Has Anyone Ever Broken Their Knife's Handle?

[Bruise Lee]

I read all the time about blades breaking, but I'm wondering if anyone has ever broken their knife's handle. I'm mainly curious if the plastic type handles (Zytel, G-10, etc.) are much more likely to fail than aluminum or stainless steel.

Personally, I've never experienced a failure. Then again, I've never had to fight off a bear with a folder! I'm assuming stainless steel is the strongest, followed by aluminum, then G-10 and Zytel.

Bruise

 

[allenC]

I suppose it depends on the design of the knife.
With a small folder (3" and under) you're not going to be splitting oak trees or busting up concrete, so Zytel and FRN and aircraft-grade aluminum, and G10 without liners are just fine IMHO.
Those materials make the knife very lightweight and still give the handle plenty of strength.

On large folders the situation is alot more confusing.
Some folks believe that G10 without dual liners (like the Spyderco Military) is strong enough for anything a folder might be required to do.
But other just don't feel comfortable trusting a knife without the heft of a steel handle, or at least steel or ti liners on their G10.

Personally, I think most tactical folders are way overbuilt to counter the abuse they might take from folks who don't know how to use a knife.


Believe me, aircraft-grade aluminum, FRN, Zytel, and G10 are much tougher than they seem. They will take one heck of a pounding and still perform just fine.


Good luck,
Allen.