Just ordered my second Bark River knife in SureTouch. I Love this stuff. VERY durable and I love the feel of it in the hand. It's grippy but not too grippy. Kind of hard to explain until you feel it yourself.
Good informative and honest video. For me a good burlap micarta is the sweet spot. The suregrip is a good idea but falls short in various aspects, mostly durability. That is why I avoid full rubber and wooden handles, I use my knives for batoning
Burlap micarta is one of my favorites. Super durable but still looks good. When I built this knife I didn't know a ton about Suretouch but figured even if it didn't hold up well, I could just warranty the knife if needed. So far so good though!
I got my Bark River Bravo 3 in Suretouch and it is really really good! It is noticeably different and slightly better than my Bravo 3 thats in Burlap Micarta
I also have a knife with suretouch handles and can confirm its seems less durable. I dropped it and a chuck chipped off, to be fair this was on concrete. Personally i prefer g10 and micarta over the suretouch so far because it slides in and out of sheaths better and is feels more natural to handle. The stickiness of the rubber layers grabs too much for me and doesnt allow rotation of the handle as easily. Where this material shines, you did mention, is something like a knife for fishing like a filet knife or similar. Or possibly something like a large chopper such as a kukri, machete etc, Giving you a bit more grip.
For most of my "hard-use" knives I'll probably still go Micarta or G10. But for some specific stuff like fishing knives I think I'd go with Suretouch. Bark River seems to be one of the only companies using it very often though
My BRK Bushcrafter and Cub have Suretouch on them. I've used the Bushcrafter a lot, especially in wet conditions. Great grip and zero issues. The only con is that Suretouch seems to add a bit of excess weight to the knife compared to other options out there. My fav handle material is still micarta and some of the woods like desert ironwood and maple burl but for heavy use the Suretouch has held up just fine.
Just ordered my second Bark River knife in SureTouch. I Love this stuff. VERY durable and I love the feel of it in the hand. It's grippy but not too grippy. Kind of hard to explain until you feel it yourself.
Good informative and honest video. For me a good burlap micarta is the sweet spot. The suregrip is a good idea but falls short in various aspects, mostly durability. That is why I avoid full rubber and wooden handles, I use my knives for batoning
Burlap micarta is one of my favorites. Super durable but still looks good.
When I built this knife I didn't know a ton about Suretouch but figured even if it didn't hold up well, I could just warranty the knife if needed. So far so good though!
I love my sure touch handles. Great when my hands are wet.
When it's wet is when you can really notice the difference.
I got my Bark River Bravo 3 in Suretouch and it is really really good! It is noticeably different and slightly better than my Bravo 3 thats in Burlap Micarta
The Bravo 3 would be great in suretouch. Since it's a little bit heavier of a knife the extra grip would be nice.
I also have a knife with suretouch handles and can confirm its seems less durable. I dropped it and a chuck chipped off, to be fair this was on concrete. Personally i prefer g10 and micarta over the suretouch so far because it slides in and out of sheaths better and is feels more natural to handle. The stickiness of the rubber layers grabs too much for me and doesnt allow rotation of the handle as easily. Where this material shines, you did mention, is something like a knife for fishing like a filet knife or similar. Or possibly something like a large chopper such as a kukri, machete etc, Giving you a bit more grip.
One comment a gun goes in a holster a knife in a sheath. Not mentioned as a negative just a FYI
When I was editing the video I noticed I said that wrong too.
I saw this on some Bark River knives. I'd rather have micarta.
For most of my "hard-use" knives I'll probably still go Micarta or G10. But for some specific stuff like fishing knives I think I'd go with Suretouch. Bark River seems to be one of the only companies using it very often though
My BRK Bushcrafter and Cub have Suretouch on them.
I've used the Bushcrafter a lot, especially in wet conditions. Great grip and zero issues.
The only con is that Suretouch seems to add a bit of excess weight to the knife compared to other options out there.
My fav handle material is still micarta and some of the woods like desert ironwood and maple burl but for heavy use the Suretouch has held up just fine.
UV destroys all rubber in the end