Preferred handle material/ color

H

hugeo

Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
53
Hello all,

I'm interested in hearing people's opinions on handle material. Obviously subjective based on colors but other than that any major differences?

Will the linen Micarta feel any different in use or have subtle color variation?

Will the natural darken up a bit as it ages/stains?

I'm an equipment operator in Hawaii so usually have pretty dirty mits often diesel, oil , grease etc in a humid environment. Recommendations?

Thank you
 
Terotuf for grip but it might soak up that oil. G10 if you want to rinse it off. Actually micarta doesn't soak up much but at the surface level it will take on a bit of oil and i'm not sure it would ever come out unless you sanded it down. G10 is a bit more impervious to the elements. Best of both worlds if you can find someone to sandblast it for you.
 
The ebonite would probably be good as far as providing grip and not soaking up a lot of what’s on your hands.
 
Thanks to the replys so far.

I should have been more specific I guess I was mostly interested in the different materials on offer from CPK.

How does Terotuf hold up long term as in several years down the line. From my experience rubbery/plastic material tends to break down especially exposed to sun/heat.
 
hugeo said:
Thanks to the replys so far.

I should have been more specific I guess I was mostly interested in the different materials on offer from CPK.

How does Terotuf hold up long term as in several years down the line. From my experience rubbery/plastic material tends to break down especially exposed to sun/heat.
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I don’t have years of experience but it reminds me of when you’re buying a carpet, and you’re asking about staining, and the dick head carpet salesman is like “ever see a plastic bottle get stained by a drink that’s in it? That’s what this carpet is made of hurr durrr.” I think terotuf is the same polyethylene stuff. It feels impervious and permanent like a commercial carpet. You can get crap on it and it can get to feel and look dark and funky but it cleans with solvents back to new frosty fuzziness. I recommended it to you because it has really pronounced fibers that will do the best job out of the handle options of retaining a grip even if coated in horrific greases and stuff.
 
fonedork said:
I think ebonite would deteriorate under exposure to hydrocarbons
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I don’t know the answer to that but it looks like NtM agrees with you. I thought vulcanized hard rubber was pretty inert.
I know some plastics will dissolve from contact with fuel and others we use to store fuel. Admittedly, I haven’t looked into it.
I was just thinking grippy and not porous - so not much absorption. Added bonus it’s black so it wouldn’t look dirty.
If it melts, that wouldn’t be good.
 
hugeo said:
Hello all,

I'm interested in hearing people's opinions on handle material. Obviously subjective based on colors but other than that any major differences?

Will the linen Micarta feel any different in use or have subtle color variation?

Will the natural darken up a bit as it ages/stains?

I'm an equipment operator in Hawaii so usually have pretty dirty mits often diesel, oil , grease etc in a humid environment. Recommendations?

Thank you
Click to expand...

I'm not familiar with the linens, although there are some really nice colors in the linens based on what I've seen.

The natural canvas will absolutely darken with use, but can be scrubbed or bead-blasted. It cleans up good since it doesn't really stain deep into the material. The unbuffed canvases have a good grippy surface, and don't get slick when wet or bloody.

I think the G10 is pretty much impervious to stain. You can scratch it because it's fairly hard, but it's pretty much a forever material, not as grippy as canvas or terotuf.

Terotuf is very grippy and I've heard the unbuffed burlap is as well. Nathan has been a little cautious in his wording of the terotuf as far as longevity, but he laminates it on canvas liners, so I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's going to hang in there a long time. Those liners should help with any fear of the scale shrinking away from the tang. Welcome to the forum.
 
That helps hard knocks that's helpful info.

Anyone have pics of dirty/stained worn in natural? Like a user with a couple years under the belt.
 
hugeo said:
Not at all

Extra points if it's pig blood !!
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Cool :thumbsup:

Night Rider said:
Oh you have to post that one now :cool::thumbsup: Just put a disclaimer at the top with an R rating or something
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Good idea. Attention: The second picture below has a bloody field knife in it. After that everyone is home free.




The loose scale in this picture is unbuffed natural canvas that's very nearly new, so that's how they look before use.

saHihxm.jpg


The scales on this next field knife are also unbuffed natural canvas. They started off like the loose scale in the picture above and have seen use on roughly 20 large game, several turkey and other various small game along with general field use. This picture from this fall.

Uy5sn13.jpg


And here they are the next day after being cleaned the night before. Mixed bag hunt whitetail and turkey.

RH5osBU.jpg

DRHKnwg.jpg


The canvas does darken with age and use, and the unbuffed do smooth out, but I also think they clean up pretty well. I'm anxious to try the unbuffed burlap as I've heard good things, but it's only been out by CPK for a very short time so I haven't had the opportunity yet.
 
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I agree^:thumbsup: The aged natural canvas is a nice change from the flashy colors that are becoming the norm. I have always had a fondness towards wooden handle knives but the more I learn i'm realizing synthetic handles or scales are superior for hard use and longevity. I was also under the impression the blood Hard Knocks mentioned was that of his own. My Bad :oops:
 
I prefer unbuffed as I like the feel as well as the natural change with time and use.

Here are some examples of buffed linen micarta vs unbuffed black linen micarta. The lone scales are terotuf.
RBzLVV0.jpg

More examples in different lighting.
Buffed black linen, unbuffed Burlap,unbuffed black linen, buffed edgecut antique micarta .
EnrSPvC.jpg
 
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