Cosmodragoon
New member
A lot of the exotic hardwoods used for grips contain oils that can not only be allergenic but can actually sensitize you if you weren't allergic before. This has been a major issue for people involved in woodworking, due to impregnated sawdust and tiny airborne oil droplets. Of course, those incidents dominate searches for reactions to exotic woods. Your exposure to the oils in a wood will always be much higher while working it. Some people who get sensitized while working these woods report later having problems just handling it.
Where I didn't have much luck is looking for reactions to the product alone. For instance, has anyone had a problem from using or handling grips/stocks made from exotic hardwoods? I've read maybe two accounts of reactions developing from EDC where a wood is up against skin or in hot climates where sweat is abundant. I think it was cocobolo in both cases. That didn't surprise me since cocobolo seemed to be the most notorious offender in what I read on woodworking forums. It is supposedly the worst of the Dalbergia family, which contains other problem woods like Rosewood.
Since a surprising amount of common wood can cause reactions in the shop too, and I haven't seen much about finished products, I wanted to put this out here. Has anyone had a reaction just to stocks/grips? If so, what kind of wood caused it? What was it like?
Where I didn't have much luck is looking for reactions to the product alone. For instance, has anyone had a problem from using or handling grips/stocks made from exotic hardwoods? I've read maybe two accounts of reactions developing from EDC where a wood is up against skin or in hot climates where sweat is abundant. I think it was cocobolo in both cases. That didn't surprise me since cocobolo seemed to be the most notorious offender in what I read on woodworking forums. It is supposedly the worst of the Dalbergia family, which contains other problem woods like Rosewood.
Since a surprising amount of common wood can cause reactions in the shop too, and I haven't seen much about finished products, I wanted to put this out here. Has anyone had a reaction just to stocks/grips? If so, what kind of wood caused it? What was it like?