what is all the hype about micarta?

I like micarta because is something you can make at home (sort of) and use it in my own knives. My first experience was with denim micarta for a set of more roundish scales for a RAT 7.

The grip of it will totally depend on the surface finish. If you polish it too much, it will be as slippery as any other material out there when wet. If you leave it rough or add texture (checkered) then it is much more grippier, of course.

If you use clear epoxy resin with UV filters, it will age very little. If you use cheaper polyester resin, well, it will darken with time some more.

I have some burlap strips and some polyester resin leftovers from a previous job... so I will probably be making some soon...

Mikel
 
Similar to how the majestic look of stabilized wood fools me into the feeling that I'm not holding plastic, Micarta does the same thing. With FRN and Grivory you can get a repellent feeling from the cheap plastic feel of the scales; especially if you paid for something beyond cheap knife prices for it, but if the steel and design are good enough you're probably not thinking about the plastic scales. G10 can range from anywhere to a semi-FRN plastic feel all the way to something that starts to feel more like Micarta (like the Spyderco Para Military 2 CPM S110V with Blue G10 or Cold Steel AD-10). The rubberized polymer handle on my Swiza Swiss Knife even has a bit of a Micarta feel to it.

With Micarta, you can get something that feels almost like ivory or bone (like the handle of the Cudeman MT-5 Survival Knife or CRKT Ritual) all the way to the rustic textile feeling of the handle of a Joker Montanero or ESEE 4HM. When it comes down to preference it comes down to workmanship and purpose. I've got knives with all sorts of handle material and have no singular preference. I love the feel of polished curly birch or olive wood in the hand, the reassuring coolness of titanium or aluminum, and the modern look of carbon fiber. I just like it when they're done right.
 
luethge said:
Micarta is one of the best things that ever happened. Especially green micarta, and Westinghouse micarta, and snakeskin micarta, and burlap micarta, double red, double black, denim, coconut, linen, canvas, fire dog.. I love micarta.

Here’s a bunch of random crappy pics of knife handles.

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Nice! That snake skin micarta BushBrute looks great!
scarysamcary said:
luethge luethge I see a David Mary David Mary in there! <3 I love his micarta handles, but I might be biased seeing as he is such a nice guy to begin with.
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Indeed. He's solid. That's the GKC BushBrute made by David Mary for bikerector bikerector .

Mine is in black micarta. Chad and David do excellent work.

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luethge said:
Micarta is one of the best things that ever happened. Especially green micarta, and Westinghouse micarta, and snakeskin micarta, and burlap micarta, double red, double black, denim, coconut, linen, canvas, fire dog.. I love micarta.

Here’s a bunch of random crappy pics of knife handles.

View attachment 1761066View attachment 1761067View attachment 1761068View attachment 1761069View attachment 1761070
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Lovely!!!! My hands would love to wrap around all those beautiful blades!!!! Micarta makes my hands giddy!!!
Just love the feel.......
 
Hyesouljah said:
I agree with others in that you have to use it and spend time with Micarta to really appreciate it. It’s a cloth like material that Patina’s but you can always clean it and have it look new again or event wipe some mineral oil on it and give it a different look

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GEC uses some of the best canvas micarta
 
Henry Beige said:
The short answer, already mentioned: there is no hype. The OPs question is a troll.
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Troll. I am new to the collecting hobby and have heard a lot about the micarta lately and decided to try it. I didn’t like it. If that makes me a “troll” maybe this isn't the community i should be in and should look elsewhere to talk about this new hobby.
 
Jersey Drew said:
Troll. I am new to the collecting hobby and have heard a lot about the micarta lately and decided to try it. I didn’t like it. If that makes me a “troll” maybe this isn't the community i should be in and should look elsewhere to talk about this new hobby.
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Don’t frame an opinion on the entire community from the response from one cranky dude. Everyone has a different view, you don’t care for the Micarta, I cant stand G10 its all good. Oh and Welcome to Blade Forums we are not all cranky….
 
CHNeal said:
Don’t frame an opinion on the entire community from the response from one cranky dude. Everyone has a different view, you don’t care for the Micarta, I cant stand G10 its all good. Oh and Welcome to Blade Forums we are not all cranky….
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haha. ok i won't. yeah lots of vids saying how good micarta is and how much people like the stuff. so i decided to go with the spydie pm2 "crucarta" and to be honest not my thing. i would have liked it better in g-10 or even a metal or carbon fiber. plus with the pm2 i like the size but for me it almost seemed like the ratio of handle size to blade was off a bit too. could just be me but seemed like a lot of grip for not so much cutting edge...
 
Jersey Drew said:
haha. ok i won't. yeah lots of vids saying how good micarta is and how much people like the stuff. so i decided to go with the spydie pm2 "crucarta" and to be honest not my thing. i would have liked it better in g-10 or even a metal or carbon fiber. plus with the pm2 i like the size but for me it almost seemed like the ratio of handle size to blade was off a bit too. could just be me but seemed like a lot of grip for not so much cutting edge...
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From the pics I've seen, the micarta on that version of the PM2 doesn't look especially attractive. Like others have said, there are lots of variations on micarta and on its finishing; I wouldn't write of the material based on one example.

The PM2 isn't designed around an efficient blade-to-handle ratio. With larger hands and/or gloves, you get an ample handle; the choil allows you to choke up for precision work. There are tons of knives in its size range with an extra 1/4" or 3/8" of cutting edge and no forward choil. It's a classic for a reason, but it's definitely not universally loved.

Here are some of my favorite implementations of micarta:

xme4qC2.jpg

Shirogorov NeOn NL

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Sharp Dressed Knives micarta overlay on a ZT 0640

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Pena X-Series Trapper
 
Jersey Drew said:
haha. ok i won't. yeah lots of vids saying how good micarta is and how much people like the stuff. so i decided to go with the spydie pm2 "crucarta" and to be honest not my thing. i would have liked it better in g-10 or even a metal or carbon fiber. plus with the pm2 i like the size but for me it almost seemed like the ratio of handle size to blade was off a bit too. could just be me but seemed like a lot of grip for not so much cutting edge...
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There are 2 common finishes to Micarta. Raw or polished. Most of the time you'll see polished and it looks interesting since it varies in appearance like some natural materials.

The raw stuff will normally shine as a user, especially in the wet. But it's about as far from pretty as you can get. A good spot for polished micarta is on traditional knives.

I'll post a photo later.
 
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