Kraton handles

Kraton is the trademarked version, whilst Kray-Ex is Cold Steel's brand of something probably very similar but not exactly Kraton.
 
Daniel L said:
Kraton is the trademarked version, whilst Kray-Ex is Cold Steel's brand of something probably very similar but not exactly Kraton.
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True. But from my understanding they did change the type of kraton to a more dense variant and changed the advertised name to Kray-ex. If you’ve handled both old and new versions, you’d see what I mean.
 
knarfeng said:
I think that most "Kraton" knife handles are made using some grade of Kraton D, a synthetic rubber. There are a bunch of different grades of Kraton D. Have no idea which one(s) get used. To get fancy, it's a block copolymer based on a styrene and elastomer(s) . Styrene gives it rigidity, the elastomer ingredient(s) give if flexibility. The grades go from very hard to very soft, depending on the exact composition (AKA grade).

Normally elastomers are molded to final form. They can be machined, with difficulty, but it's not standard practice. All of the Kraton knife handles I've seen have been molded directly to the handle.
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Sweet, thanks for the breakdown my friend! Thats pretty cool that it can also be machined, I didn't know that.
 
Here's a few pics of my old SRK too since there was an example above as well. This is an old Carbon V model. I don't know when it was made but it's had a long history. I got this from a local dude and it'd been put through the ringer decently. But, the handle has held up amazingly well. It's super grippy with a hint of shock absorption too which is nice.
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Triton said:
I can't speak to all kraton handles but I edced three mini pals from cold steel over the space of 4 or 5 years on my keychain. Every single one of them went gummy and fell apart. Maybe they used a different formula on those, maybe it was the constant body heat I don't know, but that was my experience. No thanks.
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Three occurrences definitely is not anecdotal! I've never had any problems with Kraton (Cold Steel's or any other company's), but your experience isn't the first I've read about. I know that lower-durometer formulas used in the product's early years were more susceptible to both heat and chemicals. Any chance your Mini Pals were exposed to chemicals? I can't see 98.6 degrees (even with constant contact) causing that kind of failure.


-Steve
 
Alberta Ed said:
Not sure how you'd find one to fit your knife but Kraton is great IMHO. Buck was the first to use it in knives, I think. Charles Buck sent me a 119 to review a long while back and I used that knife to field dress a moose -- the handle stayed grippy throughout that ordeal (I had to do it myself) and the light weight was great. Cold Steel's Master Hunter, SRK and other models (I think) have Kraton grips. Fallkniven uses Thermorun which is siilar but a bit harder and not as grippy. I've never had a problem with Kraton wearing or being affected by chemicals.
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I'm fairly certain Cold Steel was first with its original Tanto and beat Buck to the market with Kraton. But I believe Buck (or possibly Condor) was first with the single-piece, over-mold Kraton handle.

That's very cool that Chuck Buck sent you an early Kraton model to review! Was it a truly modified 119 with a replacement Kraton handle, or was it a 619?

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Where did your review run, Ed? I'd enjoy reading it.


-Steve
 
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The Whip said:
Three occurrences definitely is not anecdotal! I've never had any problems with Kraton (Cold Steel's or any other company's), but your experience isn't the first I've read about. I know that lower-durometer formulas used in the product's early years were more susceptible to both heat and chemicals. Any chance your Mini Pals were exposed to chemicals? I can't see 98.6 degrees (even with constant contact) causing that kind of failure.


-Steve
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Well, I guess it's still anecdotal, it's not like I have any statistics to say that kraton falls apart or anything. Just my personal experience that tells me that kraton fell apart three times. This would have been in the 2000 - 2004 time frame. I am not aware of exposure to any chemicals.
 
I'm going to try to resurrect this thread for a question: has anyone figured out a way to effectively fortify kraton handles to prevent wear? I've gotten a few mini Pendletons with custom kydex sheaths. They're great little knives and carry easily but I'm worried that friction from drawing them and re-sheathing them will wear out the kraton quickly. It sort of looks like the kraton is already starting to wear on the one I use the most.

Has anyone experimented with epoxy coatings, heat guns or otherwise to toughen up kraton against constant friction?
 
oldmanwilly said:
I'm going to try to resurrect this thread for a question: has anyone figured out a way to effectively fortify kraton handles to prevent wear? I've gotten a few mini Pendletons with custom kydex sheaths. They're great little knives and carry easily but I'm worried that friction from drawing them and re-sheathing them will wear out the kraton quickly. It sort of looks like the kraton is already starting to wear on the one I use the most.

Has anyone experimented with epoxy coatings, heat guns or otherwise to toughen up kraton against constant friction?
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In my (admittedly fairly limited) experience, Kraton will wear against a hard sheath via friction (evidenced by scuff marks and "fuzzy" areas on the Kraton), but it will reach a point where it sort of wears "in" to the confines of the sheath and pretty well stabilizes at that point. Other than the knife being a bit less snug in the sheath than it was initially, that's about it. I've never even thought to try treating or adding anything to Kraton to protect it, so I can't answer that.
 
Thanks fellas. They're not exactly priceless knives so I may have bought 3 in a moment of weakness. I'm only really carrying one at the moment, so I might play around and rub it down with beeswax or something once it gets those "fuzzy" areas. Worst comes to worst, I'll run it into the ground then botch an attempt to re-handle it.
 
oldmanwilly said:
Thanks fellas. They're not exactly priceless knives so I may have bought 3 in a moment of weakness. I'm only really carrying one at the moment, so I might play around and rub it down with beeswax or something once it gets those "fuzzy" areas. Worst comes to worst, I'll run it into the ground then botch an attempt to re-handle it.
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I've experienced the same type thing as David Mary David Mary and G. Scott H. G. Scott H. , but I'm curious about your curiosity. Please let us know what you find in your experimentation!
 
I am not sure if it is available for purchase but - Busse knives has a material that is better in many ways than Kraton, it is non-hygroscopic, non-reactive to DEET and really feels great in the hand - it's called resiprene - didn't see it mentioned but wanted to throw it out there.
 
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