What You Need to Know About Hunting Knife Handles

  An important decision that you should considered while buying a hunting knife is the grip offered by it. Wood handles are more attractive than most of the other handle materials, but are more difficult to care for. The contact cement takes just a few minutes to dry, they are then epoxied and stacked on the knife tang exactly how they were compressed the first time, clamped and let to dry. More exotic materials usually only seen on art or ceremonial knives include: Cattle bone, mammoth tooth, mammoth ivory, walrus tusk, antler (often called stag in a knife context), sheep horn, buffalo horn. The fabrication of the leather handle consists of soaking leather washers in a solution than stacking them one on top of the other on a sleeve then compressing them together with a clamp and let to dry. Hard wood is one of the most popular materials for knife handles. Hard woods like Cocobolo, Rosewood, Ebony and Bubinga are used very most often. These are one of the best choices for tough heavy duty knives. Summary Leather handles have been around a long time.
 
  These materials will not get slick to hold onto when you are field dressing your game.Rubberized handles, due to their composition are the best grip for a hunting knife. Leather handles are normally produced by stacking leather washers on a steel shank (tang) as a sleeve surrounding tang of the knife. A light touch is advised! The use of square leather washers is for a grinding index. One most popular base materials used is a fiberglass impregnated resin called G-10. All of these materials have been used in knife handles. The grinder belt will eat leather like nothing else you have ever ground. Whatever you do, do not let a wood handle knife soak in water. These days many artificial handles are available to replace stag handles. Rubber handles like Respirine or Kraton, are used more often over plastic due because they are more durable. Some feel that it makes it hard to use. Horn and Bone Handles It creates an index to keep the roundness of the handle in proper prospect. Other types of Micarta, a composite synthetic material made of linen or paper with epoxy resin is commonly used in handle material. There are many different polymer materials available, the best among them being ABS which is a high strength polymer that can be molded very easily and kraton - a springy polymer, mostly used as a flexible inlay in the grip.