Are partially serrated blades really all that bad?

[iBlade]

SE are sharp but harder to sharpen once dulled, a PE can be made sharper if you know what you are doing (I do not), however as others have said serrations are good with bread, tomatoes and possibly on a diving knife - but not much else.
A good plain edge will probably be more useful for EDC in the long run, unless you do some specialty job involving cutting lots of rope - in which case a knife is probably not the best tool for the job.

 

[Josh K]

SE are sharp but harder to sharpen once dulled, a PE can be made sharper if you know what you are doing (I do not), however as others have said serrations are good with bread, tomatoes and possibly on a diving knife - but not much else.
A good plain edge will probably be more useful for EDC in the long run, unless you do some specialty job involving cutting lots of rope - in which case a knife is probably not the best tool for the job.

I don't know about you, but my PE blades can slice a tomato better then most SE blades. Something about not having to saw back and forth, just a straight gliding cut through the tomato for a paper thin, totally delectable, wafer of tomato.

 

[GRIM 62]

All or none,preferably none.

 

[pvicenzi]

To me, they are a compromise. When you need serrations, they are not as good as a fully serrated edge, and when you need a plain edge, they are not as good as a full plain edge.

 

[Let It Bleed]

thin . . . wafer of tomato.

Mr. Creosote I presume.

 

[akadave2]

For a cutting tool they are just fine. They would be difficult to sharpen in the field without specialized sharpeners but otherwise they are fine. I just dont like serrated or partially serrated blades for the most part.

 

[J.Mattson]

I very much prefer plain edged blades. I think they look better, cut better and are easier to sharpen (after use I will usually give a knife a minute or so on a strop, hard to do with a serrations). Serrations do though have they’re uses. If the blade is long enough I don’t mind them. I also don’t mind blades that are fully serrated.

Most combo edges remind me of a common mistake that car makers do. When you try to make your product do two things at once often times its not very good at either.

 

[vjb.knife]

I have had a few but, personally I don't think they do a better job on any material than a well sharpened plain edge and as an ex-Commercial Diver I did and still do cut a lot of rope, etc.

I also agree with some here that depending on the design of the serration; they are difficult if not impossible to bring back to a factory edge at home.

For instance the most common Spyderco serrations can be very effectively re-sharpened if you own a set of these ceramic rods that have the exact profile of the spyder serration on them but unfortunately Spyderco has not made them for about 10 years or more.

Even with the profiler you are not completely sharpening them. And the serrations made by some other companies are worse yet, Cold Steel for instance really suck to resharpen.

 

[J.Mattson]

I’ve never seen rods like that before

 

[Josh K]

I’ve never seen rods like that before

Me either. Interesting.

Sprint run in blue sal?

 

[OD-SnG]

I hate the looks of a serated knife and find no use for one. Give me a plain edge anyday, ive never come across anything i couldnt do with a sharp plain edge.

 

[colin8]

I hate the looks of a serated knife and find no use for one. Give me a plain edge anyday, ive never come across anything i couldnt do with a sharp plain edge.

x2, I have never found any need for a serrated edge (not saying that no one needs one). The one knife that I do have that's combo edged doesn't ever really get much pocket time.

 

[walleyeguy7]

i could live with them. maybe


edit: i dont know why people always bring up diver and mariners and rope cutting when it comes to serrations. have you ever tryed to cut thick braided nylon rope with serrations? they catch and kill the momentum of the sweep. same with fibrous materials really. much less efficient than a plain edge. serrations are better for cutting very very forgiving materials, and notching wood, etc

 

[Hawkings]

I don't mind serration. Its true they don't leave a super clean cut, but I don't really need that often anyway.
I just need them to whittle a point on a stick,make a fuzzstick, cut an apple, open stuff and every day stuff like that. I'm not doing brain surgery or anything like that.
That being said, I would normally take a PE over a SE given the choice, but I don't loose sleep over it, if I don't get the choice.

 

[peanuts]

Fully serrated or plain, hate combo blades. It would actually stop me buying a knife. Don't like the look either.

 

[Alarion]

I hear and read quite a bit about guys who dislike partially serrated blades? What are your thoughts gentlemen? I only have one partial unit and that's my Delica.
You buy or don't but them because?? Thanks.

Yes. Especially in short bladed knives.
They are very specialized blades and are almost always useless if not a damn hindrance. A plain blade correctly sharpened can handle all a serrated blade can do, and much more.
Apart for cutting bread, I never used a serrated blade and I'm perfectly happy this way.
Serrated blades are just commercial hype and a fashion thing. Knives have been plain edged for the last 20 thousand years. And for very good reasons.
Now, a knife can have just so many features, but manufacturers have to think about some new characteristic to differentiate their product and sell more. Enters the serrated edge. :jerkit:

 

[Salvatore2]

I find that most of the time, serrations will snag and tear up the material I am cutting. I am a perfectionist, I like to cut materials as smoothly and neatly as possible, and serrations are difficult for me to sharpen, even though I have the means for which to do so.

I don't think serrations help much more than a razor sharp plain edge, and plain edges are easier (for me) to maintain.

Though, I personally like serrations when I am in the kitchen, And Cutco seems to have done their "Double D" Edge very well (What is essentially serrations). For food prep, I generally prefer serrations, however, for E.D.C tasks, I will take a plain edge any day.

 

[bchan77]

I also don't care for serrations. In fact if given a serrated knife I usually lose interest.

 

[Hawkings]

Yes. Especially in short bladed knives.
They are very specialized blades and are almost always useless if not a damn hindrance. A plain blade correctly sharpened can handle all a serrated blade can do, and much more.
Apart for cutting bread, I never used a serrated blade and I'm perfectly happy this way.
Serrated blades are just commercial hype and a fashion thing. Knives have been plain edged for the last 20 thousand years. And for very good reasons.
Now, a knife can have just so many features, but manufacturers have to think about some new characteristic to differentiate their product and sell more. Enters the serrated edge. :jerkit:

Well that is not exactly true, plain edges only emerged very recently, when man became able to make knives out of metal.
Before that, most blades were made mostly out of stone and indeed very much serrated.

 

[tirod3]

True - but it could be said most of what we cut then needed a serrated edge. Once man made materials became common, the plain edge metal knife became the standard.

As for the short time span stone knives were knapped - that's a completely different subject open to a lot of opinion and very little actual evidence.