I Hate FRN

love frn
what's not to like about a strong lightweight material?
and even just feeling it and comparing it to the feel of other plastic, you can tell it isn't just 'plastic'
 
I love FRN. Good solid durable material, and I certainly do not mind that it makes great knives more affordable despite myself carrying some pretty expensive blades.
 
I like FRN a lot :cool:

When real work needs to be done (beater work,) the SNGs/XMs/Sebbie stays in the cabnet and I go for a combo edge ZDP Endura 4. Why? It's nice and light, tough as hell and holds a great edge. I'm not afraid to use the snot out of it, and if it breaks it's not hard to replace.

The saber grind will stand up to light-med prying, an the blade is long enough for combo edge to work well on. Teeth work well on carpet, hose, cardboard, tar paper, thick plastic bands... ect. And.. The FRN handle has better grip than most g-10 knives. :eek:

How could you not like that for $90 (more like $60 in VG-10) :confused:
 
So-Lo said:
I like FRN a lot :cool:

When real work needs to be done (beater work,) the SNGs/XMs/Sebbie stays in the cabnet and I go for a combo edge ZDP Endura 4. Why? It's nice and light, tough as hell and holds a great edge. I'm not afraid to use the snot out of it, and if it breaks it's not hard to replace.
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I really like FRN on my Spydercos. Inexpensive, light, and great texture molded in. However, I tend to not push my Spydercos w/ FRN that hard like I do my Sebbie, just because I don't know the limits of the material. Even so, I've nearly worn the serrations off of my early 90's Delica (remember the one's with the molded clip?) from moderately hard use, w/ no problems whatsoever.
 
I'll pay extra for the G10 if possible (like on Meadowlarks) but, overall, I don't have a problem with FRN.
 
I definately don't hate it, but it is now at the bottom of the list for handle material. I use to prefer it over SS handles but now I like SS better.
 
20 years ago when I collected more than I used, I too hated FRN or Zytel. But these days, I enjoy using knives more than collecting, so FRN fits the bill for many reasons, most of which have already been mentioned: inexpensive, durable, lightweight.

Don`t get me wrong, I love a nice high end G10 handled knife, but when you can get the same blade on either knife, similar grips and the FRN costs 1/3 of the G10, thats my vote.
 
I don't mind zytel/frn/other plastics, as long as the knife is priced accordingly. It's an especially good choice where weight is critical.
 
FRN is plenty strong, I think people dislike the feel of it sometimes. I know when people compare G10 to FRN, they automatically assume a major quality difference, but in reality I think its just perception. I love my G10, but my two favorite folders are a para millie and a Mini Grip - the Nortyl on the Grip is just fine.
 
Fooj said:
I really like FRN on my Spydercos. Inexpensive, light, and great texture molded in. However, I tend to not push my Spydercos w/ FRN that hard like I do my Sebbie, just because I don't know the limits of the material. Even so, I've nearly worn the serrations off of my early 90's Delica (remember the one's with the molded clip?) from moderately hard use, w/ no problems whatsoever.
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Not beating on my Sebbie is me being a sissy. I'm 110% sure it could handle all the beater work I ask of the Endura. :cool:

I believe Spyderco will regrind the serrations for a small fee if you wanted it to go another 20 years :eek:

(we would LOVE to see pics of this beast as she is now, don't even clean her up for the photo) :D
 
It is hard to dismiss FRN right away.... some Spyderco knives have horrible FRN (IMO the Native included), but, the volcano grip FRN on the Delican 4 and Endura 4 is pretty decent. You also have to consider some of the slab uses of FRN. The Kershaw Zing has nicely checkered FRN that is quite confortable and slip resistant. Lonewolf uses slab FRN on some of it's knives that will knock your socks off. I had a T2 Ranger with FRN and that knife had one of the most comfortable grips I have ever experienced.
 
chanwahyaoh said:
I don't hate it, but if a knife is offered in both FRN and G10 - I'll take the G10.
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Personally, unless the G10 is relatively smooth...I'll take the FRN. I find that most textured G10 patterns too be too aggressive and prone towards ripping up my pockets.
 
David Lowry said:
I like it. I think that the more you use it the more you will like it.

Here are reasons I like it.

::Strong as heck......-Doesn't break, chip, or dent when dropped like G10 or metal.
::Light....................-Doesn't weigh much at all.
::Resists slippage.....-G10 does well with this too but most metals don't.

I used to not like it at all. However after using FRN for a while I really like it. It's almost a first choice on my Spydies now. :)
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Ive used G10 since it began coming out as knife handles and have never had it do anything but wear a bit. I have never heard of it chipping when dropped either and I have dropped many a G10 handled knife on the worksite with no issues. FRN on the other hand, I have broken.
 
Looks like plastic. It looks and feels cheap. Too many other handle materials available to go with one so aesthetically unpleasing.
 
akadave2 said:
Ive used G10 since it began coming out as knife handles and have never had it do anything but wear a bit. I have never heard of it chipping when dropped either and I have dropped many a G10 handled knife on the worksite with no issues. FRN on the other hand, I have broken.
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I've chipped G10 scales from dropping. Not huge chips, and they don't look bad when a little oil is applied to darken the color (is kinda whitish on the chipped surface)
 
If you dont know much about it, how can you hate it? Do you use that same kind of logic with people? Sir you are a cad, many people in the know consider frn as being the best folder material around.
 
Knives were made for a purpose "to be used/performance", not "aesthetics/ mental illness". Please do yourself a favor and do not romantisize/fantasize yourself into mental illness.
 
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