I haven't tried dying Micarta, although I've seen some people use shoe polish and can't say that I've loved the results. I prefer the feel of canvas Micarta, but think paper or G10 looks better. Paper Micarta is less resistant to impact than G10 -- I've had it ding rather than crack (when a brand new SHBM fell out of my backpack onto gravel walking down the access road at Knob Creek); it isn't aesthetically pleasing, but isn't a broken handle either. I was unhappy, but it was my own fault, so what can you do. My favorite handle material is green linen Micarta, but you don't see it so much anymore.

A few years back, when black paper prices were shooting up like snakeskin, I asked Garth if he thought they'd be getting any more -- he said that G10 was stronger, so he didn't think so, but then they did. If they were the same price, I'd go with G10, but for a $50 difference go with the Micarta -- it looks substantially the same and is tough enough.