Bradford Guardian - Micarta or GWood?

I

Iron Lung

Joined
Dec 13, 2020
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I'm planning to buy a Guardian 3, but I can't seem to find alot of opinion regarding the gwood scales. Everyone seems to love the micarta - and I'm leaning in that direction - but I was hoping to get some insight before I choose. If anyone has experience with both, I'd love to hear which you think is better. Aside from that, any other thoughts on the knife in general would be welcomed. Thanks
 
Micarta 3D. This is the camo. It's darkened a little with use, but I like it.
IMG_0261-X4.jpg
 
G-Wood is G10 with some sort of stabilized/processed wood added to the layers (hence the name).
It should be pretty much the same, performance-wise, as Micarta or G10.
Bradford's Micarta is fairly polished anyway, so if you like the look of the G-Wood, you won't be sacrificing anything in terms of grip.
 
Have you ruled out the textured G10 scales? I prefer them to the 3D because they're thinner and easier to conceal (0.59 vs. 0.9) for scout/horizontal carry.
 
KraZeeInTheNW said:
Have you ruled out the textured G10 scales? I prefer them to the 3D because they're thinner and easier to conceal (0.59 vs. 0.9) for scout/horizontal carry.
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I do prefer the look and the thickness of the 3D. Is it really a huge difference in profile when concealed?
 
Iron Lung said:
I do prefer the look and the thickness of the 3D. Is it really a huge difference in profile when concealed?
Click to expand...
The 3D is almost twice the thickness and was enough for me to go with the textured G10, but I'm also used to mostly thin handles/scales like Doziers. The 3D looks really nice. I'm sure it's personal preference that swayed me to the textured G10.
 
Just received my G3 today. Unfortunately, it landed in my mailbox about 5 minutes before I had to head out of the house for work, so I haven't really checked it out yet, but it's a really nice, small blade. Ridiculously sharp right out of the box.

I got M390, green micarta 3D scales, black oxide fasteners, and a sabre grind. Lookin forward to givin it a test run.

I HAVE noticed my hands are a bit large for the handle. Everything fits and is relatively comfortable, but the finger choil runs up so close to the bottom of the blade, I'll have to be very mindful of how I use it. I doubt it will cause any issues, but It IS a very small knife (I wear L-XL gloves).
Regardless, I'm happy with it so far, and I'll most likely be getting a 4 as well.
 
I'm very partial to Micarta everything just like everyone else, but I just had to have the ghost G10. If you prefer the micarta look, then it's a no contest.

BTW, I got M390 with sheepsfoot blade so the blade is away from the finger choil. Locks in my M to L hand for both forward and reverse grips. Believe the hype.
 
Like most have said, I prefer Micarta over just about anything. I also ordered a set of the carbon fiber textured scales. They are a little thinner, but I still prefer the micarta as you can see from the pic below. Also, the Micarta area around the lanyard hole is not very ergonomic. It has some uncomfortable corners. I sanded them down and it made a HUGE difference. It's now super comfortable.



1624475269945791477062857047791.jpg
 
I never heard of G-wood until this thread.

Although I like my G-10 in general, I too gravitate to micarta when I can get it.

Another vote for micarta.
 
I really like the 3D micarta, mine are brown canvas and are not as smooth as the ones I'm seeing here.

Oh I have a full flat grind M390 that originally had black and orange textured G10, but now have 3D carbon fiber, and a sheepsfoot in Vanadis 4E with the 3D brown canvas micarta.
 
hhmoore said:
Did you end up getting the G4?
Click to expand...

I haven't purchased a G4 just yet. Life hit me pretty hard in the last year or so, so I've pulled back from buying knives a bit. Hoping to recover..
Until then, I'm still pretty content with my G3. Although it IS still a small package for my hands, I really like the thing. Super useable blade in a small package.
 
Understood. I haven't been doing much buying myself (though I did just buy two knives that I wanted years ago... I'd tried to buy them through a dealer, but got tired of waiting and cancelled the order. When they popped up on the Exchange, being sold together, I snatched them before I could talk myself out of it).

There's a significant difference between the G3 and G4. I posted a comparison once, I'll try to find it...
 
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