whats the deal with G-10?

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buckknifebibletotin

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Mar 2, 2014
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hey all. It seems that everybody goes on and on about how amazing g-10 is and how its so grippy and if its not g-10 then this or that knife is a pile of trash. Am is the only one here who thinks g-10 is the worst handle material?
1) its brittle. My zt 300 has a chip or two out of the corners on the g-10 from falls to the concrete. They are very small chips but my cold steel voyager with the "trashy plastic" handles has gone thru the same drops many times with no chips.

2) Its not grippy. I never understand why people think it is a grippy material. Its not. a Grippy material is rubbery like krayton or something similar. Think the the tires on your cars, rubber is grippy. Just because the surface of it is like sandpaper on some knifes does not make it a grippy material.

Anyways just my .02 cents
 
i like it.

it is waterproof
it does not rot
it will not melt easily
peel ply I find quite grippy
the colors are vibrant and varied
strength over plastic

but I wouldn't exclude a knife because it doesn't have g-10. that's absurd.
 
Im going to add that, yes, I know that g-10 is a incredibly strong material (coldsteel recon 1, the strongest folder on the market has only g-10 with no steel liners) Im not saying its not a tough material, just that there are better materials out there for handle scales
 
Like you said, just your .02 cents. If a handle has " sandpaper" texturing and it offers a "good grip" the I considering grippy. G-10 is popular for a reason. But it's up to the maker to determine how it's textured and in a lot of cases it's textured in a way that provides a secure grip for most users. When I compare the sandpaper like texture on my 0562 to something like a smooth titanium slab on a techno or smooth carbon fiber slab on a 0562cf, my g-10 0562 is definitely more gripping. That's a fact
 
G10 is strong, light, pretty much chemically inert, more rigid than most plastics, can take texturing easily and is relatively inexpensive. It's a decent material for scales though, truth be told, I prefer micarta and FRN for practicality and wood for aesthetics. I don't think it's the be-all end-all material, but it generally won't push me away from a knife.
 
I read somewhere that the material that Cold Steel uses on the Recon, American Lawman, and AK series folders is not G10 in the traditional sense, rather it is a different fiberglass composite that is made in molds. If there is any truth to that, then it would make sense why.

What is nice about G10 is that it is not illegal to own or harvest, has not been banned in any countries yet, it is plentiful, can be custom made to just about any color strength and texture, and is impervious to chemicals and other liquid substances. Can't really say that wood, bone, or Ivory has those properties. Oh, it also does not rust. ;)
 
I have yet to own a plastic/FRN/Kraton handled knife that I would trust my life to. They all turned in to creaky flexible messes in a short period of time with use.

Spyderco FRN is about as close as I get any more to buying plastic knives, even then I have very few FRN Spydercos and I rarely use them.

That said, I don't exclusively buy G10. I just don't buy plastic knives.
 
I like G10 for knife handles. As for your observations... More rigid materials are more likely to chip (eg. G10, carbon fiber), whereas more flexible materials are more likely to deform (eg. FRN, aluminum, titanium, steel). And G10, like many other materials, can be finished in different ways. The G10 on Cold Steel knives is very coarse, which has pros (excellent grip) and cons (highly abrasive to pants, gloves, hands, etc.). In contrast, you can also polish G10 and make it very smooth (eg. Buck Vantage Pro, Kershaw Speedform II). Then there's in-between, where it's smooth/polished, but has some pattern milled into it (like on your ZT 0300) to provide some traction without being very abrasive.

If G10 doesn't fit your preferences, there are numerous knives with different handle materials to choose from. Same goes with blade steels.
 
Lost Cosmonaut said:
I have yet to own a plastic/FRN/Kraton handled knife that I would trust my life to. They all turned in to creaky flexible messes in a short period of time with use.

Spyderco FRN is about as close as I get any more to buying plastic knives, even then I have very few FRN Spydercos and I rarely use them.

That said, I don't exclusively buy G10. I just don't buy plastic knives.
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I've used several plastic handled knives quite hard and extensively without running into that issue. Maybe you just bought the wrong ones. ;)
 
Insipid Moniker said:
I've used several plastic handled knives quite hard and extensively without running into that issue. Maybe you just bought the wrong ones. ;)
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Sal mentioned that their FRN is custom made with added fiberglass for extra toughness. I wouldn't call them flimsy or delicate flowers by any means. ThHey are work knives after all, not museum pieces. It also depends on the user, some folks like to use a folder as a hammer or screwdriver.
 
I love G10. It's purely tactile. A combination of it's density, hardnes, toughness and texture. I simply prefer it's feel in my hand. It's not the grippiest, tackiest, strongest, prettiest... It's the most pleasant.
 
G10 are much stronger than people thought. Have you ever try to break a piece of G10?

At 0.20" thickness its almost unbreakable even hitting with the hammer, its stiff as hell seriosly. I can easily bended the same thickness piece of 6AL4V by hammer though.
 
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Usually if G10 chips it's because they left a sharp/thin corner somewhere, a lot of companies these days are not rounding their handle edges, I can only imagine to save cost, so I have seen a couple of them chip, but I've never seen one break (though I'm sure it's happened somewhere, Murphy is alive and well).

G10 is easy to shape, can be produced in lots of colors, textures, it's light and pretty durable for it's weight, it's chemical and UV resistant. I actually like canvas micarta better, I think it offers better grip in wider range conditions, but you don't see much of that used especially on folders. Perhaps it's hard to get that thin and keep it's strength, or harder to machine.
 
It's burly stuff. Grip generally improves with wet hands too, which is cool.
I use a piece as a sanding block, actually. The dust from sanding it sucks, though.
 
Love Spyderco G10 - lightweight, tough and the texture. I like the usual subtle black/pattern, somewhat elegant IMO and prob my favorite handle material.
 
I love the G10 texture on my Emersons. IMO, that's how G10 should be done on a scale.
 
RevDevil said:
What is nice about G10 is that it is not illegal to own or harvest, has not been banned in any countries yet, it is plentiful, can be custom made to just about any color strength and texture, and is impervious to chemicals and other liquid substances. Can't really say that wood, bone, or Ivory has those properties. Oh, it also does not rust. ;)
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Nailed it!
 
ZT's G-10 seems plasticy to me, I've had a 0200 and a 0561 and the G-10 on both was shiny and plasticy. It's not the same as a Spyderco Military or PM2 for example.

I'm a fan of G-10. it wears well, offers a good grip, is not cold (like aluminum), and stays looking nice even after it does get worn.
 
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G10 is fine, I prefer micarta or a nice matte finished cf. Frn is great to hold but is the worst, other than metal, (as much as I like titanium) imo if you have to hold it in your teeth for one reason or another. My ZT 550 had the grippiest G10 ever, (it's all in how it's textured) too grippy if you ask me and ugly, had a custom scale made, (Kirinite, and G10 with gitd).
 
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