Okay, how many of ya have busted a FRN handle?

An old gunsmith buddy of mine once said, only half in jest, that well over half the work he got was due to guys making the assumption that possession of a pair of testicles had qualified them to use a screwdriver.
Click to expand...
:D :D :D

I can only wonder why so many folks feel the need to disassemble their knives?

In my opinion, it's just the nature of men...
If we see a screw, sooner or later we just have to unscrew it, even if we don't have any good reason to do so.

I've really never had any trouble cleaning the riveted ones.
And I never have to worry about losing a screw or stripping one either.
Not to mention that I don't need Loc-tite.
 
I use an Endura 3 as my dedicated work knife. It works well for me. I'm a fan of the unlined, single piece handle style for FRN knives. I recently bought a Walmart Native and I think it really helps the knife stay as light as it is. Nice having no pivot screws to worry about adjusting, no liners to trap in moisture between the scales etc. The only thing I like about liners is they reduce handle flex, but on a Native / Delica sized knife I barely feel it, that really only comes into play on Endura sized knives and larger for me. My E3 feels a lot less stiffer than my G10 Byrd for instance, though both perform very well.

That being said, as soon as I work out a trade on the exchange for one, I'll be the owner of a E4 myself. Looking forward to comparing it to the E3.
 
Well, I tend to use my FRN Spyderco a lot harder than my G-10 or micarta Spydercos. I think it is because they tend to be less expensive and if I am going to break a knife, it is better to break a $50 FRN rather than a $150 G-10 model. The funny thing is, I have never broke the handle of one of my FRN Spydercos. I have put enough pressure on them to flex them to the point where I thought they might break but they not only held up but showed no lasting effects afterwords.

I have used my G-10 Para to cut a plastic bucket in half at work. I wouldn't consider that hard use by any means as I let the sharp blade do the cutting and I didn't use a crazy amount of pressure. After only one bucket, I had vertical blade play which couldn't be fixed. Not impressed at all.

I have used my Centofante 4 very hard and it begs for more. The VG-10 which everyone knows is way outdated on the Cent 4 doesn't seem to get dull either. It is also a breeze to get shaving sharp again. It does have a nest steel liner which I think helps but my point is, something that apprears weak like a Cent 3-4 will surprise you. 15-20 years ago, a knife like the Cent 4 would have preformed just like it felt but now, they are stronger than you would believe. A Cent 3 or 4 will stand up to 99 of what the average person will throw at it. FOr those that break Emersons every week, there is never going to be a knife strong enough for them.

For me, the Military is all the knife I will ever need. Anything stronger is over kill. I am not digging ditches or prying open door with my knife so something like the old outdated Military is what I consider a heavy duty knife.
 
I've gotta agree with you kgriggs8, the Centofante3/4 is a Workhorse....I tried prying open the latch of a door once with a beater C3 using lots of torque.....and after all that prying abuse, the knife had nil bladeplay......I was pleasantly surprised.... :thumbup:
 
I have not read all the replies yet but want to say that FRN, at least that from both Spyderco and Cold Steel that I've handled many times is actually quite durable, surprisngly durable actually. In many ways FRN has qualities that, at least in my mind place it above G10 and Micarta for many knife handle uses.

But for end line users I think its a couple of things that stir up dislike with those that dislike the material. One is probably the fact that a few years back I know that several companies that made FRN folders also made those integral pocket clips out of it. Perhaps you've owned one or several. I know I have and I also experienced the problems associated with them. As you can imagine many of the users of these pocket clips broke them, or bent them out badly where they no longer held the pocket very well and thats what happened to me. In defense of these style clips though I rather loved how kind they were to pants pockets. This is one of the reasons I particularly like the idea of rubber coated metal clips so that you can possibly gain the advantage of kindness to pockets on top of durability.

Second, I think FRN just gives the impression of being plastic to many and I know from discussions about this that they percieve that to be cheap looking regardless of how good the material may be. I know this alone as well as the color of the handle at times when its a rather trendy color both have been brought up to me before rebuilding one of the FRN handled knives.

STR
 
Take a peice of FRN, G-10 and Carbon fiber of the exact same size and shape. Bend them, twist them and flex them in all directions. Two of them will snap immediately. FRN is a very strong material. Science is an amazing thing. Before Law Enforcement, I worked at a custom injection molding shop. We would test impact toughness, flex tests, extreme heat and extreme cold testing, crush testing, melting points and a number of other destruction type tests before a customer would choose a material for their product. We dealt with mostly military contracts, so you can bet that nothing was cheap. Some of the super engineered plastics are incredible. The FRN that DuPont supplies is awesome stuff. They make many different grades of FRN. The higher the "glass" content, usually the more durable it will be. You need a good balance for the application at hand. Some of the super plastics have such a high content of fiberglass that when injected, it comes out glowing like lava. (600-700 degrees and under a tremendous amount of pressure. Crazy stuff and VERY strong. Don't ever think that some of the modern plastics are cheap and weak. Ok, I'm done with my ramble.
 
Let me just say this.

I've dropped FRN Spydies on my concrete driveway quite a bit on accident. Friday when getting out of my car I dropped my Para-Military. The FRN knives are never phased at all by the drop. The Para has dings and little chunks in the G10 now. FRN holds up way better than G10 or SS or anything else I have ever dropped on concrete.
 
Another nice thing about FRN is it's easy to reshape the handle. I've always used the area right by the base tang on the blade of my E3 as a choil, so recently I decided just to grind back the FRN a bit and make the shape a little more friendly to my habit. Worked great and only took a minute or two with some sandpaper.
 
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