Grippiest/Toughest Handle Material - Micarta?

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VegasNick

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Jan 24, 2005
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My search function is not working right now so I hope I am not repeating anything here.

I want the grippiest/toughest handle material. Would that be Micarta?

I looked at Kraton handles on the CS knives. It was grippy but seemed that it could be cut or torn fairly easily. How durable is it?

I have a knife with a Micarta handle and I am very impressed with the feel of it. It seems relatively grippy (and warm, I like that too), not as grippy as Kraton but much more than other hard materials.

I know that G10 is very popular but I handled a BM Nimravus and it seemed a little slippery to me. Do ya think?

Your opinions, please...
 
micarta has a few incarnations - paper, linen, & canvas, with the latter being the most grippy by far. i really like the look of linen micarta, but love the feel of canvas micarta.

with G10, it really depends on the texturing job. BM's surfacing of G10 feels markedly more slippery than spyderco's texturing, which is my personal favorite. ask anyone who owns a millie or manix, the handles feel almost like grip tape.

FYI, G10 is many many times tougher than micarta.
 
My first choice for grip is leather and my second choice is cordwrap. Neither is indestructible but a stackleather handle can take a lot of abuse, and both stackleather and cordwrap are easy to replace if necessary.

Or you can checker any hard material like G10 or Micarta or steel. Other textures can be pretty grippy but checkering is my first choice.

G10 is a little more resistant to impact than Micarta but you'll have to do something really extreme like shooting it with a bullet to see the difference. Both are very nearly indestructible for practical purposes.
 
Smooth Micarta is going to offer much more traction than and equally smooth G-10, especially when wet or bloody. Micarta does absorb more fluid than G-10 will.

Textured G-10 is just that, it's textured but does not enhance the natural grip of the material. When textured it's great but I still prefer Micarta.

Having worked extensively with G-10 and Micarta I'll agree that G-10 is tougher but not by a huge margin. Mounted to a knife the differences are negligable, machining them is another story because the G-10 is much more abrasive due to the fiberglass.

Edited to fix typo
 
I allways thought that cord wrapped handles just look crappy, they remind me of prisonmade shivs, and they are pretty much allways ugly. what is micarta anyway is it like plastic or a rubber or what.
 
Are you looking for a technical description?

SDPlastics.com said:
Phenolic sheet is a hard, dense material made by applying heat and pressure to layers of paper or glass cloth impregnated with synthetic resin. These layers of laminations are usually of cellulose paper, cotton fabrics, synthetic yarn fabrics, glass fabrics or unwoven fabrics. When heat and pressure are applied to the layers, a chemical reaction (polymerization) transforms the layers into a high-pressure thermosetting industrial laminated plastic.

PAPER REINFORCED PHENOLIC
NEMA XX per MIL-I-24768 PBG
Normal electrical applications, moderate mechanical strength, continuous operating temperature of 250°F.

CANVAS REINFORCED PHENOLIC
NEMA C per MIL-I-24768 TYPE FBM
NEMA CE per MIL-I-24768 TYPE FBG
Good mechanical and impact strength with contiunuous operating temperature of 250°F.

LINEN REINFORCED PHENOLIC
NEMA L per MIL-I-24768 TYPE FBI
NEMA LE per MIL-I-24768 TYPE FEI
Good mechanical & electrical strength. Recommended for intricate high strength parts. Continuous operating temperature 250°F.
Click to expand...
 
The grippiest handle material I have used is leather. The leather handles on my Fallkniven NL2 and NL4 feel secure under all conditions.

IMO, canvas micarta is nearly as grippy as leather. The canvas micarta handles on my Busses still feel secure when covered in blood and fat.

G10 might be tougher than micarta, but doesn't get grippier when wet in the way that canvas micarta does.

Linen micarta is also good, but I would avoid paper micarta. The one paper micarta handle I have gets more and more slippery with use.

David
 
Modern production micarta would be my first choice. But if you are looking for something different, older micarta was made with just about anything soft the manufacturers could get there hands on to use as a filler. Some might call this type of micarta, rag. But I have seen micarta with one of the following various materials, colored cloth, leather or rubber stands mixed into the phenolic. The rubber-micarta, being the best grip, wet or dry. But this micarta was only used by a custom knifemaker.

Jeff Pelz
 
depends on what kind micarta, how it's finished.

there are knives with smooth shiny micarta (close to steel in slippiness), and....there are knives with rough, 'coarse' micarta. the latter comes very close to G10. an example which knives uses such micarta is TOPS. this type of micarta because grippier when wet, which is good, but G10 is still the winner overall.....
 
I find that fairly agressive textured G10 gives the best grip. Micarta is good too, but I like G10 a little bit better.
 
Rustoleum Grip and Guard textured rubber coating dip. I dipped the handle of my Cuda Arclite in this as an experiment. Although it took forever to dry, this is the best handle of any knife I own - better than G10, FRN, Noryl, micarta, paracord wrap, aluminum, titanium, or steel. I'll post a picture later today if I can figure out how to.
 
I'll site three examples of handle material. G10 and Micarta which have been discussed in agnasium here, and to a lesser extent, leather.

I have a Kershaw 1415 folder with ATS-34 and G10. It is far and above my favorite pocket knife. It has great heaft, positive grip, and a beautiful blade line. This is the only G10 material I own. I am focused on finding a more suitable EDC with G10 handles.

I have a Al Mar Falcon talon with micarta linen. Supper light and durable, but prone to be a bit slick. Also, it has an almost (but not quite) slimy tack to it when wet. I love the lines of this knife, but seldom carry it. I would think that I might much prefer the canvas micrata as on the MT L-uwd. It seems to share many of the characteristics (and checker pattern) of the Kershaw G10 I have.

I just have to plug leather here as well. As a military pilot, I see dozens of Camillus Pilots's Survial Knives every day. Some of them are older than I am. I have only ever seen one handle fail, and that was when it got rolled (think corn grist mill) beneath a 4,000 pound alluminum load pallet. The rest, though weathered and full of character, are still sound and quite grippy. Even when they are shiny from uses, age and wear. This knife could probobly stand an update with some of the high tech materials that have been developed in the past 30 years, but leather definetly "works."
 
I've found Cold Steel's Kraton grips to be unsurpassed when it comes to giving a good grip in less than ideal conditions: cold, wet, bloody, covered with fat. Never had a problem with them tearing; they're pretty tough.
 
Truth be known, you can texture and finish Stainless Steel in such a way that it is not slippery at all.

Consider metal files and rasps--they are incredibly strong but they are also non-slip to the point of abrasive (of course the whole purpose of a file or rasp is to be abrasive).

So, you could make a non-slip all steel handle that would be stronger than micarta or G-10.
The only problem is that if you made them too rough it would be murderous on your hands.

Allen.
 
I consider micarta to be the best for a hard use knife. It's nearly indestructable. Linen and canvas are the best sanded to 400 grit and lightly buffed. I do mine this way and they give a secure grip.
Scott
 
The micarta used on my Camillus CUDA CQB is very tough, and not slippery like finer-finished micarta knives. That would be my vote for 'best'.

Second, the rubberized handles and handle shape of the Buck Nighthawk. I can't imagine losing grip of one of those.

Third, the cord-wrapped Ek Bowie. Plus, if the handle material is damaged, it's much easier to replace.

Best Wishes,
Bob
 
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