Question about the Baryonyx machete

T

TheBushWookie

Joined
Oct 28, 2014
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113
Why does the baryonyx machete have an injection molded handle instead of something like handle scales? If machetes don't normally have handle scales forgive the stupidity but since I've first started learning bushcraft a few months ago I quickly learned something recently and it's that knives with injection molded handles with lots of hard work will start to work their way around in the handle and get loose inside in no time flat.For my first bushcraft tools I've had a gerber gator Jr and a BG ultimate fixed blade for my tools and even though I do believe they have held up extremely well to so much straight up abuse they are finally starting to show the damage by being loose in the handle and moving around simply by me pushing the blades back and forth.
 
Your Gerber Gator and Bear Grylls ones aren't holding up to use?

Know why? They are junk.

The Baryonyx is not.
 
To be fair though they were very good knives but I'm guessing because I'm inexperienced I ended up doing things I shouldn't have done. The only thing I was ever careful about with either of them is not to pry massive logs apart with the tip of the blade.
 
They were good. Except for the whole handle falling off thing.

They are not good. And you can't take the performance of junk and generalize it to better knives.
 
TheBushWookie said:
To be fair though they were very good knives but I'm guessing because I'm inexperienced I ended up doing things I shouldn't have done. The only thing I was ever careful about with either of them is not to pry massive logs apart with the tip of the blade.
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You think they are good because you are inexperienced. In a couple of years you will wonder what you were thinking. That's OK, we all started out inexperienced.
Not all injection moulding is terrible.
Just about every technique is valid, but can be done well or done poorly.
 
Do yourself a favor and don't try to apply your experience with Gerber products to quality tools.
 
Hey Guys....... how's about we cut ol' Wookie a little slack here? He's asking for advice and info, no need to be snide to him. While I'm inclined to agree with the sentiment on the Gerbers, I really don't see the need to insult the guy. How is that being helpful? Give the man your advice and experience in a respectful manner. I'm sure it will go a lot longer in educating him.

So Wook, the stuff I've gotten from Baryonyx has always been of decent value. I would not hesitate to order anything from them and in fact Ben, the owner, posts here regularly. I believe his forum name is Forty Blades, others can correct me as I might be wrong. Email or call him at Baryonyx. I'm sure he'd be glad to answer any questions you have, and not be condescending. Good guy.
 
harlycarly said:
Hey Guys....... how's about we cut ol' Wookie a little slack here? He's asking for advice and info, no need to be snide to him. While I'm inclined to agree with the sentiment on the Gerbers, I really don't see the need to insult the guy. How is that being helpful? Give the man your advice and experience in a respectful manner. I'm sure it will go a lot longer in educating him.

So Wook, the stuff I've gotten from Baryonyx has always been of decent value. I would not hesitate to order anything from them and in fact Ben, the owner, posts here regularly. I believe his forum name is Forty Blades, others can correct me as I might be wrong. Email or call him at Baryonyx. I'm sure he'd be glad to answer any questions you have, and not be condescending. Good guy.
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I appreciate the sentiment but no one was actually insulting me and yes you are close his forum name is FortyTwoBlades but I didn't actually know he was the owner himself.
 
Well either way once my new set of tools comes in I'll give the gerber blades to a friend who doesn't care about the quality and simply wants them to stick in his glass case to look pretty, and I'm pretty sure he'll enjoy the worn look that I've given them.
 
Injection molding can make a darned near indestructible handle.

Gerber......... glad you got some use out of them.

I have an injection molded CS machete handle. Ive throw it, batoned, pried, bent the blade, but the handle is still tight.


I would expect the one by Baryonyx to be better.
 
Bigfattyt said:
Injection molding can make a darned near indestructible handle.

Gerber......... glad you got some use out of them.

I have an injection molded CS machete handle. Ive throw it, batoned, pried, bent the blade, but the handle is still tight.


I would expect the one by Baryonyx to be better.
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I think everyone has the wrong idea my blades haven't broken just yet they've only loosened enough to where I can hear it and feel it but if I kept abusing them for 2 more days they MIGHT actually come out of the handles.

EDIT- the gerber gator JR probably won't come out of the handle at all, I just realized it has 2 large bolts holding it in so the only way for the blade to come out is if the handle fully breaks which is a possibility.
 
The reasons for the injection molded polypropylene handle vs. wood or micarta are that polypropylene is extremely shock resistant, impervious to weather, will not crack, split, rot, or warp, and can be injection molded directly to the tang for a truly flawless bond. It also gives extremely consistent results from unit to unit and has the right balance of grip vs. lubricity in the hand for extended use without blistering. It's also economical, which I think is an important factor. I personally prefer injection-molded polypropylene on all of my machetes. It may not be as sexy as wood or micarta, but it makes for a nigh-indestructible workhorse. :)

The Gerber handles loosened because they are molded scales, but not molded directly to the tang. As a result the tang must be fit to the handle recesses while handles that are molded right onto the tang have a perfect fit every time, even if a tang was somehow off-spec in some way.

10696155_830487610326034_4869067230591309253_n.jpg
 
Always good to see a cutaway view :thumbup:

You'll notice how wide the tang is... not only is that good for strength in general, but it makes it pretty dang unlikely that the molded handle would ever twist.

As a sidenote, the tang also has no sharp inside corners where it meets the blade; rather it curves gently from full width. This is also very good for overall strength. If every manufacturer designed their hidden-tang blades like that, we'd see a whole lot fewer broken knives. :)
 
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