G10 Versus Micarta 

I really like both materials, for slightly different reasons. My latest G-10 is a light teal color, (on a S90V PM2 I JUST received), and I’m liking the color more than I thought I would. That’s an advantage of G-10 for me; it can truly be dyed a pure shade of almost any color. Micarta is generally more comfortable in hand, though. Each material has its own strengths and weaknesses, but they’re both damn good handle scale materials.

Good point about Micarta needing liners. I just ordered a small fixed blade with Micarta handles, will see if it holds up to outdoor use. But I agree, for general durability,G10 is best.

I’ve noticed micarta hold moisture vs the G10. I have G10 on my Becker BK2 and Micarta on my BK9 and was getting rust on the tang of the BK9 that has the micarta. Not a deal breaker at all.. but just some food for thought..

Micarta just feels like it gets dirty too easily for my liking.

Thanks this was helpful. Out of the box micarta knives always feel to me like they were 3D printed

My Rough Ryder High carbon canoe has G-10 scales, as described by both SMKW, and CHKW but it looks like Micarta to me. I ordered the Rough Ryder Highland Cleaver. SMKW says the handle material is Micarta, where as Chicago knife works call it G-10. To me the handle material on both knives looks exactly the same. If the knife company's can't tell the difference how do we?

I think they're both great. I'm more of a micarta guy myself bcus the knife gathers a soul & character. G10 is a very easy to take care of material thats nearly bomb proof.

I like both g10 and micarta. Micarta is softer in hand. I treat my micarta with camp dry or other waterproofing sprays. Washing it in warm soapy water brings back most of the pre use look and feel.

Micarta looks much cooler and with all the different cloth variations it makes some pretty amazing looking stuff. But G10 feels better and doesn’t seem to gunk up as easily. It’s also grippier.

Curious what people think of tearo tuff scale material. Recently got some shaman scales in it and like it but not as much as micarta. It seems to me it's a mix of g10 and micarta. Looks like micarta but feels like g10.

Good video! Micarta has more character, gotta have character.

greatly compared i'm more the micarta guy and pretty much new in the knife world. my first micarta blade was a joker and it really turned me away cause it was so polished and slippery in the rain. the latest batch of the bradford guardian in magnacut from dlt with camo micarta really sealed the deal for me - its so freakin' beautiful and comfy. the g10 on the pm2 was to rough for me for hour long open & close action to break it in. the yojumbo is my fav g10 texture by far ( hated the benchmade adamas g10 so i sold it and got the yojumbo ) now i'm going to check out the micarta from survive! on a larger gso knife, i preordered on 30th of december 2022 - curious when it will arrive since they are a manufacurer now :) keep it up, thanks for the info and best wishes from austria

For me it depends, micarta feels great in hand and better than g10 to me (not that g10 feels bad by any means) but depending on the finish, brand, knife, etc micarta can look really ragged and cheap. Especially canvas micarta. I do like how “clean” g10 looks.

G10 is good to go, but it’s kinda vanilla to me. Don’t get me wrong, I like ice cream, but micarta has flavor.

I prefer micarta that patinas and takes in apart of you

Let me stop you right there with the bushcraft factor...say instead of folding knives, we use a fixed blade knife...then we use say... a ray Mears or bark river knife for this. Both have ergonomic handles to ease the wear and tear on your hands. A folding knife is meant for other applications. The 2 different styles, meaning a folding a and a fixed blade don't compare in a normal situation. G10 will outlast...wood is the most comfortable, however don't leave a wood handle knife out in the elements