Is it just me?

On traditionals I love elegantly figured wood, stag, leather. However, I value reinforced plastics and micarta for utility. Nice being able to have both worlds.
 
I have knives with G10 and Micarta, bone and wood. They suit different purposes and the wood scales are beautiful, when I get a new folding knife with wood scales I remove them and give the back and front several coats of Renaissance wax, re-assemble and then I have no problems with splitting or warping. pretty much the same goes for bone as well but these are mostly pinned in place so get a protective coating on the outside only.
I have Enlan EL-01's with G10 and Rosewood scales, the Rosewood ones are mainly used in dry conditions, the G10 in any conditions.
I think that there is a place for both, horses for courses. The only material that I avoid is ABS, I find is just too cheap and nasty feeling yet G10 and Micarta I like.
I have recently started collecting old style slip joints and they are mostly jigged or saw-cut bone, they feel good in the hand but I would like to see some in more modern materials just to mix up the styles a little.
At one time bone and wood were all that was available, newer materials like Micarta, C-Tek, carbon fibre, G10, Kirinite etc. all have their place and just add to the choices available for custom builders.
Strange, but the only carbon fibre that I like is the uni-directional type that looks like woodgrain when it is shaped.
 
I dislike ivory, bone and stag both aesthetically and practically. No moral objection, it just doesn't add anything to the knife for me. Wood, however, I find to be both beautiful and plenty practical. I am, however, much more likely to go for synthetic options because aesthetics are not terribly important to my buying habits right now.
 
Gehazi said:
could not agree more with OP-- I collect for the art, I want material to be unique and take skill to work. I want my collection to have appreciating value. So rare animal parts, plant bits, or hardstone is infinitely preferred to any modern material, as they are harder and harder to get, and long after they can still make plastic there will not be any ivory left, nor any iron woods, nor any of the good burls.

and wood, bone, etc do not "give out" faster than modern materials-- there are blades that are 500 years old with ivory scales, and wood scales, its about how you keep the knife. Modern material lacks character, lacks spirit, lacks unique form. For all those reasons I like all natural materials and all hand made blades.

I really prefer wooden furniture on guns as well to plastic-- yes you have to actually maintain wood and leather, but that is part of the ritual of owning these weapons.
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I couldn't agree more. There is a place for the weather and hard use scales, but for the knives I love most, I will just take good care of the handles. Thanks for the response.
 
I really enjoy nice wood scales on fixed blades; nice exotic wood can be really beautiful. However, I'll stick with titanium on folders. Wood scales on folders tend to make the folder too thick for me to carry easily in my pocket. I prefer slim folders for EDC.
 
100% a naturals guy.

I prefer the feel of a fine wood handle, I have as many leather lanyards and handles as paracord. I also prefer leather sheaths and cases.

Wood is naturally beautiful to the appreciative eye. Leather ages, burnishes and wears into a thing of beauty with very little care.

For me, plastic is plastic. Just as there are those who will strip their homes bare of natural woods and textiles for the Home Depot acrylics, fake woods and veneers, there will be those who know and would rather feel the inherent pluses of "natural'.
 
im a bit of both i like the look of naturals but i like the performance of man made. usually my edc has g10 or micarta, and cause i think the natural wood looks very elegant on a knife i save though as my gentleman's knives when i wear a suit or need to impress.
 
I like both synthetic and natural handle materials and agree with those who tend towards the synthetics in "hard use" scenarios, but I don't discount the performance of a good stabilized natural. The small checks and abrasion 'fades' on my ironwood, rosewood, cocobollo, etc. remind me of adventures past or the craftsman working it. The gradual color shift patination and hand-polish texture change of bone and stag give me a sense of temporal presence and perhaps a heritage connection to the animal "donating" it, and, although more fragile, abalone and mother of pearl remind me of the beauty of the oceans, even from hundreds of miles inland. Romantic? Sure, but Micarta ages and shows use also, with wear patterns and "suntans" from handling and sheath lines. To each their own, or even mix & match, recalling my Scagel style knives, with stacked leather and Micarta spacers. Its all good if its done well.
 
I'm a performance kind of guy.

Can't beat the performance of the new materials. The natural stuff is pretty but too easy to damage. Plus some of the antler scales look like scabs.
 
I'm an ironwood kinda guy:

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I have become and Ironwood junky-- again I highly advise anyone who really likes natural materials to go ahead and purchase your own materials for future use in customs-- the tropical Ironwoods are growing in expense, some are just impossible to get, and soon many others will be impossible to get. same goes with ivory of any type from whale to elephant. even jade hardstone is running out ( the burma mines are almost empty).

Invest in high quality materials if you value them, as they will be very hard to get come another decade.
 
Tasmaniac, that is really NICE! Ironwood is one of the common handle materials that Bob Dozier uses and I have a few. Cochobolo and desert ironwood are getting more expensive.
 
Good, informative input. I have a few G10, I think they are, and they are good to hold, but would look much better to me with desert ironwood burl scales.. They are very functional though. Gehazi, I knew that desert ironwood was becoming more scarce, but hadn't thought about investing in some of the materials that are sure to become more scarce. Great idea. Thanks everyone for your opinions, they are a valuable resource.
 
I've used all these materials and collected a lot of knives with the same. I agree that both man made and natural material have their places and how we want to use them is subjective.

The things we need to keep in mind are costs and availability. Cocobolo years ago was abundant and no one thought we would be running out. Now all cocobolo has to have certifications in order to come into the US because people are afraid of over harvesting. This is the same thing that happened to Ebony, Abalone, and a few other natural materials. Heck Red Stag and Ivory was illegal to import last time I looked.

For companies to import this material in the quantity that is needed could result in knives above what the market is willing to bear.

Just my 2 cents worth
 
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