North Edge Tools Double Black Hex Lanyard Bead, Linen Micarta and GripX, Made in USA (NET-BEAD-DOUBLE-BLACK)

Black on black. Linen micarta on one half, GripX on the other.

Same hex bead we have carried in the other colorways, built this time with no color at all. One half is linen micarta, the other is GripX, and both are black. In most light it reads as one solid piece and you only catch the seam when you turn it.

It Will Not Stay This Shade of Black

The micarta half fades as you carry it. That is the material doing what micarta does, and it is the reason these look better after a year in a pocket than they do on day one. If you want to slow it down, a little blade wax or even WD-40 brings the color back and buys you time.

We would leave it alone. The patina is half the point. You end up looking at a record of where the thing has been, which is more interesting than a bead that still looks like it did in the package.

Two Materials, One Color

Linen micarta is layered fabric set in resin, so it is warm in the hand and it wears. GripX is the textured material Dustin uses for inlays on his knives, and it holds its surface. Putting them together in the same black means the bead changes unevenly, with one half aging and the other staying put.

Specifications

• Brand: North Edge Tools
• Material: Linen micarta and GripX
• Color: Black on black
• Shape: Hex
• Maker: Dustin North, Colorado
• Country of Origin: Made in USA

About North Edge Tools

North Edge Tools is one person. Dustin North works out of Colorado and makes everything himself, beads included, on the same bench as the knives. A bead is the cheapest way to put a maker's work in your pocket, and this is a maker whose knives run several hundred dollars.

Proudly carrying American