Ugly Plastic Thumb Studs

d762nato said:
I think anything plastic or the hightech names they give it like polymer are junk. You get it cold enough and it'll break pretty easy.
I prefer steel every time to the new wave plastic crap.
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I would have said "you don't know what you are talking about", when you say the plastic handles break easily, but Somber's post does it better.
somber said:
What do you mean by this?

As far as I know Benchmade uses Valox, not plastic, and if they did, it would have been in their lowest quality line, the Red Series knives, which Benchmade no longer makes.

Have you seen Mini-Grip destruction tests? Let me enlighten you:

[youtube]bkRr7452KmI[/youtube]
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sweet_hitch-hiker said:
isnt frn fiberglass? not exactly the same plastic youre going to find in a $3 gas station cheapo...
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FRN isn't fiberglass the way most folks think of fiberglass. It is injection molded (usually) nylon (a kind of plastic) that's reinforced with fiberglass fibers for added stiffness and durability. In FRN, the fiberglass seems typically non matted or woven short fibers, unlike the laminate construction one usually thinks of when casually referring to "fiberglass", with the fibers arranged in some coherent fabric-like form.

There are hundreds of different kinds of plastics exhibiting hundreds of different qualities. Knife manufacturers usually avoid the term, as it retains an aura of cheapness. So much so that the OP himself wrote off BM knives on the belief that they used plastic, disregarding the fact that even if they were plastic, there seems to have been no detrimental effects as a result.

Despite plastics being widely used for knives, you'll typically hear fancier words used instead, such as "composition", "composite", "resin", and such. Or more specific, like cellidor, bakelite, Polyimide and Zytel (both of which seem to be used as trade names for some form of reinforced nylon), Delrin, acrylic, FRN, G-10, or Micarta, the last two being plastic/fiber laminates very much like what is commonly called "fiberglass" by most folks. Not to mention the faux bone/shell/horn handles made in a variety of plastics.
 
I agree with one of the above posters that BM uses some of the most functional ambi thumbstuds on the market. Its very refreshing to be able to take them off in a few seconds when I want to clean, sharpen, or just switch them with different colored thumbstuds from another BM. I've actually put BM thumbstuds on a couple other higher end folders because they work much better for me.
 
+1 (or +2 or +3 or whatever we're up to now) on BM's thumb studs not only not being plastic but also being some of the best on the market. The ability to remove them easily for sharpening is a huge plus for me, since they'd otherwise get in the way when sharpening the part of the edge closest to the choil (I use an Edge Pro Apex at 30º inclusive). And on top of that, they're extremely comfortable to use.
 
shecky said:
Despite plastics being widely used for knives, you'll typically hear fancier words used instead, such as "composition", "composite", "resin", and such. Or more specific, like cellidor, bakelite, Polyimide and Zytel (both of which seem to be used as trade names for some form of reinforced nylon), Delrin, acrylic, FRN, G-10, or Micarta, the last two being plastic/fiber laminates very much like what is commonly called "fiberglass" by most folks. Not to mention the faux bone/shell/horn handles made in a variety of plastics.
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You're hilarious. You completely side step the facts presented that these 'plastics' aren't of low quality. Why do most law enforcement departments use Glocks if they're such low quality?

These are preconceived notions on your part, not facts.
 
somber said:
You're hilarious. You completely side step the facts presented that these 'plastics' aren't of low quality. Why do most law enforcement departments use Glocks if they're such low quality?

These are preconceived notions on your part, not facts.
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just because he didnt say they are high quality doesnt mean he thinks theyre low quality. he was more answering my question about frn being fiberglass as opposed to plastic and not speaking on the quality of it or other materials.
 
somber said:
You're hilarious. You completely side step the facts presented that these 'plastics' aren't of low quality. Why do most law enforcement departments use Glocks if they're such low quality?

These are preconceived notions on your part, not facts.
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Dude, all he did in that post was present some facts - no reason to post something that sounds so snotty.
 
sweet_hitch-hiker said:
just because he didnt say they are high quality doesnt mean he thinks theyre low quality. he was more answering my question about frn being fiberglass as opposed to plastic and not speaking on the quality of it or other materials.
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He's also generalizing everything and simply making things up, sorry. Lumping micarta in with 'plastics' simply is a stretch of the imagination, but I guess because it's composition is a thermoset polymer (one of those fancier words) it's not up to par.

His original inane comment still begs to be answered:

shecky said:
Beware of those plastic Benchmade handles, too.
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somber said:
He's also generalizing everything and simply making things up, sorry. Lumping micarta in with 'plastics' simply is a stretch of the imagination, but I guess because it's composition is a thermoset polymer (one of those fancier words) it's not up to par.

His original inane comment still begs to be answered:
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I believe he was using sarcasm.

And yes, FRN, Delrin, Valox, Kydex are all types of plastics. High quality yes, but still plastic.

As far as micarta goes, the layers of fiber (paper, canvas) are held together with a form of plastic. I personally wouldn't put micarta, G10/G11 or stabilized wood in the plastic catagory although all have some plastic content.
 
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