Longevity of modern plastic handles (Grivory, FRN, Zytel, etc)?

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Nephron44

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Aug 20, 2015
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Hello all!

I'm an aluminum scale guy through and through. Just about all my knives have aluminum scales, with a few G10. Even my Benchmade griptilian wears aluminum scales, and my Spyderco Delica wears titanium. The only plastic handled knife I own is a Colonial Knives safety hook, and I view that one as disposable.

I am really interested in the Benchmade Claymore and Mini Claymore, but I am concerned about the Grivory handle scales, and there aren't any aftermarket scales that I can find. I have had other plastic items become brittle and crack over time. I carry Glock handguns and have even had a couple of their frames crack, although they were early generations.

When I buy a knife to actually use, I like to know it can take some abuse and last as long as I need it to (basically my lifetime) with proper care. How do modern plastics like Grivory hold up over time? How durable/resistant to degradation and cracking is it? I assume it's better now than years ago...

Thanks!
 
I think they will outlast you. Plastics have come a long way. Even the compositions of polymers used by Glock have been tweaked in the last 40 years.
I would look at it this way, if you buy, carry, use, and care for a $200 knife and it ONLY lasts 30 years before it delaminates and cracks, you've got your money's worth ;)

Keep them out of the oven and don't store them on your dashboard in Phoenix, and I think you'll be OK.
 
Nephron44 said:
I wish I had a tank!
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Owning a tank only requires money. It's a different matter that it has working armament. Unfortunately, it doesn't work here and in "good ole murica" it probably requires each NFA item to be registered separately. It's unlikely that you can get by with one $200 tax stamp, even if everything is fixed attached to the tank.
 
Nephron44 said:
I have had other plastic items become brittle and crack over time.
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As other have said the FRN/GRN/Grivory etc... is insanely durable.

Plastics that have become brittle and crack over time are likely not the same. We're not talking about a children's toy made of plastic that bleaches out and cracks from UV exposure after a season being used outside. Not all plastics are the same, and the stuff being used in good knife scales is much more comparable in formula to what is used in polymer framed pistols and rifle stocks, which are being used around the world in some of the harshest conditions and in regular military and police use (civilians too, but most civilians aren't subjecting their guns to the same conditions/exposures as military and police).
 
ShaiHulud said:
Use your stuff until it literally breaks, buy less, use more
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that's why I want to make sure what I buy is durable. I mostly carry a dagger style auto, and I want something with a drop point that would be more useful so I could actually use it.
 
Nephron44 said:
that's why I want to make sure what I buy is durable. I mostly carry a dagger style auto, and I want something with a drop point that would be more useful so I could actually use it.
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Drop point knives are ancient shapes that always work and will do everything literally, it's a good quest, I'm using a low grade kershaw and only that knife until I find that "one" Fixed blade that will replace it and it will be in a drop point
 
Very durable albeit not exciting materials like phenolic. I wish cold steel used it on the nicer blades instead of that cheap rubber especially for the prices.
 
I don't know if it is used in a mass-produced knife, but I use corian as a handle in some of the knives I make. Great material. It absorbs some shock, is not affected by water and is fire resistant. Incredibly durable.

Edit: Has anyone ever tried to print and use a handle on a 3D printer?
 
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That is not totally clear to me.

I have read that G10 breaks down over time with UV exposure. This does not mean it does so quickly but if you plan on leaving it out in the bright sun every day all day then maybe it might not last otherwise the stuff is really tough and resistant to a lot of chemicals.

There are a whole lot of different polymers plastics etc... each with different characteristics as well as different grades/formulations of the same family of a particular plastic. The industry (especially knife manufacturers) does not make candid descriptions in layman's language readily available to the average person which presents a problem when someone has a set of criteria outside of or in addition to the standard assumed uses of a knife.

I think in general most of these plastics will outlast the owner however they do have different weaknesses that, I guess, usually doesn't matter but may depending on how it's used.

Sorry for the lousy vague answer but I think the knife and plastic industry is to blame for keeping not so secrete things that people should know under wraps.
 
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So i typically gravitate toward natural materials, but recently became interested in synthetics. I bought a buck 112 slim edc in orange gfn which i like a lot. I tried to find pictures of worn out or broken gfn handles on line. (Slow night at work)
I Couldn't find any. Not even just scratches or worn smooth.
 
I work in cordless power tools. The housings are made from plastics similar to FRN, Grivory, etc.

All plastics and rubbers will deteriorate over time. UV from the sun and heat accelerate the process. When I worked at UL, we did artificial aging by putting plastics in the oven for periods of time. The fiberglass reinforcement is for rigidity and heat/fire resistance. An example of this is dashboards on old cars. You notice they get the color baked out of them and they crack; this is the effect of the elastomers being baked out by heat and whatever UV gets through the glass, too.

Metals do not age out over time, as long as they don't corrode. They're not as resilient; they tend to bend instead of break. Bending them back is sometimes iffy. (esp. with aluminum) A good tough plastic will flex imperceptibly, then flex back without your even noticing.

That said, I wouldn't worry about the plastic deteriorating perceptibly in your lifetime, unless you're 20 and plan to keep the knife until you die. The lifespan of today's tough plastics will be measured in decades, not years. I wouldn't worry about it. If it ever gets to that point with your Benchmade, you can make aluminum handles to fit in your later years.

One thing I like to say is that plastics have replaced metals largely because metals aren't good enough any more. Too heavy, too bendy, too conductive... whatever. Yes, plastics are cheaper to mass produce, but that doesn't necessarily make them inferior.
 
Not sure about plastic but I know I try to avoid rubber handles unless that have a long term proven history of holding up. Knives like the skrama, certain fallknivens, condor,, or anything with a free floating rubber guard (I'm looking at you SRK) I just imagine will eventually break down with time unless you really pay attention to the handle.

Whereas moras with the hard plastic will take plenty of abuse and keep coming back for more.
 
What do you use knife for? Cutting? Chopping? Praying? How often?

Unless you intentionally trying to break them, they won't break. Just look at all of the modern issued bayonets, say in the Nato forces. Rarely you see of the handle breaking. They usually outlive the blade.
 
Grumpy Old Man said:
Modern plastic is quite durable enough as long as you remember not to run your tank over your knife or do something else stupid.
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I throw knives since i was a kid. My favorite is a Cold Steel Ti Lite 6 folder i keep in my right pocket which I’ve owned about 7 of them. I’ve never broken the zytel handles on any of them and only broken the tip of one blade with an over rotation after it hit the cross grain of a tree sideways with a real hard throw. I love zytel scales.
 
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