Rubber

Rubber is a versatile material used in knife production to make handles. Its main characteristics are maximum resilience, durability and imperviousness to oil and moisture. The substance was originally called caoutchouc and subsequently became known as India rubber.

It was first presented as a technical material at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851 by the US chemist and inventor Charles Nelson Goodyear. By tapping the bark of the rubber tree, a white milky liquid also known as latex is collected. The tree grows up to 20 meters tall and is indigenous to the tropical regions of Africa, South America and Asia. Goodyear mixed this natural substance with sulfur and vulcanized it to achieve the elasticity of rubber. Today, most available rubber is synthetic.