What should I do to keep my stag handle looking good and from cracking.

Can taking it out in the cold crack it? Humidity etc?

Only wash your knife with cold water.
When you use hot water, it can crack!
And sometimes a little bit of oil is good, too.

That´s all, what I do with my knives with stag.
And I´ve never had a cracked stag-handle!

I ran a test with some of my stag handled knives ...
I used them for the purpose they were meant. Then I gave them a perfunctory cleaning and guess what ... nothing happened!

Johnson's Baby oil or another oil for baby back

I agree with fabio--I use mineral oil on all my ivory AND STAG handles once or twice a year.

We've had lots of threads on this topic over the years. You might want to go back through the archives.

For me, I've decided that it's not so much the heat or cold, dryness or humidity hat causes the problems, but the changes from one state to the other, especially if it's rapid.

No doubt about it, though, stag prefers a little humidity and a little oil. Ed Fowler has changed my mind about mineral/baby oil, though. He says it discolors/yellows the stag (don't think anybody can argue with that one) and also softens it, and prefers rubbing a little oil from the side of your nose or from the back of your ears on the stag every once in a while. I know, it sounds dumb, but if anybody knows what he's talking about, it's Ed.

Lemon Oil works great. I have never had a stag handle crack and my Puma Hunters friend get lots of work in the wet and cold.

A friend of mine makes knives and sometimes restores old knives that people bring him. Some are over 120 years old. He uses Neatsfoot oil for the stag handles. Oil that is boiled from animal bones. I'm not sure of the exact name. I haven't figured out which kind yet. As I know some types smell downright disgusting, while others are practically odorless. If the old stag is very dry he soaks knife in this oil using a homemade vacuum pump , if the stag is fresh, then just wipe it from above. The results look pretty good. Has anyone tried this oil on Randall?

Neatsfoot "compound" is all I ever used. Good stuff.
Best,
Capt. Chris

Capt. Chris, thank you very much!