Is Kray-Ex affected by sticky plastic breakdown?

[sailfish]

I received my first Cold Steel today and this is also my first experience with the Kray-Ex material. It has me wondering if it will ever suffer from the breakdown certain soft plastics see with age where they get a sticky coating on them. Has anyone ever experienced this or is Kray-Ex formulated different and not something I'll ever have to worry about?

 

[jbmonkey]

not yet on ones I own.

id be careful on not getting exposure to solvents and oils though. ive never tried, so no idear. just no reason to find out.

 

[Ruari]

What noise there is on the internet on Krayton breaking down is just that - I've only ever seen pictures of broken Krayton where the knife has been abused or broken, not from polymer instability.
Probably avoid DEET though!

 

[sailfish]

What noise there is on the internet on Krayton breaking down is just that - I've only ever seen pictures of broken Krayton where the knife has been abused or broken, not from polymer instability.
Probably avoid DEET though!

I've honestly never heard anything about Krayton breaking down online. I've just experienced it with other kinds of soft plastics and wondered if this was prone to it.

 

[jux t]

The new Kray-ex is a different formula than the older kraton. There were reports of certain chemicals breaking down the kraton. I have not read any reports of this with the new formula.

 

[AndrewSA]

I've not had krayex breakdown per se.
I have, on my +/- 2010 San Mai Recon Tanto and +/-2010 Safe Maker 1 had some greyish-white colour develop when the grips havent been handled in a year or so (sacrilege to not carry or at least play with them I know...).

That colouration immediately disappears after being handled with somewhat oily hands.

That said i had washed them several times with dishwashing liquid a few times in my youth and inexperience so it might be related to that.

Certainly the structural integrity hasn't changed in all this time.

 

[IaccidentlyCutmyThumb]

Like any polymer or rubber it can probably break down over time. I wouldn't worry about it. If I owned one, MAYBE every 10 years I'd rub a little ballistol into it--only if it looked like it needed it. As far as I know that one only rejuvenates, doesn't break anything down, except small amounts of copper or maybe brass. I don't remember which. If it was a more rubbery texture, and capable of experiencing dry rot maybe I'd rub in more. But for a pure plastic the technology today is so insane I'm sure it'll be fine. We are literally living in the Plastic Age. If gun stocks and magazines can be made out of plastic and used for decades in Middle Eastern sun, heat, and still work, so can a knife handle.