I like Res-C too, and although I realize that it’s very comfortable and stronger than any rubber-type knife handle out there, I wish it were tougher. When I got my first large handled Res-C Rat (BR) I took it out for some test chops. On one of my swings, I missed and a smaller (like pencil sized) branch that had been chopped (it was angled and pointy) hit the handle. It gouged a chunk out of it. Later I used my lighter to melt and fix it.

On another occasion in the summer I was wearing my BR in my cardboard/duct tape sheath and working in the back yard clearing and burning some brush piles from past ice storms. I got tired, and decided to sit down and take a break for a while. I sat down in one of those one piece plastic yard/porch chairs like you get at Walmart or whatever for like $7.

When I got up to go back to work, I noticed a deformation in the handle. It took me a minute to figure out what happened. I was wearing it in the sheath on my right side while sitting down. The sharp plastic corner of the right armrest was pressed against the handle as I was sitting in the chair. The pressure from my the width of my body was pressing it against the sharp edge. It wasn’t pressed very hard. (I’m not THAT big) That deformation is there to this day. You can see the pic of it below. I didn’t bother to send it back for replacement since it was not uncomfortable, and didn’t hurt the usability of the knife.

I do love Res-C though, and think it’s much more comfortable and shock/tempature resistant. It’s usually my first choice to do work with. Another thing I don’t like is that underneath the handle material, there is less metal in a Res-C than Micarta, so it would be somewhat weaker in comparison to a full Micarta handle. If I were going deep in the bush where it’s life or death and failure of any type is not an option, I’d want the strongest possible knife and choose Micarta. But anything else, I usually choose Res-C. Just a couple weeks ago, I grabbed my RM instead of the BR, because I realized I hadn’t used it since I got my BR.



As you can see, I’ve chopped some thick trees with my BR. (And yes, I chopped all the way through with just a knife)