Let's have a little knife scale discussion

22-rimfire said:
Feel the same way and seldom consider a knife with a metal handle. I did buy and use a Benchmade Mini Presidio II which has a textured aluminum handle. It is a knife I like quite a bit actually. Bought it a a big knife store.... asked to see it as it caught my attention.... metal handles... downer; But it felt great in my hand and bought it that day. Don't make many exceptions with metal handles.

I have a stainless Endura (handles) and would not buy another. That was purchased when I first started messing with Spyderco knives.... namely, the Native, Delica, and Endura.
As far as cheap plastic goes.... Only on Vic SAKs! They serve me so well that I make exceptions with them. I don't think Spyderco FRN handles feel cheap.
Mora's..... BORING
Rubber like materials.... don't care for it. Have a couple SOG fixed blades with handles like this.... won't do that again. I would rather pay more and get a handle that I like and is still functional.
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I like Mora's for what they are, but I do agree that the rubber grips aren't too nice or pleasing. I mean they're solid for the price, but that's about it, so I guess people get what they pay for. Like you though, I'd rather pay a little more and get some better handle materials. It would be nice if Mora came out with a knife with Micarta or G10 slabs.
 
Resiprene. My enthusiasm for this material comes fairly recently. A few months ago, I bought a SYKCO knife with a Resiprene handle. Even though my hand hurt like hell to hold the knife in my most likely grip, nevertheless, I could tell that the handle material felt wonderful. Some work with abrasives softened the offending corner to a point where the knife is pretty comfortable despite the less-than-ideal shape.

I have since committed to spend way more than I usually do to get a knife that is much bigger than I need, just to get another Resiprene handle. I can’t afford to buy too many more of these knives, so my question is, does anybody else use Resiprene as a handle material?
 
Birch bark and leather I like the most. Wood can be also very good. Everything else is not my cup of tea.
 
I despise G10. It just feels wrong to me. Like a slab of stone or something. Every G10 knife I've purchased has had it's scales/handle replaced with Micarta, wood, TeroTuf, or titanium.

I'm not a fan of aluminum either. The anodizing is to fragile. I'd much rather have anodized or natural titanium.

FRN is alright, especially in my work knives. Composite wood is alright. TeroTuf is alright... Grinds really easily which leads me to believe it's not as durable as Micarta though.

Carbon fiber is hit or miss for me. It has to be done very well and have a certain texture. I really like carbon fiber from Kershaw and Benchmade (especially Kershaw though), and dislike carbon fiber from Spyderco.

My favorites are definitely Micarta, titanium, and natural or stabilized wood.
 
Henry Beige said:
Resiprene. My enthusiasm for this material comes fairly recently. A few months ago, I bought a SYKCO knife with a Resiprene handle. Even though my hand hurt like hell to hold the knife in my most likely grip, nevertheless, I could tell that the handle material felt wonderful. Some work with abrasives softened the offending corner to a point where the knife is pretty comfortable despite the less-than-ideal shape.

I have since committed to spend way more than I usually do to get a knife that is much bigger than I need, just to get another Resiprene handle. I can’t afford to buy too many more of these knives, so my question is, does anybody else use Resiprene as a handle material?
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Busse does 🤣 but other than that, none that I can think of.
 
I prefer textured g10 at this point in my life. Im approaching 40. I need a little more grip in my older age. Seems my hands are less grippy, almost dryer than they were when I was younger.
 
Likes:
G10
Micarta
FRN
Kraton
Stacked leather

Dislikes:
Spongy rubber
Carbon fibre
Stag/bone
Metal
Wood
 
Love: G10, micarta, wood, bare metal handles

Like: delrin, frn/zytel

I won't buy a knife with stag or horn because I don't like how it looks and it is much more expensive. I won't buy brittle materials like, pearl, and stone. I have some bone handled knives, but I no longer buy them.
 
