Synthetic vs wooden handles

golok

golok

Joined
Oct 20, 2000
Messages
4,453
For some time now, I have been debating with myself which type of handle material suits me.

Personally, I like the feel of wood. However, some synthetic materials, of which there are many excellent ones, do have some advantages.

In the end, I thought it may just come down to personal preference. There may not be any significant difference the two anyway.

Somehow the touch of wood has a deeper meaning for me.

Wood or synthetic for you?
 
Synthetic. I look at the wear in the G10 of my 705 and don't even want to think about the condition of a natural product in that role.

Phil
 
I really like the look of the traditional wood or stag, but make my EDC a G-10.

I like to collect all of them, but the G-10 handles are my favorite so far.
 
Wood is nice to look at, but the synths are tougher. I will say this though any rifle i own or will buy will have a nice wood stock.
 
I'm a stag man. I can't get enough of the stuff. But for knives I know I'll be abusing, I prefer micarta.
 
Definitely synthetic as a user. Leather stacked and wooden handles have not held up very well for me...particularly on camping trips...

In a folder make it G10 and in the fixed blade the same or Micarta...
 
I love wood burls. My modest collection knives are all fancy wood handled. Though they're all usable, I hesitate to because I don't want to mess up the handle. All my user EDCs are folders or neckers with synthetic, one with aluminum. If I were to need to use a larger fixed blade, I think I'd prefer a rubber-ish handle like Kraton.
 
I like stag i like bone...I like synthetic...I guess it depens on the knife...some knife look good with stag others look good with bone and some knife look best with synthetic...:rolleyes: thus making them a draw...
 
I really like wood and stag, but I also really like G10 and Micarta. I guess it all depends on the execution for me. Sometimes, micarta looks like crap, but on a knife such as the Spyderco Calypso, etc. it can be really beautiful.
Matt
 
GREEN LINEN MICARTA!!! GREEN LINEN MICARTA!!!!



That said, lately I've been very excited about stabilized wood. Other than the dymondwood I've worked with, I have used one piece of good stabilized wood that I got from forumite samhell. I put it on a chef's knife that I made as part of a 3 knife kitchen set for my sister's wedding present. As soon as I buffed the handle after sanding it, I was amazed! The color.... the "depth".... amazing. There is definitely way more character in wood than synthetic stuff.

If I had to pick one material, I'd go with green linen micarta. But go poking around the net looking at stabilized wood and you'll be shocked. The first time I saw some non-plain stabilized wood, I couldn't believe that it was wood.
 
I really like wood, but prefer synthetic for users. I feel that you can get just as much character out of Carbon fiber, as well as depth. That said, I actually own more wood handled knives than synthetics, but that's beside the point. Now what I REALLY like is Mother of Pearl:D. Talk about depth and character! I plan on having scales made for a couple of my knives, and Presentation grade pearl is the way I'm going.

DD
 
Like alot of others here, I prefer synthetic or metal over wood for a work knife.
However, for a small gentleman's knife, used only for small easy tasks, wood is fine (so is mother-of-pearl, jade, ivory, ect).

Good luck,
Allen.
 
I like the feel of wood or leather and stag is OK. I can live with FRN and micarta. For some reason g10 seems to literally rub me the wrong way.
 
I like micarta, but I recently purchased a Himalayan Imports khukuri with a water buffalo horn handle, and I really like the feel of the horn. It's surprisingly grippy yet takes a wonderful polish.
--Josh
 
I used to like G-10.. Micarta is nice too, but sometimes the finish i dont like. Lately i've also started to like the FRN in spyderco knives. that handles have a warm softness to them, makes them nice to use...

One kind of handle that i dont like is Metal. For looking at and displaying its alright, but can't stand using it. Wood is beautiful for display as well... dont like to use it tho, wouldn't want to damage it :)

neL
 
Wood, wood, wood! used to be my call. Now I have come to appreciate the synthetics. All of my recent acquisitions have been, micarta, G-10, and carbon fiber. On the folders I believe the synthetics are probably better at staying in place and not warping any. With the way G-10 and micarta can be layered you still get a "wood-grained" look. I used to be dead set against carbon fiber until I got my first John W. Smith folder with this as handle material, now I have 4 Smith folders with cf, one is blue carbon fiber, pretty COOL stuff!
 
Synthetics for me. I´m not sure if I´d even consider a knife with a handle made from natural materials. The synthetic stuff´s got too many advantages IMO. And somehow stuff like stag or wood makes a knife look a bit...well...old-fashioned. I also prefer Kydex over leather when it comes to sheath materials. High-tech for me, please.
 
Wood and other natural materials. I like hidden tang knives and wood (and leather and bone) is the way to go for those. Stabilized wood is as durable as synthetics but prettier. This does not mean that I hate synthetics - I just like more of the organic feel.
 
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