What handle material do you think has the best feeling in hand? How is that feeling?

Micarta or smooth/smoothly textured polypropylene/FRN/similar polymers.
 
comis said:
Mircarta or G10 are pretty durable and stable scale material, which I like. Titanium handle is also decent, so as long it is not used in freezing cold. CF is the absolute worse, it may look good with lesser weight, but I have plenty experience working with CF in my previous life and once chipped/cracked, it gave the worst splinter ever.
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thank you:thumbsup:
 
gazz98 said:
1. G-10 and Micarta.
2. FRN etc. Spyderco Delica/Endura or Ontario Rat 1 handles are just fine with me.

I like the synthetics/plastic stuff.
1. I like a knife that has grip and texture.
2. A ton of colors are available.

I'm not a fan of metal or carbon fiber handle materials. In my experience, they are too slick. I don't need Ti or CF to lighten a knife. I'm 6'7" or so, 290 lbs. I don't belong to the "oh that folder weighs 7 oz, too heavy for me" category.

I thought about buying a copper handled knife only to see the evolution of the patina over time.

I seem to be one of the few of that hasn't jumped on the Ti flipper craze over the last few years.
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you have your point;) but the copper normally did the passivation process before come out, so it's hard to see the evolution of the patina over time. :( However, if you wanna see that you can polish away the passivation layer.
 
Kizer Cutlery said:
Seems like almost all of you like micarta, could you tell me why you love it?
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It’s warm, grips well dry or wet, takes on character over time, and can be cleaned to look like new if you wish. You can also use different materials and patterns.

I always thought it would be cool to see a folder with leather scales (neat/fun factor).

I personally like most types of handle material as long as they function as intended and don’t have a lot of flex.
 
allenC said:
Rubber is nice for a knife that is going to be used around water a lot. The old Gerber Gator was very nice and secure in the hand even when wet.
Or the Buck Nighthawk...
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For a traditional folder, like a stockman or trapper or congress, I LOVE yellow delrin.
And the yellow really looks fantastic with carbon blades that patina and darken.

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Micarta is outstanding and just beautiful most of the time.

Wood is also warm and friendly and just makes me feel more connected to the Earth. And it's easy to customize/personalize by carving or burning.
And some woods are just so beautiful...curly maple, walnut, koa, orange osage, mahogany, some spalted wood...just beautiful!

G-10 is strong and can be made very grippy, but it lacks that certain vibe that makes micarta so nice.
Maybe because it's used on too many "tacticool" knives.

Metal:
Steel--too heavy and too slippery.
Aluminum--it's okay, but why not just upgrade to titanium?
Titanium--it's nice but still not one of my favorites, and it can be slippery too.
Having said that, I often carry this one...

OgxJ1uu.jpg


Carbon fiber is just plain out ugly to my eyes.

Water buffalo, elk antler, stag, are all awesome. Beautiful and strong and connects you with our ancestors and the Earth.
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FRN and other similar plastics:
They're okay and they certainly do what is asked of them...but nobody ever said "what gorgeous and stunning FRN".
Today it's the working man's handle material...inexpensive, durable enough, etc...
MYauzjw.jpg


Paracord (or as we called it in the Army, 550 cord):
Much like the FRN and other plastics, it performs well, but again, it's not going to impress anybody. And it's not beautiful to the eye.

Leather handles: I'm just not a fan of these. Yeah, they work but I just don't like them.
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Thanks for so detailed reply;). Wood is always nice, we are going to do a wood handle begleiter limited 40pcs, this will be the first wood knife we do! If you interested, please follow our Instagram and turn on the notification. It will no be long now.
 
MolokaiRider said:
I always thought it would be cool to see a folder with leather scales (neat/fun factor).
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John Lloyd has made some custom slipjoints with stacked leather scales. There is a thread with a lot of his work in the Traditional subforum. I forget how he made them because it's been a while, but they look pretty cool.
 
kylemiller said:
I'll tell you all my knife preferences Kizer Cutlery, but you have to answer my questions too. Let's try this out.

My favorite handle material if I had to pick just one would be titanium. But it's needs a rugged finish. Heavy bead blast is preferred. But the most important thing about the handle material is that it's held together by high quality fasteners. I've owned a few of your knives and the aspect I was the least impressed with was the quality and size of your screws. My advice? Study Chris Reeve, Rick Hinderer and Mick Strider's screws. We like those. Change over to something like that and make a huge deal about it on social media. Flex on Reate and WE in the post too. Calling out their little T6 inadequacies. This would endear good faith in the knife community to your brand.

Now here's my first question. (I hope you'll answer more).:

Who would win a tag team wrestling match? The staff of Kizer, WE Knives or Reate?
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Thank you for your advice, I would talk to R&D. about the question, what do you mean tag team wrestling match?
 
PirateSeulb said:
I could be happy with basically just Micarta handles as my only option
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haha, could you tell me what part of micarta makes you love it? the texture, the lightweight, the look, the price or something else?
 
MolokaiRider said:
It’s warm, grips well dry or wet, takes on character over time, and can be cleaned to look like new if you wish. You can also use different materials and patterns.

I always thought it would be cool to see a folder with leather scales (neat/fun factor).

I personally like most types of handle material as long as they function as intended and don’t have a lot of flex.
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got it ;)
 
My favorite knife by how the scales feel in my hand is a GEC Dixie Stockman with African Blackwood scales. Warm, silky soft feel.
 
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