in epoxy.

G10 can be polished until it is smooth as glass, but is rigid enough so that patterns can be cut into it.

Micarta can be polished smooth, but even when polished until it's shiny it still has a softer feel. Bark River does very good polished micarta, it doesn't catch needlessly on fabric but it stays grippy even when wet in the hand. Canvs or linen micarta can also be left rough or bead blasted to expose lots of cloth (or whatever) fibers. Chris Reeve fixed blades, and most ESEE knife handles, are like this. Polished micarta is not absorbent at all, but when left rough with material exposed the exposed fibers can absorb oil, sweat, or whatever.

Neither material, if made properly, should react to changes in humidity or temperature.

n7titan said:
If you could handle the Esee4 before purchasing I would recommend it due to it's smallish handle.
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This ^ The ESEE-3 has almost as much blade length, the same size handle, and weighs less because the steel thickness is more appropriate to the knife's overall size.
 
MatthewSB said:
This ^ The ESEE-3 has almost as much blade length, the same size handle, and weighs less because the steel thickness is more appropriate to the knife's overall size.
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And that's why when I got my 3 I immediately stopped carrying my 4 and gifted it to a friend. The 3 is just an overall much more balanced knife and slices much better then the 4 due to blade thickness. If i was starting over I would just have gotten the 3 and skipped the 4.

Just try them all out in the store. The "one" will show itself.
 
Fun fact: it's possible for "Micarta" to be G-10. Norplex-Micarta manufactures thermoset polymers with a variety of substrates, which include fibreglass. They have two products that meet the NEMA G-10 standard.

In the knife industry, there seems to be an assumption that "Micarta" refers only to canvas or paper substrate epoxy. But, unless the manufacturer specifies the substrate, one could be getting G-10 in "Micarta" handles, although I know of no incident in which a knife maker attempted to deceive customers by calling Norplex-Micarta G-10 just "Micarta".
 
M.Link said:
Thanks for the replies. I also live in a wet area, the Pacific Northwest, so if it's better when wet, I'll probably go that way. I don't have anywhere around here where I could feel either of them.
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One other note, Esee uses paper liners between the micarta and steel. The liner can swell a bit if the scales are drenched in water. It won't compromise the handles, but it can swell to a point where you wouldn't consider it in the same scale of "fit and finish" when you bought it new.

This happened to me when I was sharpening the knife with gratuitous use of water on the stone and knife. Once they dried out they formed back very close, but not quite back to original. Take some light sandpaper to knock off overswelled edges and seal it with some kind of epoxy or resin and you should be fine.
 
Agree with most here. I find the texture and feel of micarta better than g10 in most cases.
 
M.Link said:
I'm thinking about buying a ESEE 4 to throw in my EDC bag. What is a better scale material for everyday use? I've had both, not used either much, and don't know the advantages/disadvantages to either.
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If it's a bag knife and won't see much use, it wouldn't matter either or. I'd say the fact they have jumping on the spine tells you the handle design is fundamentally flawed to begin with and has less to do with finished material used.

I found The knife connection g10 to be better finished than the esee stock orange g10. Also to note, if you get a stainless 440c version, it will not have the same warranty of their carbon offerings.
 
I went with micarta for my ESEE 3 after checking out both options and nearly all of the ESEE knives. One of the online dealers has a brick & mortar store in the Portland area. It's well worth checking out if you're local. I often find that hands-on impression differs from catalog based expectation. The dimensions of the ESEE knives can be surprising. The thickness of the 5 stock, small 4 handle, and generally tiny nature of the Izula are specific examples of things you may hear about but still be surprised by.
 
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