Official 2018 BF Knife: Poll 5/8: Handle Materials

Choose Handle Material Grouping (comment color/type)

  • Group 1: Micarta, G10 | $

    Votes: 53 17.7%
  • Group 2: Delrin, Paperstone | $

    Votes: 5 1.7%
  • Group 3: Diamondwood | $

    Votes: 5 1.7%
  • Group 4: Carbon Fiber | $$

    Votes: 4 1.3%
  • Group 5: Buffalo, Elk | $$

    Votes: 59 19.7%
  • Group 6: Stag, Ram Horn | $$

    Votes: 44 14.7%
  • Group 7: Snakewood, KOA | $$

    Votes: 26 8.7%
  • Group 8: Burl, Ironwood | $$

    Votes: 89 29.8%
  • Group 9: Shell, Mother of Pearl | $$$

    Votes: 3 1.0%
  • Group 10: Jigged Bone | $$

    Votes: 11 3.7%

  • Total voters
    299
  • Poll closed .
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You could have a generic poll, and even now transfer the existing votes into one of the groups.

Say ANTLER, HORN, BURLAP MICARTA,WOOD. I'd scrap the more marginal offerings now as they've attracted minimal votes, MOP,Diamondwood etc.

Then which ever group tops it you have a second poll with the various specific types in the group e.g. Stag v Elk, Ram's Horn v Buffalo, Burlap v Micartas, Ironwood, Osage Orange, Snakewood etc.

Just a suggestion, might clarify things?
 
I didn't understand the groupings - pairing buffalo with elk, and stag with ram didn't make sense to me; but I'm not the guy putting it together, and don't claim to have any understanding of the process other than what we're doing here.
I agree that as it stands, it will be a rough 9/8 poll, with so much to sort out...so it does make sense to narrow this one down sooner; but there's not a good way to shift the results since groups 5 and 6 would be problematic...unless it was just a combined antler/horn group. At this writing, antler/horn would have 96 votes, wood 106, and micarta 53...with 28 votes for the outliers that would need to be recast.
 
I believe SK he grouped Elk/Buffalo together, and Stag/Rams together, due to being similar in cost.
Possibly...but he said that he did not have actual prices for the various materials; and both groups, plus the woods, have the $$. While not all of the options are listed on the custom shop, ironwood, buffalo, and elk are - I'm not saying those will be our prices; but it gives an idea of comparative cost.
 
Looking at the Buck site in the Customizable section I picked a Squire as a base for a build. Ironwood or Burlwood added $37 to the standard price. Oak or walnut $0. Water Buffalo added $47 and Elk was an additional $57. I would imagine ordering a few hundred of the same handle material gets you a sizeable discount but they can be some significant cost additions. I still think actual pricing added might help zero us in on what we can get for $100. If we pick a real beauty and it tops out well over $100 some might back away and then we start polling again.

Thank-you SK Blades for guiding us along.

,,,Mike in Canada
 
The uneven, asymmetrical from above and from below photos in the post quoted here changed my mind about elk. It looks very pretty from the side, and I wouldn't even care if it's a uniform white/gray color without any texture or bark, but the differences in thickness would drive me crazy. I'm in the micarta or wood camp.
That's why I posted the photo's which are typical with Elk so members here not be disappointed.I do have a Wilde Bill Cody custom Buck 110 in Elk that's just about perfect but that's not typical of a factory made knife. I sort of wish smooth dyed Camel bone was among the options also, it's something I've never seen on a Buck 301.GEC's blue and oily creek Camel bone covers have always impressed me.
 
I voted for Burl/ironwood. All seem like great choices. However, I don’t have a knife with those wood covers do it got the nod.
Not the best photo but this is Desert Ironwood.
2mGqxER.jpg
 
I think we need to take a look at whether or not the wood option would be a deal breaker... right now there are over 170 people that did not vote for wood and 113 that did. Lots of ground between those two camps in order to get to a minimum order of 250 knives. As it stands right now, I voted for elk and if wood is the final choice, there are only a couple types mentioned that I would end up wanting to buy... ironwood for sure, but I would need to see samples of any others.
 
Only 107 who voted for horn/bone ...
Right, so the question is will those people or the "synthetic" people still want a forum knife if wood is decided on? It would be different if the number was only 20 or even 50 but there are 170+ people that did not vote for wood.
 
Right, so the question is will those people or the "synthetic" people still want a forum knife if wood is decided on? It would be different if the number was only 20 or even 50 but there are 170+ people that did not vote for wood.
It can be tricky to crunch the numbers too soon. There are some folk who may not vote, but will buy a knife if they like what's presented, or just because it's the Forum Knife. All these choices and discussions are a lot of fun, and it may seem like it's taking a long time, but in the past I've considered myself lucky to get my Forum knife before Thanksgiving. So we are way ahead.

Just to throw more pictures out there, here's some osage orange:
#18 Coyote2_resized.jpg
after about a year's carry:
#77 & #18 .jpg
 
Right, so the question is will those people or the "synthetic" people still want a forum knife if wood is decided on? It would be different if the number was only 20 or even 50 but there are 170+ people that did not vote for wood.

More people did not vote for horn/bone than did not vote for wood. I'm saying that "did not vote for" argument to support horn/bone actually weakens your case.
 
It can be tricky to crunch the numbers too soon. There are some folk who may not vote, but will buy a knife if they like what's presented, or just because it's the Forum Knife. All these choices and discussions are a lot of fun, and it may seem like it's taking a long time, but in the past I've considered myself lucky to get my Forum knife before Thanksgiving. So we are way ahead.

Just to throw more pictures out there, here's some osage orange:
View attachment 907432
after about a year's carry:
View attachment 907433
How about some light colored Delrin? Maybe r8shell could scratch a porch scene on each one?:D;)
 
I think we need to take a look at whether or not the wood option would be a deal breaker...

I think that worrying about deal breakers is short-sighted. Any choice will be a deal breaker for some number of people. My first two choices are synthetic and wood. I voted for wood because it's the leading contender against the stag/horn/bone camp. And I'm OK with horn or bone so long as the scales aren't fat(and I get a good one;)) ... so that's the only deal killer for me.
 
So, what, does another poll need to be added asking if people will still buy if their preferred handle option doesnt win? At what point does covering all the bases become ridiculous?
I'll play along, though
For my part - I'm among those that voted for wood. I'd probably purchase any wood selected, even if it isn't my preference. I love elk, and like stag...but wouldn't purchase either with a luck of the draw distribution. It's too variable, and I'm too picky. Horn, I would probably risk a sight unseen purchase. G10 or micarta - I'm out, as already stated.

Re: the desire for camel bone...that's a +$97 option on the custom page, and think it was omitted for that reason.
 
I don't think the custom shop can be used as an accurate gauge for the cost of our knives. That's the cost to make one special knife to order, and not a run of 200. GEC's ironwood SFOs aren't $40 more than a standard run knife.
 
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