
Ganzo’s seem to come in an endless variety of scale types, and I seem to come in an endless variety of impulse control fail. After a year or so I have an example of most of types and thought I would share my thoughts. I will go from left to right and then down the columns in the photo.
Geometric Milled G10 (Excellent) - Traction 7/10 - Ganzo G735 - This is G10 with a large brick pattern that has been milled out in geometric shapes. The large brick G10 by itself is medium grip, higher than the small brick G10 on most Ganzo’s and I like it quite a bit. The milled shapes add even more traction to the grip, bumping them up to high grip overall. I prefer knives with medium-high grips and these are some of my favorites.
Small Brick G10 (EDC Fan Favorite) - Traction 4/10 - Ganzo G739 - These are your standard Ganzo scales. They are medium low traction. They work, they do not eat your pants, they are just fine. I prefer more grip, but these scales are nicely balance for EDC use. Most users will prefer these scales.
Old Wavy Milled G10 (NOT Recommended) - Texture 12/10 - Ganzo G716 - This is Ganzo’s first attempt at wavy milled G10 and has unforgivingly sharp edges. You will never ever ever ever loose your grip on this knife. It will however eat your pants with extreme prejudice, it will fray the pocket after just the first day of use. I love this knife, its supper ergonomic, its amazingly grippy, its sexy looking, but it is so brutal on pants I had to relegated to a tool pack.
New Wavy Milled G10 - Traction 8/10 - Ganzo G739 - This is Ganzo’s second attempt at wavy G10 and is a much more elegant execution. In hand these are fantastic the sharp edges are mostly gone but it still sticks to your hand. They do still rough up your pockets, its not as fast but you can feel the waves digging into your pocket. Also the texture is slightly more aggressive on the ends than in the middle, likely to moderate out the grip. I like these scales in hand, but they are still hard on my pockets, so I tend to avoid them for EDC.
Full Carbon Fiber (Beautiful) - Traction 2/10 - Ganzo G741 - I love carbon fiber and these are full carbon fiber not just a veneer, so these are my favorite scales. However they are more expensive than G10 Ganzo’s and basically have no texture. Like I said above I strongly prefer medium high traction on my knives, so I’m a bit conflicted with this type. However aesthetics wins over function here, especially when pared with Ganzo’s ergonomically shaped knives. As I mentioned in a previous post they are full carbon fiber not just a veneer.
Silly Shape Milled G10 (Excellent) - Texture 7/10 - Ganzo G732 - We again have Ganzo’s large brick G10 that is with silly shapes this time. In hand I like these quite a bit they are very grippy, and they are not hard on your pocket. The silly shapes milled into it do have odd angles to catch the skin of your fingers. IMO this is the kind of pattern you get when your crack team of uber geek autistic engineers who make world class knifes for $15 are asked to be artistic. Like Brienne of Tarth, I am quite fond of this exceptionally functional pattern and will chose it over most others, but its far from beautiful.
Griptillianesk FRN (not great) - Traction 6.5 - Ganzo G726 - These scales work just fine, but the materials pattern and execution come off as a bit cheep. Functionally they are nice grip, but they do have several hot spots, and in hand do not give you a feel of quality. These are several dollars less than G10, but I’d say spend the extra money for another model with better execution.
Boxy FRN (Excellent) - Traction 7/10 - Ganzo G724 - I really like these scales, the base texture is more coarse than the Griptillian like pattern, and the square shapes offer a better more comfortable grip over all. These feel high quality, and are as good as any of the G10 models with the benefit of a lower price point.
Pipe Pattern G10 - Traction 6/10 - Ganzo G723 - If you are a fan of Supper Mario these grips will feel just like home. I cant pick them up with out seeing a fat bald Italian man running around in the “pipes”
The G10 is sanded smooth, and the cut outs add a nice amount of grip. They look nice enough and are just fine in hand.
*Boxy Milled G10 (Excellent) * Traction 7/10 Ganzo G722 - This G10 is also milled smooth, but the boxy cut outs are more grippy. The smooth section is finished in a way that give sit some luster and almost looks like a layered Micarta. I really like them as they give the knife a very sophisticated look and feel in hand while also making for a very positive grip. The grips on this particular knife are very thick making the it excessively heavy, but if these were done thinner like on other models I’m sure the wight would be more in line with typical Ganzo’s.
TL;DR
I love the Carbon Fiber Scales despite their lack of texture, the milled G10 varieties are the most grippy with out damaging your pants pocket, the plane G10 is likely the best balance for most EDC users, and the wavy G10 will stick to your hand but eat your pants. Plastic scale Ganzo’s are hit and miss.