FRN as a handle material, Longevity, who knows???
Years ago skateboard trucks were made of this composite material and now many outdoor products feature the use of FRN. It can come in a multitude of colors. However, nylon is not known for being resistant to Ultra violet light, nor is it resistant to the absorption of water over time. Now these may not be concerns for you, it depends upon what your end use is. 1000 hours exposure to blistering sunlight in the desert may affect the mechanical properties of FRN. At best, the performance against UV light is "fair".
As far as knife handles are concerned UV resistance is not that high up on the list but resistance to Ozone maybe over time. How does FRN fare here? Well, Nylon is poor at OZONE resistance. Why am I telling you all of this. Well if you think that this knife handle will still be in good nick in 20 years time then it may not due to Nylon's inherent disadvantages against Ozone and UV. That's the reason why one should retire their climbing ropes not only because of getting close to the maximum number of falls it's rated at but because nylon will loose it's mechanical properties over time. So if you want that knife handle to be still useful in 20 years time then it needs to be kept out of the light when not being used. Look at skateboard trucks which are older than 20 years the FRN is knackered. KRATON, however, I know will go the distance of well over 20 years hard use. How do i know this? Because of my 20 year plus old ONTARIO SPEC PLUS knife. The handle is still in great shape despite the saltwater and rough as guts treatment this knife has seen from impromptu hunting trips (if there is such a thing) to camping all around the globe. The blade might be a bit rusty, heck it is made from 1095 steel; and the scabbard almost knackered but that handle is still rocking!
Sunday 26 January 2020
Track notes: Thoughts on the knives that I carry into the wilds.
TRACK NOTES FROM THE PAST AND PRESENT
BushCampingTools
The Fulcrum S isn't a hunting knife, nor a fish knife, nor a machete; or Bushcraft knife; however, like many a good knife; in skilled hands, it can be all (ok maybe a machete is a bit of a stretch!). I'd like to clarify this last statement, regarding "a good knife". By this I mean a comfortable knife that can be used with multiple grip positions and no funky protrusions (anywhere) to make it's use difficult. For example: any knives with big scalloped out grips are pretty much useless for long term comfortable use. They may be great for a deadly secure grip however, one needs more than just a deadly secure grip in an outdoor knife's role/s.
Certainly, my Extrema Ratio Fulcrum S has served me well and I've never been afraid of using it to the max. It won't cut a watermelon with ease, simply because of the thick blade but it can be used to do this if I have to. It won't fillet fish so well but I can, without too much distress (and without making a mess!). I can keep it deadly sharp with little effort; the scabbard is very safe; very field maintainable; chop vegies, bash it about yes, (but not purposely abuse). Drilling divots in wood with the tip isn't going to worry it. These are just some of the qualities of this blade and since the Fulcrum Bayonet NFG
is even beefier I do not have any issue with it. (I should say a quick note on overall carry weight. I have on numerous occasions taken my other wire cutting capable knife out on serious day hikes off the beaten track where there was always a very high probability of an unplanned overnight stay- I wanted the assurance of tool dependability and no, it wasn't a big deal to carry, plus I was also carrying a young child on my back in one of those hiker papoose things, 10m of climbing rope, food for 2 days and all the necessary wet and cold weather gear. We met a woman who came out of no where and obviously, quite a serious hiker as I never expected to see anyone where we were but when we compared "notes", her ONLY knife was a very unreliable looking 2 inch folder of no name brand! I showed her what we were carrying she was surprised until I explained that in this wilderness (long since overgrown tracks) maybe something slightly bigger than a small folder should be considered. She couldn't have thought us crazy as we ended up hiking together for the rest of the day with good conversation! (no it wasn't that, she was old enough to be my mother LOL!). As a note here some years later I mentioned to my now grown son when we saw an "elderly" woman in the wilds sporting a kind of coloured umbrella hat, that she must be mad and may have the strength of ten commandos and we should keep a safe distance from her LOL!
BushCampingTools
 |
| When it was brand new LOL! |
 |
| Extrema Ratio Fulcrum S with the "custom BCT" upper guard modification LOL! in an attempt (a poor one at that) make it look like the discontinued Extrema Ratio K9! seen here: |
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| Discontinued Extrema Ratio K9 Fulcrum, note absence of upper guard. |
The Fulcrum S isn't a hunting knife, nor a fish knife, nor a machete; or Bushcraft knife; however, like many a good knife; in skilled hands, it can be all (ok maybe a machete is a bit of a stretch!). I'd like to clarify this last statement, regarding "a good knife". By this I mean a comfortable knife that can be used with multiple grip positions and no funky protrusions (anywhere) to make it's use difficult. For example: any knives with big scalloped out grips are pretty much useless for long term comfortable use. They may be great for a deadly secure grip however, one needs more than just a deadly secure grip in an outdoor knife's role/s.
Certainly, my Extrema Ratio Fulcrum S has served me well and I've never been afraid of using it to the max. It won't cut a watermelon with ease, simply because of the thick blade but it can be used to do this if I have to. It won't fillet fish so well but I can, without too much distress (and without making a mess!). I can keep it deadly sharp with little effort; the scabbard is very safe; very field maintainable; chop vegies, bash it about yes, (but not purposely abuse). Drilling divots in wood with the tip isn't going to worry it. These are just some of the qualities of this blade and since the Fulcrum Bayonet NFG
 |
| Extrema Ratio Fulcrum Bayonet NFG. |
is even beefier I do not have any issue with it. (I should say a quick note on overall carry weight. I have on numerous occasions taken my other wire cutting capable knife out on serious day hikes off the beaten track where there was always a very high probability of an unplanned overnight stay- I wanted the assurance of tool dependability and no, it wasn't a big deal to carry, plus I was also carrying a young child on my back in one of those hiker papoose things, 10m of climbing rope, food for 2 days and all the necessary wet and cold weather gear. We met a woman who came out of no where and obviously, quite a serious hiker as I never expected to see anyone where we were but when we compared "notes", her ONLY knife was a very unreliable looking 2 inch folder of no name brand! I showed her what we were carrying she was surprised until I explained that in this wilderness (long since overgrown tracks) maybe something slightly bigger than a small folder should be considered. She couldn't have thought us crazy as we ended up hiking together for the rest of the day with good conversation! (no it wasn't that, she was old enough to be my mother LOL!). As a note here some years later I mentioned to my now grown son when we saw an "elderly" woman in the wilds sporting a kind of coloured umbrella hat, that she must be mad and may have the strength of ten commandos and we should keep a safe distance from her LOL!
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