G10 and Carbon Fiber: What's The Difference?

There are so many choices for handle materials available on the market today. So. Many.

Plastics, polymers, Micarta, laminates, stabilized woods, bone, ivory, stag, and many more. There’s also my personal favorites so far as astonishing strength, durability and resilience go: G10 and Carbon Fiber.

How To Choose The Best Knife For You Reading G10 and Carbon Fiber: What's The Difference? 1 minute Next Dawson Swords: Not Just For Show

By John RoyJun 17, 20200 comments

There are so many choices for knife handle materials available on the market today. So. Many.

Plastics, polymers, Micarta, laminates, stabilized woods, bone, ivory, stag and many more. There’s also my personal favorites so far as astonishing strength, durability and resilience go: G10 and Carbon Fiber.

Let’s start with G10. What is it? G10 is a composite material, made by layering sheets of epoxy-soaked glass cloth, then compressing the layers together under extreme heat and high pressure until the layers fuse and the epoxy cures. It’s extremely tough, standing up even to direct hammer blows without breaking, never mind accidentally dropping it on a rock in the woods. It comes in many colors. It’s also waterproof.

Most natural materials, even stabilized ones, can be susceptible to discoloration and changes in humidity over time. Staying wet for extended periods almost always results in warping or cracking. But G10 scoffs at both humid jungle environs and soaking wet white-water adventures. It makes an excellent textured handle, providing a hand-hugging, slip-resistant grip. Plus, we custom design and shape each of our handles with real human hands in mind, for a comfortable, intuitive feel that avoids hot spots.

Carbon Fiber.

Carbon fiber is also sometimes known as graphite fiber. It’s made from thin, strong micro-fine threads or “filaments” of almost 100% pure carbon. The filaments are twisted together in much the same way yarn is twisted, then woven into a sort of badass super-cloth.

Carbon fiber cloth is 5 times stronger than steel, twice as rigid and much lighter. This cloth is then saturated with a special resin, layered and compressed under high pressure to make the woven carbon fiber you see on some of the handles on our custom pieces, and the look that most people think of when they think of carbon fiber. Plus it comes in any color you want, so long as it’s black.

But our composite engineering friends didn’t stop there. New challenges beckoned!

"We craft all of our knives to stand the test of time. We needed handle materials that could keep up. G10 and Carbon Fiber are it."

Outcast, White + Black G10

Jaecar Select Bowie, Woven Carbon Fiber bolsters

Crusader Broadsword, Marble Carbon Fiber handle

Nomad, Blue + Black G10

Marble Carbon Fiber.

Marble carbon fiber is manufactured in a similar way, by taking those same super-strong carbon fiber strands and mixing them with resin, then compressing the whole shebang under about 1800 tons of pressure. That stuff’s tough, believe me. Also waterproof, extremely heat-resistant and awful sexy looking. It has a totally unique, multi-dimensional appearance that looks great with a nice matte polish, especially against the rich ore-vein tones of our Scorched Earth finish.

We’re introducing marble carbon fiber this year to our lineup, for much the same reason we chose G10. It’s a good-looking, premium handle material that’s going to stand up to whatever you can dish out and keep right on truckin’.

We craft all of our knives to stand the test of time. We needed handle materials that could keep up. G10 and Carbon Fiber are it.

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Dawson Swords: Not Just For Show

How To Choose The Best Knife For You

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Blown away!!

Like most I’ve owned knives since I was a kid. Starting with a Buck 110 as a kid, and lots of gas station folders. In recent years I got the bug to get nicer knives. A $100 folder here and there. A couple of decent fixed. I was never blown away. All that changed when my Dawson order arrived last week. Just amazing. Weight, quality, feel. Just a superior experience. I am… finally Blown Away by a knife. 2 actually. I bought the Contractor and the Sheppard. Love em both!!

One is not enough

Began with the beautiful little Harvester. Such a comfortable fun little knife that will be at my side every time I'm camping. I followed it with the Reaper. Wanted something a little bigger so I can bushcraft in style. So excited for a stretch of warmer weather to put these to an outdoor test. They have both already aced the "dang that is a GREAT looking knife" test!

It’s what I expected. NICE. This is # 4 TKS.

First purchase.

Received my nomad and absolutely love it. Loved it enough I ordered a Shepard, marauder, and seraphim.

I could not love this knife more

Upon starting my search and research on Dawson knives, the hardest part of it all was trying to decide what model to get. I knew whatever I picked would be amazing from the commitment and passion written in the words on the webpage and looking at all the happy customer feedback that’s already there. When I got the knife, I was still blown away. It is amazing, perfect weight, razor Sharp, thick enough to trust to last, and feels great in the hand. The customer support staff was so amazing to help me with my order that wasn’t quite custom but had a few tweaks. Thank you all!

Harvester

This is an incredibly unique blade from the shape to the pattern. Mine is a wildfire with red and black grip. I switched out key components like my preferred pocket clip and added a luminescent copper bead to find it in the dark along with a ferro rod to the sheath. Definitely one of my favorite edc blades to carry. Handle is slightly bulky but it makes it easier to grab to draw so I wouldn't say it's a problem or con but just a preference. Looking at some of the larger blades for next purchase.

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G10 and Carbon Fiber: What's The Difference?

G10 VS. CARBON FIBER:
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?