A Different Bi-Directional FRN

[wrdwrght]

My recent acquisition of a Chaparral5 and a Maxamet Sage5 has made me aware of FRN scales with a Bi-Directional Texturing that is not typical of Seki models.

I’m often slow to the party. Who knows the future and reasons for this design, which is so satisfying in my hand?

[TimButterfield]

That was one of the reasons I bought my Maxamet Sage 5. These scales are not like any other I had. I like the pattern. It's slightly less aggressive than the regular one.

[Wartstein]

I find it cool that the pattern actually IS bidirectional, while this is less obvious to the eye at first glance than with the Seki and Golden variants.

I like it, though I could not say if better than the Seki/Golden pattern or not.

Only have that kind of "honeycomb" pattern on the Chap - not the best knife for comparing to Seki FRNs, cause the Chap is pretty unique (very thin, always held with finger in choil)

[Enactive]

Of the Spyderco FRN that I have used I like the Taichung pattern best. I find G. Sakai second best and Golden is the least preferred and snaggiest.

I have not used the old volcano pattern, nor the fishscale, Jess Horn, smooth (e.g. Centofante, Roadie), small squares (UKPK, Squeak, SpyDK, Urban) and whichever I have overlooked. I am curious about all of these.

I generally don't require the grippiest scales possible. I tend to like smooth or micro textured surfaces.

[Doc Dan]

The BDT on the Chaparral LW is very good and it doesn't snag. I like it....a lot. Is it better than Seki? I don't know about that. I think it depends on use. The Chaparral BDT is really good for knives that get carried a lot and might get used hard, in muddy, slimy situations every blue moon. The Seki BDT is better for more frequent hard, or muddy, or slimy use.

[Tristan_david2001]

It would be fun if these textures came back, even though I’m not a big frn fan. I don’t care for the modern bi directional pattern

[apollo]

IMG_4324.jpeg
It would be fun if these textures came back, even though I’m not a big frn fan. I don’t care for the modern bi directional pattern

I also miss the volcano grip texture on spydies myself. Sure it was maybe not as grippy as the new texture but i find it more appealing personally.

[MrGibson]

IMG_4324.jpeg
It would be fun if these textures came back, even though I’m not a big frn fan. I don’t care for the modern bi directional pattern

I hope any new FRN Caly 3/3.5s have the fish scale texture. My favorite pattern.

[capt.carl]

IMG_4324.jpeg
It would be fun if these textures came back, even though I’m not a big frn fan. I don’t care for the modern bi directional pattern

I enjoy the volcano on my salt 1. The caly jr fishscales look so nice too.
The taichung texture is definitely my favorite

[Tristan_david2001]

IMG_4324.jpeg
It would be fun if these textures came back, even though I’m not a big frn fan. I don’t care for the modern bi directional pattern

I also miss the volcano grip texture on spydies myself. Sure it was maybe not as grippy as the new texture but i find it more appealing personally.

I find that the more subtle textures do the trick for me. I don’t need a super abrasive texture like the wedge pattern on most of the modern frn models. It makes the knife feel more plastic-y if that makes any sense.

[Road Tripper]

I had a Chaparral FRN and Sage 5 LW, but moved them along because they snagged a bit going in out of pocket (blue jeans). I know there's a smooth spot for the clip, but I think it was the edges of the handle that were catching. By contrast, my Delicas and Manix LW are fine.

(I was able to get one of the closeout Sage 5 CF/G10 models and am very happy with it.)

[Tristan_david2001]

IMG_4324.jpeg
It would be fun if these textures came back, even though I’m not a big frn fan. I don’t care for the modern bi directional pattern

I hope any new FRN Caly 3/3.5s have the fish scale texture. My favorite pattern.

I do really love the fishscale pattern, I like that it’s unique to just the calypso jr. It suits that design to me. Im very interested to see what the frn calys texture design will be, part of me wants it to be unique. But the biggest part of me doesn’t actually want plastic handles at all. A classy design like the caly would be great with some linen micarta scales, I just hope frn doesn’t become the only option the future calys will be made with.