This is an excellent video! Wonderful to see a side-by-side-by-side. I wanted to potentially clear a few things up for folks about pakkawood-style handles, though, since there's a lot of confusion around them. (Fair warning, this is about to get long and nerdy.) It's common (like in this video) to hear people refer to these as "imitation wood", and what they usually mean is "not solid wood". But "imitation wood" can mean many very different things, and in the case of pakkawood, it *is* "real wood" and (to varying degrees) "real wood grain", it's just (stabilized) plywood. Pakkawood, Dymondwood, Staminawood and others are all trade names for resin-stabilized hardwood plywood. They are made by stacking many extremely thin veneers of wood together, and then vacuum-impregnating them with resin under heat and pressure. The ply count is often significantly higher than on the kind of plywood people normally think of: standard sheeting plywood will often have 5-9 plies, where pakkawood's ply count is often in the 25-29 plies-per-inch range. They are usually made of birch or beech, because of their relatively low cost, high availability, density and strength, and pale, neutral color that is easy to stain. Most are stained to resemble the color (but not grain pattern) of various wood species, and the dye is applied under pressure prior to the stabilization to fully-penetrate the veneers. So on a flat slab of pakkawood, the wood grain and coloration pattern you're seeing *is* real wood grain. That texture *is* wood texture, the same way the texture on flat linen or canvas micarta is the real texture of linen or canvas. Where things change with pakkawood is when it is contoured. Like with micarta, G-10, or any layered composite material, contouring the surface exposes the layers below the surface, like a topographical map. Because the layers *may* have distinct coloration or dye absorption, exposing these layers *may* reveal rings or lines that are darker or lighter than the surface veneer. I say "may" because birch and beech are both very pale woods with relatively faint figuring, and the veneers are thin enough that the individual layers are not always very pronounced from each other. If the layer difference _is_ pronounced, the color change can give a dramatic striping effect similar to zebrawood. Sometimes this striping resembles the figuring of wood grain itself, and can lend to the confusion about what is and is not "real" wood grain in pakkawoods. Sometimes that striping effect is desired, and smaller-batch producers will intentionally stack plies of different tone or even color to yield dramatic, beautiful rainbow swirls. In this intentional, artistic side of pakkawoods, you may have noticed that there's actually a lot in common between pakkawood and, say, pattern-welded damascus or timascus: people are intentionally fusing layers with markedly different visual characteristics, then shaping them to reveal those layers for visual intrigue and beauty. There are lots of other kinds of "imitation wood", some of which are made of wood byproduct and some not. MDF and HDF, for example, are made by mixing wood pulp with glues or resins. These are "made from" wood more than "made of" wood, because they retain none of the original wood grain. Other imitation woods contain no wood at all, and are simply synthetic polymers (e.g., polystyrene) formed and dyed to resemble wood. In my mind, these are the true "imitation" woods, because they are fully synthetic products merely trying to imitate wood.
@@WaynesSharpWorld That's why I think this video is so great: it's super informative! People rarely get to see so many handle materials side-by-side under identical lighting. You hear a lot of talk about how micarta varies by maker, for example, but it's rare to see people actually put them next to each other like this. Thanks for taking the time!
Micarta is my #1, just the sheer variety of colors, materials, textures, hard to beat. Plus the fact no two are exactly alike, and it’s always comfortable to the touch temperature wise. Followed by any carbon fiber that is marbled/shredded/twill/anything but normal pattern. The Spyderco Kapara comes to mind, just beautifully executed as the TaiChung Spydercos tend to be. The only reason titanium is third for me is how expensive they are to get into, and I know I will quickly fall down the rabbit hole and spend too much money to find the one I like the most.
My two cents is that G10 and Micarta are the best, with FRN being an excellent budget option. But more important than the material is the shape. If the handle locks into your hand, any material will work well.
I'd be perfectly ok if all my knives had G-10. Most SS and Ti scales get too slippery, for me. Micarta is another good material for handles, and I would be ok with that on all my knives, too. The almighty Spyderco has some of the crappiest FRN scales on some overpriced models. Great video!
The aluminum scratches. Personally I like the way it looks when it actually gets used instead of paying all that money just to play with it and never really use it. What are you paying the money for?