There are many, just some I know of, in order of preference:

horn, antler, ivory, bone,
burls,
Timascus,
decorative wood (olive, birdseye maple),
Ti,
CF (all kinds),
stacked leather,
Tero Tuf,
Copper,
Brass,
Micarta,
plain looking hardwood,
Alox,
Aluminium,
SS,
CF-G10 laminate,
G10 (except black),
FRN,
Bakelite,
Cellulose acetate,
Celidor,
Kirinite,
Paracord.
 
Not really particular with my handle scales, as long as they’re comfy. G10 is pretty nice though.

Haven’t tried micarta yet, haha.
 
I like carbon fiber by far the best for looks. G-10 has more grip though, so I’ll call it even. Titanium also looks great but it can be slippery and GFN feels cheap as hell but grips fairly well. Haven’t had the chance to try micarta yet but I’d like to try it out on one of my 0393s.
All that being said, my favorite is the black CF on the 0452GL. The knife looks absolutely sinister. I just wish it didn’t glow in the dark, as I think that feature is extremely tacky.
 
Wood is my favorite, followed closely by micarta.
Woven carbon fiber (like on every ZT ever made) is my least favorite.
 
Love:
Elk antler.
Water buffalo horn.
Micarta.
Yellow Delrin.
G-10.

Like:
Wood.
Aluminum.
Titanium.

Tolerate:
Steel.
Brass.
Bronze.
Copper.
FRN/nylon/etc...
Bone.

Dislike:
Carbon fiber.
Paracord.
Stacked or wrapped leather.
Cork.
 
Likes:
G10
Micarta
Wood

Dislikes:
Polished/buffed handles

Anything that doesn't fall into these categories fits into my ambivalence category.

As some have said, it depends on the knife and how the handle is finished by the maker. In folders I am a big fan of Spyderco's FRN, because the shape they give it is both grippy and comfortable. Even though I have largely taken myself out of the folder acquisition game I will be making an exception for a Resilience lightweight with blue FRN scales.

From a maker's perspective, my favorite is G10, because it is the easiest handle material to work and finish for me. It's also usually available for less cost than similar Micarta. From a user perspective, it is either micarta, or textured G10, because micarta is grippiest, and ever gripper when wet, and G10, while not particularly grippy, becomes more than grippy enough with texture. By the way, by textured I don't mean peel ply as used in production folders. While this is also good, that texture tends to smooth out and lose its grip over time. I mean textured by a craftsman who takes grip, comfort and function into consideration. Here are some examples of textured G10 knives I made.


IMG_1055.JPG

Note the edges of the scales are radiused in order to preserve comfort. In fact, this is one advantage G10 has over micarta, in that the radiused scale edges of G10, being smoother than Micarta's more porous feel, are always more comfortable at the same finish, or even at a lower grit finish than Micarta. This is what makes G10 feel more slippery as well, but when textured, you get the best of both words.

The other issue with G10 is it is a bit heavier than Micarta, so the simple fix for me there is on a knife where this would potentially hinder optimal balance, I simply hollow out a portion of the inside of the scales, which combined with texturing, reduces the weight to even lighter than untextured, unhollowed Micarta scales would be. I have swung large choppers and machetes at length that I had given textured G10 handles, and found their retention more than adequate, even during rainfall.

And G10 gives more options for color combinations than Micarta, at least from what I have been able to find available.

All that being said, I do very much love Micarta as well.
 
I've elimated G-10 completely except for one knife, Civivi Mckenna. I dislike G-10, FRN is ok, but I only own one knife with it, a Para 3 lw Spy 27.


I prefer CF, Micarta, and Wood. Obviously you're kinda stuck with aluminum in automatics (mostly). Otherwise, not a big fan of metal handles. I'm okay with single scale framelocks, depending on the scale material. My CF Southard is excellent.
 
I'm good with anything that's not CF or multi color G10. Don't care for aggressive or deep textures either, not even prominent finger grooves. Wait.... no wrapped anything either, be it paracord or leather or old shoelaces.
 
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