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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Rate & explain handle materials!
- Thread starter R.Taylor
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2003
- Messages
- 5,738
General rule, hard plastic materials, which would include micarta, G10, and CF, will all chip if struck hard enough - especially near an edge. FRN, being softer will dent under a similar blow. The hard ones would also crack under circumstances that would only cause FRN to bend. But where knife handles are concerned, you are more likely to bend an FRN handle sufficiently to cause permanent damage to the knife than bend a G10 or CF handle far enough to induce cracking.
Some personal observations...
Micarta resists scratching amazingly well. The burgundy Jester that has been living among my keys for about two and a half years, looks about the same as the day it got placed on my key ring. The "downside" is that a thicker slab is required. This will be a negative to those looking for a slim knife, and a positive to those who favor a fatter handle. The other "problem" is that it is often used without liners, and does not hold screws well. G10 and CF are no better at holding screws, but are normally used with a liner or liners.
I am not a fan of G10 - I think it is the least attractive of the plastic handle materials. In addition, people seem to complain that, on the one hand, the rough texture damages their pockets, and on the other that the surface tends to wear smooth from rubbing while carried. But there are plenty who sing its praises.
Carbon fiber is expensive and very light weight. It is very attractive if applied "shiny side out" but even the smallest chips detract from that look, and it does chip fairly easily around the edges and around pin and screws. The shiny side also offers no more traction than metal. Applied rough side out, it's just another butt-ugly plastic, albeit a very light one.
FRN suffers from the "logic" that inexpensive = cheap = inferior. Me, I'd rather have a dollar cup of coffee from the deli across the street than a Starbucks banana-mint-mocha-latte - but that's just me. Image issues aside, it's a darn fine material and can be molded into all manner of complex shapes and patterns.
Personally, for a knife the is going to get used as and treated like a tool, I'll take FRN, knives used that way sometimes get lost or damaged. When I want something "more" I gravitate towards models with end bolsters and natural material scales.
Some personal observations...
Micarta resists scratching amazingly well. The burgundy Jester that has been living among my keys for about two and a half years, looks about the same as the day it got placed on my key ring. The "downside" is that a thicker slab is required. This will be a negative to those looking for a slim knife, and a positive to those who favor a fatter handle. The other "problem" is that it is often used without liners, and does not hold screws well. G10 and CF are no better at holding screws, but are normally used with a liner or liners.
I am not a fan of G10 - I think it is the least attractive of the plastic handle materials. In addition, people seem to complain that, on the one hand, the rough texture damages their pockets, and on the other that the surface tends to wear smooth from rubbing while carried. But there are plenty who sing its praises.
Carbon fiber is expensive and very light weight. It is very attractive if applied "shiny side out" but even the smallest chips detract from that look, and it does chip fairly easily around the edges and around pin and screws. The shiny side also offers no more traction than metal. Applied rough side out, it's just another butt-ugly plastic, albeit a very light one.
FRN suffers from the "logic" that inexpensive = cheap = inferior. Me, I'd rather have a dollar cup of coffee from the deli across the street than a Starbucks banana-mint-mocha-latte - but that's just me. Image issues aside, it's a darn fine material and can be molded into all manner of complex shapes and patterns.
Personally, for a knife the is going to get used as and treated like a tool, I'll take FRN, knives used that way sometimes get lost or damaged. When I want something "more" I gravitate towards models with end bolsters and natural material scales.
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2005
- Messages
- 761
I like g-10 it is light, tuff and gripy I once managed with significant force to bang it hard enough to lead a small white shatter Mark which I buffed out with a diamond file, no structural harm done. An aesthetically it wasn't that noticeable. G-10 also doesn't get cold or hot which could be useful in extreme situations.
carbon fiber has an outer veneer which chips relatively easily and cannot or not easily if at all the repaired. I on the other hand would like to see handle made of the backside of the carbon fiber plate. I once solid mountain bike handlebar made out of such material and actually looked attractive in a rugged sort of way like micarta canvas
I understand that the frm spiderco uses is a specialized material with a high imprecise I believe around 30% fiberglass content. But I still can't get over the "its plastic" thing. Although the Wal-Mart native..............................
carbon fiber has an outer veneer which chips relatively easily and cannot or not easily if at all the repaired. I on the other hand would like to see handle made of the backside of the carbon fiber plate. I once solid mountain bike handlebar made out of such material and actually looked attractive in a rugged sort of way like micarta canvas
I understand that the frm spiderco uses is a specialized material with a high imprecise I believe around 30% fiberglass content. But I still can't get over the "its plastic" thing. Although the Wal-Mart native..............................
I agree with the Deacon and the Druid.
What I don't like about FRN (or Zytel) is that, without liners, it can feel very weak and cheap.
BUT, with dual metal liners, I think it is every bit as nice looking as G-10 and probably more resilient to impacts and scratches.
But FRN without liners is still pretty tough stuff.
I ran over some knives with my truck and threw them off the roof of my house in a "test".
You can do a search for the word "torture" under the Review/testing forum.
Good luck,
Allen.
What I don't like about FRN (or Zytel) is that, without liners, it can feel very weak and cheap.
BUT, with dual metal liners, I think it is every bit as nice looking as G-10 and probably more resilient to impacts and scratches.
But FRN without liners is still pretty tough stuff.
I ran over some knives with my truck and threw them off the roof of my house in a "test".
You can do a search for the word "torture" under the Review/testing forum.
Good luck,
Allen.