Krayton/Kray-Ex material and sticky breakdown

sailfish

sailfish

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Jan 1, 2019
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I received my first Cold Steel today and this is also my first experience with the Kray-Ex material, which I presume is the same as krayton? In any case, it got me wondering if it will ever suffer from the breakdown certain soft plastics see with age where they get a sticky coating on them. Has anyone ever experienced this on a knife with this handle material or is it formulated different and not something I'll ever have to worry about?
 
I was wondering the same thing with this one.
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I've got a 20 (21 next month) year old Microtech with Kratyon inserts, which I've carried, used, and certainly have not babied, and I'm impressed with how well they've held up. I remember thinking years back that I'd replace the inserts with carbon fibre or something when they started to get gooey and sticky, but that never happened. I thought they would because the old 90's Kershaw liner lock I bought a few times over the years had rubber inserts that turned to tar after a few years.
 
Rubber is my favorite handle material. From my experience, rubber knife handles that are exposed to air will sometimes develop what I call a "glaze" over time, the outer surface will become harder and a bit slick, but not sticky. This is a naturally occurring process called "oxidation".

I've experienced this with every rubber knife handle I've ever had, including the handle of a Cold Steel Peacekeeper 1, and the handle of a SOG Desert Dagger, both I received in 2002.

A light sanding with sandpaper on the smooth surfaces of a handle removes the "glaze" and restores the grippy feel, but of course that won't work on checkered surfaces.
 
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I've had some Cold Steel almost 40 years with no problem . :cool::thumbsup:

I have heard about some . Maybe due to solvents exposure ? :(

Or maybe some batches of this rubber compound are defective . :confused:
 
My Trailmaster Sanmai definitely got softer. Got to be too soft and the edge would roll in hand no matter how hard you squeezed... eventually.
 
Kraton is not rubber.
killgar said:
Rubber is my favorite handle material. From my experience, rubber knife handles that are exposed to air will sometimes develop what I call a "glaze" over time, the outer surface will become harder and a bit slick, but not sticky. This is a naturally occurring process called "oxidation".

I've experienced this with every rubber knife handle I've ever had, including the handle of a Cold Steel Peacekeeper 1, and the handle of a SOG Desert Dagger, both I received in 2002.

A light sanding with sandpaper on the smooth surfaces of a handle removes the "glaze" and restores the grippy feel, but of course that won't work on checkered surfaces.
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Alberta Ed said:
Kraton is not rubber.
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You're right, it's a styrenic block copolymer. But if I say "Styrenic block copolymer handles are my favorite", most people probably won't know what I'm talking about. So I use "rubber" as a generic term.

I doubt anyone read my post and thought "Rubber knife handles? What's he talking about?"

And since some of my "rubber" knife handles have very different characteristics, I don't assume they are all kraton.
 
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I got a Ti-Lite the other day and never really thought about this being a possibility. Good to know there’s nothing to worry about:cool:
 
The Aflac Duck said:
I got a Ti-Lite the other day and never really thought about this being a possibility. Good to know there’s nothing to worry about:cool:
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I wish Cold Steel made a Ti-lite 6 with Kray-ex/Krayton handles. That would be a dream come true for me. I'd buy a few in a heartbeat. One can dream.
 
I don't know about the current stuff but I used to have one of the little push daggers from cold steel on my keychain. The keys were in my pocket most of the time. Maybe it was called a pocket pal? Anyway, eventually the krayton handle would degrade and fall off. I had three of them over the years before I gave up and went with a spyderco ladybug. No more krayton for me....
 
killgar said:
I wish Cold Steel made a Ti-lite 6 with Kray-ex/Krayton handles. That would be a dream come true for me. I'd buy a few in a heartbeat. One can dream.
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Jeez, I’m confusing Zy-ex with Kray-ex here:D I was gonna tell you they do make one, but that’s Zy-ex :D:D:D

I have too many Ex’s:eek:
 
killgar said:
Yes. But Cold Steel currently uses both terms "Zy-ex" and "Zy-tel", but they are the same thing- fiberglass reinforced nylon.

If you look at their descriptions for the Ti-lite series, some say Zy-ex, some say Zytel. But again, same thing.
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Thanks. I'm more into fixed blades than folders, but we sell Cold Steel at the Outfitters I work for and I bought a Gunsite Cpunterpoint, so I"m trying to learn more about then. I think Cold Steel is one of the most under-rated knife companies ot there. I carried a Master Tanto in Miami in the late 80s, and carried a Trailmaster in some Florida swamps in 2012. I've had a few SRKs over the years and gifted a few. I like the krayton in cold weather. I keep One in my cold weather bag. I just picked up a new Recon Scout in 3V I'm going to put through some tests and see how I like it. I do prefer a metal hilt or guard to protect the front of a knife handle, no matter what the handle material is.
 
Bigfattyt said:
My Trailmaster Sanmai definitely got softer. Got to be too soft and the edge would roll in hand no matter how hard you squeezed... eventually.
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That sounds about right to me.

I don't trust any knife with a rubber handle, plastics can be tempered and are different. I've seen several SRK handles loosening by the ricasso, skrama handles too.

However I do think the cold steels with the rubber middles and metal guards/pommels will hold up a hell of a lot better.
 
SwissHeritageCo said:
That sounds about right to me.

I don't trust any knife with a rubber handle, plastics can be tempered and are different. I've seen several SRK handles loosening by the ricasso, skrama handles too.

However I do think the cold steels with the rubber middles and metal guards/pommels will hold up a hell of a lot better.
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Resiprine C has never sofentened on me. It is used by Busse, Swamprat and Scrapyard knives. Tough stuff!!

I think my CS handle might have gotten a little Deet it.

Resiprine C is deet abd oil proof.
 
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