Handle material
— Plastic. Plastic is often considered a cheap and low-quality material, but this is not entirely true for kitchen knives. The fact is that the term "plastic" in this case can mean various types of polymers, often with very advanced specifications. Most often, the quality of the plastic handle directly depends on the price category of the knife. With all this, the
plastic handles are strong enough to use the knife for its intended purpose for at least several months, are easy to clean, and are also resistant to water and kitchen chemicals.
— Wood. The wood is pleasing to the eye and touch, can withstand hits and falls without any problems, and its durable varieties are not necessarily expensive. At the same time, this material is sensitive to water — it “absorbs” water, loses its presentation, resistance to cracks, chips and scratches (which is not very high anyway) and can even “bloom”, which is generally unacceptable for a kitchen appliance.
Wooden handles are not used too widely — either in the cheapest knives, where durability is not important, or vice versa, in premium-class models, where wood plays the role of an stylish material.
— Steel. This material is considered one of the most hygienic: it is easy to clean, and the design of the knife has virtually no gaps in which dirt can accumulate. In addition,
steel handles look very solid, durable and
...hard, withstand hits and falls without any problems, and are also scratch resistant. On the other hand, a steel handle is more likely to slip out of your hand than a wooden or plastic one.
— Steel with an insert. A variant designed to eliminate the main disadvantage of all-steel handles (see above) — an increased likelihood of slipping. This is what inserts are used for: they are made of rubber, plastic or other similar material that increases the "grip" of the palm with the knife handle. The presence of inserts is the only difference between handles of this type and all-steel; the rest of the features are completely identical.
— Silicone. A material that looks and feels similar to the plastic described above, but has its own specifics. The main practical difference is that silicone is much softer, some of its varieties are similar to rubber. This provides a more comfortable and secure hold in the hands; in addition, the silicone surface is often made slightly rough, which improves grip and further reduces the likelihood of slipping. On the other hand, this material is more expensive than plastic, and the advantages described are not decisive; therefore, silicone handles are not common, mainly among premium knives (although there are exceptions).Plastic type
The type of plastic used in a knife handle.
See "Handle Material" for general features of this material. The specific types of plastic found in modern kitchen knives are very diverse in price and quality. In low-cost models, the following options are mainly used:
— ABS plastic. One of the most inexpensive varieties of plastic; relatively fragile and brittle material that does not tolerate heat, temperature extremes and exposure to the sun. However, with proper quality and careful handling, such a handle can last quite a long time.
— Polycarbonate. More advanced than ABS, and at the same time quite affordable kind of plastic. It is thanks to this combination of affordability and practicality that polycarbonate is popular in the market.
— Polypropylene. Polypropylene is notable primarily for its light weight and high hardness, making it highly resistant to abrasion and scratches. This material is sensitive to sunlight and oxygen, but these shortcomings are often compensated by the use of special additives. Also, polypropylene can be supplemented with elastomer — a soft and elastic material that makes the handle more pleasant to the touch.
— Bakelite. One of the first plastics in history that still has not lost its relevance. One of the interesting features of bakelite is heat resistance: even on an open fire, such material is charred, but does not melt or burn.
In turn, premium knives can be used, in particular, the followin...g types of plastics:
— G10. One of the varieties of fibreglass is glass fibre with a plastic filler. G10 is characterized by excellent strength and durability, this material perfectly tolerates moisture and temperature changes, and it is quite difficult to scratch it. Fibreglass weighs much more than carbon fibre; on the other hand, its price is much lower.
— Carbon fibre (carbon fibre, Carbon Fibre, etc.). Composite material in the form of carbon fibre threads filled with plastic filler. This combination provides low weight and at the same time extremely high strength — even relatively simple grades of carbon fibre are not inferior to steel in this respect. However and these handles are not cheap. In addition, this material is sensitive to specific loads, namely point impacts — this may cause cracks on it. However, for such a "trouble", most likely, a very unfortunate set of circumstances will be required.
— Mikarta. Composite material, a kind of textolite, consisting of layers of fibrous material filled with polymer. The composition of the base and the filler may be different, sometimes it is displayed directly in the title — for example, Canvas Micarta uses fabric as the base (canvas — canvas). At the same time, regardless of the varieties, the manufacturing technology of such a handle involves high-pressure sintering. Due to this, a very strong, reliable and durable material is obtained, insensitive to moisture, high temperatures and sunlight, pleasant in appearance and to the touch. With all this, micarta is inexpensive, it is suitable even for low-cost kitchen knives.
— Packawood. Material based on laminated wood combined with synthetic resins. For such handles, different types of wood can be used, which allows you to get different patterns on the surface; and the possibility of using coloring additives further expands the variety of design of such knives. Externally, such handles are indistinguishable from wooden ones, but they are much harder, stronger and more resistant to moisture.
