The Best Knife? (Part 5)

Some things are just hard to handle.  Some handles on knives are pretty but not as durable or functional for a survival scenario.  When selecting a knife as your main tool the handle needs sufficient consideration.  It’s odd but many people choose things based on looks or price and while I certainly understand that we need to get the most for our money, it is also true that good handles don’t have to be expensive.

While I love the look of natural wood, bone and ivory handles or slabs, materials that are man-made like kraton and micarta are cheaper and better in the long run.  Natural materials even though they are stabilized can sometimes crack or de-laminate under hard use and therefore wouldn’t be an ideal choice for a survival knife.  There are a few exceptions to this like Giraffe leg bone but as you can imagine, it is rather expensive.

When looking at a survival knife, I prefer canvas or linen micarta handle slabs.  Micarta was invented back in the 1930’s as an industrial material and is extremely durable.  It is formed from layers of cloth, canvas, linen etc. glued together with a type of epoxy.  It is relatively easy to grind and form and is usually inexpensive.  It tends to get a better grip when wet which is ideal when cleaning game or fish as you don’t want your hand to slip and get cut.  A slippery knife is difficult to use in any condition.  Micarta can also be homemade from various other materials, I have a handsome custom knife made by my mentor, Michael O’Machearly of O’Machearly Custom Knives, that has micarta handle slabs made from blue jeans.  It looks great!  Thanks Mike!

Many people say that God will never let anything happen to you that you can’t handle.  While this sounds good it actually provides false comfort as that isn’t exactly what the Bible says.  The truth of the matter is that this Scripture, I Corinthians 10:13, is actually speaking about temptation and falling into sin.  It says that when we are tempted, God will provide a way of escape so that we don’t sin.  Of course, we have to be of the mindset that we don’t want to fall into sin and be looking for the way of escape!  The truth is, that there are times when there are circumstances that we cannot handle but God allows them to happen to us so that we will trust Him instead of relying on ourselves.  And, if the situation gets so severe that it kills you, like many Christian martyrs experienced, then His Strength and Grace is sufficient even unto the end.  So today, trust God with all your life.  Even when you can’t handle something, He can!

James B.

PS. You can check out my website where you can set up training for many of these skills at www.waypointsurvival.com and look at and order my custom knives at www.benderknifeworks.com.