What is the word on aluminum handles

guitarted

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Hi folks

There is this knife that I like everything about but it has an aluminum handle. What are these like?

Whats the advantages and disadvantages of those?

Thanks
 
Hi Guitared,

There are many grades of aluminum, as there are many grades of blade steel.

Performance between these different grades is great, as is the difference in blade steels.

Whether or not it is a good performing aluminum (17-7, 18-8, etc) or a soft aluminum (eg; cast aluminum) depends on the selection of the mfr.

sal
 
Hi Guitared,

There are many grades of aluminum, as there are many grades of blade steel.

Performance between these different grades is great, as is the difference in blade steels.

Whether or not it is a good performing aluminum (17-7, 18-8, etc) or a soft aluminum (eg; cast aluminum) depends on the selection of the mfr.

sal

Thank you so much Sal for the reply. Its an honour. By the way, I just ordered a caly3 and a minimanix from new graham knives about 5 houres ago. They will probably be the first spydercos in Saudi Arabia :)
 
I love Alum Handled knives. (I am a BM 940 addict)

No con's, But seriously what knife?
 
I am a big fan of aluminum handles. I especially like my Benchmade NRA Gaucho. It feels very nice in the hand.
 
Thank you so much Sal for the reply. Its an honour. By the way, I just ordered a caly3 and a minimanix from new graham knives about 5 houres ago. They will probably be the first spydercos in Saudi Arabia :)

Nope!
I several Soldiers had Spydercos when I was there during the Gulf War.

As for the aluminum handles....
Here are a few knivs from different makers that I have owned and used over the years:

Spyderco (Toad, Ayoob, Herbst, Salsa),
Benchmade (Pardue 720, Mini-AutoStyker, 941 Osborne),
Pro-Tech (Stinger),
Microtech (UMS),
CRKT (M16, M18, M21),
Victorinox (Soldier, Pioneer, Cadet, Pioneer Harvester),
Gerber (Harsey Ranger).

All of them functioned perfectly.
All of them were strong and light-weight.
 
I have a couple of aluminium handled knives from Gerber and Benchmade. I like the material for comfort and light weight. I don't live or work in a wet or extremely cold environment, so those considerations are beyond my experience.

My only down side for them is that they can be dinged up if dropped onto rocks or concrete. Those things are a regular part of where I live and work, so for EDC, I prefer something like FRN that has pretty high impact resistance.
 
I have a few aluminium handled knives from SOG. Two are just aluminum scales, but the Blink, which was my EDC for a couple of years, has no steel liners. Granted, it's a small knife, but it has performed well and is still in occasional service.
 
some of the advantages are that it can be colored and sealed by anodizing and that it is light weight.

the dissadvantages are that the al can be a softer metal and that the anodizing can wear down (more so jsut being scratched offf than being worn through. but you can alway get pieces re-anoed)

-matt
 
Untextured aluminum handles, such as with the CRKT M21-14, can be slippery in dry hands.

-Steve
 
Aluminum for a knife handle. I think not. In cold weather they will freezer burn your fingers. Slippery when wet is another problem. They are soft and easily scratch and dent up. They also conduct electricity, and this may be an issue if the knife is used for working on electrical components with power on. I also do not like the slippery cold feel of aluminum handles.
 
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