Handle material for Survival knife

motts

motts

Joined
Sep 20, 2008
Messages
1,448
Hey everybody, I'm new here to Blade Forums, but from what I've seen, it looks like a great place. I've been trying to decide on a survival/bushcraft knife. I've done quite a bit of searching over the last few months; there are so many great choices! I'm sure, eventually, I'll end up with more than one ;).

I've decided to get a Bark River Knife and Tool Bravo-1. I'm really excited about the knife. Originally, I was going to get a G10 or Micarta handle, but I fell in love with some of the Exotic Burl Wood designs.

I intend to use this knife frequently, and I'm sure it will get a little dirty at times; it will be my go to knife for camping, hiking, etc. I'm just wondering for a survival knife, if an exotic wood like elder burl wood, or desert iron wood are good and comfortable. This knife isn't just for display or collection; I will be using it all the time. I don't mind spending a little extra for something that is more attractive, even though this knife will be used hard.

I've probably been rambling, but do others use woods such as burl on survival knives or just go with a synthetic material? Thanks.
 
Wood will last plenty well on a survival knife and Barky's are as good as you can get. Mircata has advantages in grippiness over wood but lacks its good looks. Sometimes you can find Barkies in matte finish which I think is the best for tactile feel. Great choice on the Bravo-1 though. No matter the handle choice, you will be satisfied with it.

Also welcome to the forums!
 
Go with the wood!!!

It's more attractive, and it will hold up in any condition you can throw at it, especially the ironwood, they call it that for a reason.

Synthetic sucks.
WOOD, Wood, wood, wood!!!!
 
Personally, I stick with synthetics as that's one less thing to care for, but BRKT warrants the entire knife, not just the steel bits. If you do manage to hurt the wood, they'll fix it.

Go with what calls to you!

Oh, and welcome to BladeForums. :)
 
Thanks for the welcome guys and for your comments. I noticed a new Bark River wood that I'm leaning towards at the moment. It is called Hunter Orange Elder Burl Wood. Here is a pic:

BRKTBravo-1HunterOrangeElderBurl.jpg


Hopefully, I'll be purchasing it next week.
 
welcome to the forums..:thumbup:

good choice on the BRAVO-1.. it is an awesome knife.. you're going to love it... :thumbup:
as for handle scales.. i am not too picky about handle scales.. i have a lot of both synthetics and natural materials.. i would suggest you stick with what you want... bark river does some beautiful wood scales...

here's a teaser pic....:D my BRAVO-1 in antique ivory micarta...:cool:

IMG_2735.jpg
 
burl isn`t very strong, because its endgrain (well, in fact is crazy grain. hehe going to all directions, but mostly endgrain.
I`m a guitar maker and know some things about wood.
still learning about steel though.
 
So is burl mostly used only for knives that are going to be displayed, but not exposed to hard use? I love the looks of burl, but as I stated earlier, I plan on putting this knife through its paces.

Most survival knifes I see have handles made from micarta, rubber, kraton or something. I like the looks of burl, but I don't just want it to be cosmetic and then not perform as expected.
 
never had a problem with ironwood, nor osage orange, ipe, jatoba, etc. I would say that ironwood will hold up really well- any non stabilized wood will probably enjoy a coat of wax or tung oil periodically. (If finished in linseed oil, that too) Oh- except lignum vitae, which you just ignore until the blade wears out, then you get a new blade for the handles :)
 
Welcome to BF! As far as the knife, get whatever you like and beat the heck out of it! Have fun doing it!!!!
 
It is not a Bark River option but this winter when I make my own bushcraft knife I am going to use this hickory I got from an 80 year old shovel handle. It is not at all pretty but i the strongest possible wood and I like the idea of recycling it. I got the idea from the US dept of forests axe site which says that hickory is by far the strongest wood particularly with a good straight grain. This stuff is like nothing I ever worked with.

I have been a big fan of hickory ever since I read about how much stronger it was than the next strongest wood ,maple. They did not have exotic woods like ironwood etc though. I would be willing to bet that this old hickory i have could stand up pretty good to the synthetics.

Another wood I like for handles is sandalwood because it has a nice texture even if it is not a great looking wood. But isn't feel more important to a handle anyway?
 
Barkies are all meant to be hard use knives and are warrantied for life.

Even hard use survival knives don't usually get more than dinged-up from occasionally dropping them. If you take care of the knife, it will last you forever, wood and all.
 
Burls look like marble to me. I have one and it's pretty but once I started seeing it as marble instead of wood I didn't like it as much.

Wierd I know. I've seen some beautiful burls. I understand burled wood is stablized, some of it anyway, I would think that would give it some strength.

Here is mine:

IMG_1532.jpg


IMG_1535.jpg


This is bocote, not burled wood, I forgot to mention that. It's my new favorite wood.
 
Last edited:
Go with what you like, there is no wories about the quality of materials from BRKT!
 
Most burl knife handles are stabalized, so you don't have to worry about them being tough. Stabalized wood has been submerged in a resin and had that resin vaccum impregnated through and through the wood, making it very hard and impervious to water.
 
I own four Barkies. Three of 'em with Bamboo slabs. (Yea, I like Bamboo.) :) I say "Get what you like!" I've used the crap out of mine. No problems here! I got what I wanted. No regrets! Good luck & "get what you like!" ,M :thumbup::):thumbup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top