Hey, Jeff.
Micarta is a composite made of melding cloth and resin. Linen micarta is a common material for scales on good knives. The canvas micarta I have has larger, more visible grain from the tighter weave of the linen. It looks like wood until you inspect it very closely.
I bought my bo from an aquaintance that also trains. I'm not certain on exact weight, but the micarta easily outweighs purple heart, which is very dense and heavy. The micarta I've found to be practically indestructible(I've broken other materials), at least in the 1 1/4" or so piece I have. I paid $100 for mine, but I believe the price had gone down a little in "production" examples. (I bought the first one.
)
The problem is, I heard the guy who made my bo finally got a "real" job. I do believe a 4' ("jo") length, 2" wide piece of this material would weight at least what an average rifle would weigh. Perhaps more. I'll see if I can get an idea of exact weight of my bo after I get home this evening.