Walnut is the color of the handles. Your handles are made of dymundwood, a laminate wood material that is held together by resin. Similarly, current Buck Froe handles are made from micarta, which is layers of fabric held together by resin. Due to Dymundwood's supply burning down in a fire, the supply of Dymundwood is put in question and micarta was substituted instead.
4/5. It really is a great tool! I own one and find its overall shape and weight offer excellent clearing/chopping capabilities. Also the squared tip allows you to grasp the blade at both ends allowing for shaving work. Finally there is a small notch allowing you to hike up on the blade for optional detail work or feathering/slicing. The blade is great, you can do a lot with the Froe, HOWEVER, sadly Buck's fit and finish is not up to par. After one trip and heavy chopping a single brass handle fixture has fallen out and the micarta handles frankly do not fit the blade handle, which doesn't even have hole for a lanyard. Overall, 4/5. I will be discarding the Micarta handles and drilling a lanyard hole. Next I will strip the blade, have it blued, and then professionally reassembled with fitted handles.
