As with many things, I have slowly learned that Bob Loveless is, when it comes to knives, generally right about everything. This is another piece of evidence to support that contention. Here it has to do with the correct material for knife handles. It is, in case you missed the reference, micarta.

Myth #1: Carbon Fiber is New.

Joseph Swan invented carbon fiber in 1860. The process to extract aluminum from alumina ore using electricity, the thing that converted aluminum from a precious metal to a commodity, was discovered in 1886. It seems weird to think that carbon fiber is older than mass produced aluminum, but it is. That is a bit misleading though because the use of carbon fiber that most often springs to mind wasn’t possible until much later. High density structural carbon fiber wasn’t produced until 1958 and the ability to shape large quantities of carbon fiber wasn’t perfected until 1981 when McLaren developed a car frame or monocoque in an autoclave. All that is to say that carbon fiber isn’t really that new, but how we use it as a structural material is. For some reason, knife buyers think that carbon fiber is the latest and greatest, when, in fact, it is pretty old. And, as Myth #2 discusses, its best feature doesn’t really matter for knife handles. So the premium we as knife buyers attach carbon fiber isn’t really based on what it does for us, but, instead marketing hype. The same cannot be said for structural uses of carbon fiber. There it is a revolutionary material, hence its cache that makes it often used on the most premium versions of knives.

Myth #2: Carbon Fiber is the Lightest Handle Material.

Over an equal volume, wood, canvas micarta, and FRN are as light or lighter than carbon fiber. Carbon fiber’s density is 1.4-1.9 g/cm cubed. Canvas micarta starts at 1.35 g/cm cubed. Maple, a very hard wood, is much lighter—starting at .65 g/cm cubed—and when it is treated it is highly dimensionally stable, something that adds only a smidge of weight on a knife scale. FRN comes in at 1.2-1.4 g/cm cubed. The trick with carbon fiber is its strength and rigidity given its density. For something that dense it is extremely strong. But in a handle material, that extra strength doesn’t really matter. If the handle material is a structural component of a knife many of these other materials are strong enough to serve the role just as well. Despite being a featherweight, the all-micarta Al Mar knives weren’t flexible in the least. Note that my two favorite materials—micarta (Bob Loveless’s choice) and wood—prove their worth. Old isn’t bad, and while carbon fiber isn’t as new as people think, it is certainly a spring chicken compared to wood.

As a side note, I really can’t think of a better building material than wood. It’s relatively easy to shape, it has fantastic variety, it looks beautiful, and it grows on its own. In tree form it beautifies an area and sometimes provides food. It can also provide heat that can warm an area or be converted into power. Yeah, wood is perfect. I am serious when I say that wood is probably the strongest evidence of the existence of a God that knows and cares about humanity. How else would we happen to get such a perfect material in such quantities? Loaves and fishes? Nope, wood is the miracle.

Myth #3: Carbon Fiber Is Somehow Different from Other Handle Materials.

Benchmade’s premium version of knives comes in carbon fiber. Spyderco’s premium stuff also comes in carbon fiber (both use S90V, which is weird). ZT uses copious amounts of carbon fiber. Why? Marketing bullshit. Carbon fiber is not better in any meaningful, functional way than something like micarta when used as a knife scale. It does the same thing but costs and weighs more. It is not easier to shape. It is not easier to make (both are roughly equal). It is not lighter. Its strength advantage doesn’t matter. And there is no other secret function that makes carbon fiber trump micarta or wood or even FRN. Sure lots of people like it, but they like it because they are conditioned by product signaling and catalog descriptions (i.e. marketing) to like it. The love for carbon fiber is a preference, like wanting a blue shirt over a white one.

In the age we live in carbon fiber has a cache that few materials do. But the reality is that in the application seen in the knife industry (handles) none of its magic matters. There are lots of materials that are lighter and when rigidity doesn’t really count, carbon fiber is just another manufactured material, not something special. Don’t pay more for it, but, of course, buy it if you like it.