Wood or Horn?

danboy357 · Jul 7, 2012

So I was wondering which benefits come from the different handle materials. Seems like the wood may offer better grip but be more suseptible to sweaty hands (swelling and becoming soft and damaged) than horn. It also seems as the horn may be more likely to crack with heavy use. I'm thinking that maybe wood handles may not be the best if you want a jungle blade for hacking brush as it would often get and stay pretty wet. On the other hand for a martial arts weapon perhaps the horn may provide a little less sure of a grip than wood and possibly become more dangerous to the user. Any feedback or corrections to my assumptions are much appreciated. Yes, these are actually questions. lol. Thanks, Dan.

bemo · Jul 7, 2012

This question gets asked quite a bit, a search will give you a number of answers. Personally, out of my 5 only one is horn (BAS), but I've chopped with it a good deal and have seen no problems. Like many have answered in the past, it's personal preference. I've read that a couple folks have roughed up their horn handles with sandpaper for a better grip when wet but have not tried it myself. I'm sure others more experienced will chime in.

sweetcostarica · Jul 7, 2012

I'm no expert on horn but grew up working with wood. The two materials are about the same when talking about handles for knifes. The only negative I've heard was in very cold weather like here in Alaska you could have problems with horn.

Above wood and buffalo horn handled knives

arbiter · Jul 7, 2012

Both! Most of my 21+ HI blades are wood hafted,however, I haven't found horn to handicap the knife in any way. In fact, IMO,horn is a tougher material.Either occasionally oiled(mineral oil)horn or sealed wood,if properly maintained will likely outlast the owner so long as they are not subject to abuse.As Bemo stated,it comes down to personal preference.

danboy357 · Jul 8, 2012

Thanks guys, seems like I may be over-thinking it a bit. Bad habit.

Raymond1000 · Jul 9, 2012

danboy357 said:
So I was wondering which benefits come from the different handle materials. Seems like the wood may offer better grip but be more suseptible to sweaty hands (swelling and becoming soft and damaged) than horn. It also seems as the horn may be more likely to crack with heavy use. I'm thinking that maybe wood handles may not be the best if you want a jungle blade for hacking brush as it would often get and stay pretty wet. On the other hand for a martial arts weapon perhaps the horn may provide a little less sure of a grip than wood and possibly become more dangerous to the user. Any feedback or corrections to my assumptions are much appreciated. Yes, these are actually questions. lol. Thanks, Dan.

I've used a wooden handled carpenter hammer every working day for at least a year. In Arizona, talk about sweat.

It never came close to "swelling and becoming soft and damaged".

tikkidaddy · Jul 9, 2012

Tell ya what-- that birchwood casey tru-oil, if youve got the time and love to put into the wood--after say 10 coats--applied as directed--turns an otherwise undamaged wood gunstock into a baseball bat!! Enough coats make it like looking into glass, easy to repair

Id like to try maybe 30 THIN coats on a wood khuk handle, w/1000 grit paper in between, or maybe 000 steel wool. I bet you itd be almost as indestructible as you could get.

Black micarta, epoxied w/ that structural goo, then shaped and sanded, polished and oiled w/ ballistol would be....WOW...

youd have to "glue up" and clamp the micarta of choice into a say 6in. long bar, drill and testfit, rough shape etc. checking as u went b4 u actually epoxied on the handle, then refit buttkap and keeper diamond bak on..etc

Heeesh...im designing a new handle in my head again...See what youve all got me doin' now...

wildmanh · Jul 9, 2012

I currently have 5 horn handled Khukris and 2 wood handled ones. It's been such a dry hot year that at least 2 of the horn handled ones have developed cracks. Nothing a little black JB Weld can't cure. My first Khukri was a 15" Horn handled Ang Khola that I got 2nd hand from Uncle Bill. The handle had cracked in 2 places. I filled the cracks with JB weld and it's still going strong to this day.

Some years ago when I moved from College to the City for work, I had a bunch of my Khukris in a duffel bag for the move. The bag must have taken a hit because when I got to my new place I found 2 chips out of the wood handle on my 20" Sirupati at the bell. 1 small chip and 1 chunch. I used a rasp, file and belt sander to clean up the bell and am still using the Khukri today 9 years later.

As others have said, both have their strengths and weaknesses. I've had minor issues with both and was able to fix them me self.

If you get a horn handled Khukri and find that it's to smooth for you, a few minutes with some 320 grit or courser sand paper will fix that.

When I pick a Khukri I'm looking at Blade and Handle shape, not materials used. Though truth be told, I may lean towards horn a little more because to me it seems a little more utilitarian. Hope that helps.

Wood or Horn?

Part time Leather Bender/Sheath maker