I’d argue that FRN has a place. It’s non-porous, light, and can be made quite grippy. My Sage 5 LW has been a great fit for my job as a paramedic. I have a good grip even with wet, gloved hands and it’s easy to clean. I can’t the same for any sort of metal or even G-10.
Really enjoyed the breakdown. Your Penguin aged way better, I got a thumb print wearing into mine. Attempting to make a set of scales out of maple for my Civivi Asticus. Challenging for sure, kinda looks like garbage lol, but it's my first attempt. Overall, G10 for the win.
g10 is more than just a simple plastic, it is a fiberglass composite material. I like the look of the micarta on the genet, to me the look of micarta is arbitrary but the quality comes down to durability more.
This was an awesome video. I'm new to the scene but after watching so many over-hyper tryhards trying to be cool, or catchy in their vids, this was a breath of fresh air. Good information with a great presentation. Looking forward to seeing more.
Wood is a class in itself. It is the best if you want a piece of "art" or for a gentleman edc you use for light tasks. It can be good for outdoortasks too but other materials offer better grip etc. . Just an opinion tho.
This is a great representation of different materials. I got a lot out of this video. Lately, Micarta has become more interesting to me. I have the QSP penguin, Twosun Lockdown and Kizer In-Yan and they all look good and feel great in hand. I had a Twosun TS227 and an SMKW Artisan Mini Proponent and that Micarta was not very nice, like it was made from a potato sack. Maybe someone could come up with a Micarta scale, like the thread count on bed sheets., i.e., 1000 thread count (Ritz Carlton) vs 200 thread count (Roadside motel). Then we could have a better idea of what to expect when we get the knife in hand.
Dude! I love your channel. Im Fairly new to he edc/pocket knife game, so I have yet to own any carbon fiber. So far my favorite is Titanium on my Spyderco Spydiechef. My next knife is going to be the We Thug with the carbon fiber show side. Hopefully, that is released soon.
Only thing bad is paying 500 for a edc knife and not using it cause ya watched someone play with it on RU-vid. In reality a quality blade you can get between 100 and 200 and will last you forever. If you need all the other goofy stuff that’s out there Cause it hurts ya little hands or you can’t grip it right is bs. Don’t fall for the marketing. If you that sensitive and need a blade as a real man next to you to give you a hand.
My favorite is g10 then titanium and carbon fiber. Stabilised wood is ok, FRN and micarta don't realy float my boat and i hate copper and brass. You forgot all the diverent horn materials, I have got a Opinel nr 8 with a black buffalo horn handle i realy like.
Nice video much longer than I thought it would be. My favorite material is Micarta then G10, then Ti. Biggest issue with Ti is I usually have it anodized and then and even with unanodized Ti are those damn snail trails.
Dude tell me about it... I was even surprised it was that long! 😂😂 I have mixed feelings about snail trails. It depends on the knife for me and honestly, what the snail trails look like. I know, I’m weird. 🤷🏻♂️😂😂
I assume aluminum is one of your least favorite materials. I only have one knife in aluminum, but was looking at textured aluminum scales from Original Goat for my Magnacut Deka
1. Milled Ti, 2. Micarta, 3. CF. You left out steel handles like on some Cheaper knives. Could have added that in when you discussed bronze and copper.
Why aren't there any knife handles made from something that actually feels good to hold? Like, the soft rubbery material on pen grips? I'd love to pick up a knife with a handle that looks like jade g10, but is grippy and comfortable like an expensive pen. Jade g10 already looks similar to what I'd expect a nice, rubbery grip to look like, but it feels more like hard plastic which is unpleasant to hold.
@@WaynesSharpWorld IDK... I feel like the hallmark of "cheap" is hard, uncomfortable plastic. I'm sure there are durable materials that are also comfortable. At the very least the manufacturer could make it repairable/replaceable. I'd way rather have a jelly/rubber grip on a knife than some brittle plastic or hard metal.
Wood > Stabilized wood > TI with Timascus inlay > Brass/Copper (though preferably bolsters/inlays) > Micarta > TI > CF > G10 > Alu > Steel > GFN/FRN > Cheap plastic in my book. Wood certainly isn't the best material in terms of practicality, but nothing compares to the natural beauty of wood in my opinion. Then again, this exact version of the QSP Hawk is on my wish list, specifically for that gorgeous micarta.
