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- Sep 5, 2005
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On another thread about the Cold Steel Gunsite, Mongomando mentioned that he didn't like the way Cold Steel did its serrations. It got me thinking since there are so many preferences with serrations, should knife companies even bother with them at all?
As I've mentioned in other posts, I like Cold Steel's serrations. They don't bump, tear or twist what's being cut. I can't think of anything a CRKT serration pattern can cut and Spyderco has tried to mitigate them much as Cold Steel has tried. It seems no pattern is universally regarded as being useful. Still, the one thing I like about CS's pattern is that it can cut paper plainly and smoothly. I've found a CS serrated blade doesn't need sharpening for a very long time and, when it does, it's very easy to restore. To prove that, I took an old, worn Vaquero 5-inch (the kind they made before clips were universally used) and sharpened it using a Lansky "dogbone" sharpener made especially for that pattern. Although the teeth were worn, and the arcs were rounded and a bit dull, it was clear the knife still would have been a formidable weapon of defense. Having no experience with the dogbone sharpener, I was able to resharpen the entire knife within ten minutes and it cuts paper almost as cleanly as a plain edge.
On my Benchmade Ascent (wonderful knife), CRKTs, Kershaws and others, I've found the serrations to be of dubious use. I've also wondered that if they're necessary at all, are they in the right place? The back edge of a knife makes them almost useless for defense and very difficult to cut anything with. Also, what is it that they cut that makes them appear on a majority of folding knives now on the market? Nautical cord and nylon rope? Try it. Seat belts? Not with those wide arcs and big teeth!
Clearly, serrations make cutting wood extremely difficult, and the Cold Steel serrations are no exception. You simply can't use them for cutting bark from wood or cutting wood into chips, etc. With the larger blade size of the Voyagers and Gunsite, the half-serrated blades are less of a problem.
So what are your thoughts? Also, if there are any knifemakers here who make serrated blades, perhaps they can share their views. Maybe I'm missing something. I will say that with their 440A blades, Cold Steel put a slightly more robust set of teeth in their serrations; not as long and not prone to chipping. That particular pattern has convinced me that even 440A can be a very viable steel when used with such patterns.
I recall Cliff Stamp's review of the Byrd Cara Cara, where he credited much of the knife's raw cutting power to the serrations. "The section of serrations gave the Cara Cara a large advantage in edge retention when cutting abrasive materials, specifically it did quite well cutting used carpet...." In short, without them, the knife's performance would have been only so-so.
Thanks!
The serrations on this Gerber EZ-Out take up much of the
blade and they do a fair job of cutting, primarily because
they're not as "toothy" as some.
The pattern on this S&W Extreme Ops hawkbill makes it great
for trimming small branches, opening packages and other tough
cutting chores, but while finer than some, it's still a bit tougher
than the pattern on Cold Steel knives.
"What big teeth you have, grandma!" I still can't think of anything
this pattern would aid in cutting, and if I could, they'd be in the wrong
place on the blade. It would require strong push strokes.
Serrations on part of a blade is less of an issue if the
blade is large enough to have a respectable length of
plain edge.
Spyderco's serration pattern is another one that I like.
As I've mentioned in other posts, I like Cold Steel's serrations. They don't bump, tear or twist what's being cut. I can't think of anything a CRKT serration pattern can cut and Spyderco has tried to mitigate them much as Cold Steel has tried. It seems no pattern is universally regarded as being useful. Still, the one thing I like about CS's pattern is that it can cut paper plainly and smoothly. I've found a CS serrated blade doesn't need sharpening for a very long time and, when it does, it's very easy to restore. To prove that, I took an old, worn Vaquero 5-inch (the kind they made before clips were universally used) and sharpened it using a Lansky "dogbone" sharpener made especially for that pattern. Although the teeth were worn, and the arcs were rounded and a bit dull, it was clear the knife still would have been a formidable weapon of defense. Having no experience with the dogbone sharpener, I was able to resharpen the entire knife within ten minutes and it cuts paper almost as cleanly as a plain edge.
On my Benchmade Ascent (wonderful knife), CRKTs, Kershaws and others, I've found the serrations to be of dubious use. I've also wondered that if they're necessary at all, are they in the right place? The back edge of a knife makes them almost useless for defense and very difficult to cut anything with. Also, what is it that they cut that makes them appear on a majority of folding knives now on the market? Nautical cord and nylon rope? Try it. Seat belts? Not with those wide arcs and big teeth!
Clearly, serrations make cutting wood extremely difficult, and the Cold Steel serrations are no exception. You simply can't use them for cutting bark from wood or cutting wood into chips, etc. With the larger blade size of the Voyagers and Gunsite, the half-serrated blades are less of a problem.
So what are your thoughts? Also, if there are any knifemakers here who make serrated blades, perhaps they can share their views. Maybe I'm missing something. I will say that with their 440A blades, Cold Steel put a slightly more robust set of teeth in their serrations; not as long and not prone to chipping. That particular pattern has convinced me that even 440A can be a very viable steel when used with such patterns.
I recall Cliff Stamp's review of the Byrd Cara Cara, where he credited much of the knife's raw cutting power to the serrations. "The section of serrations gave the Cara Cara a large advantage in edge retention when cutting abrasive materials, specifically it did quite well cutting used carpet...." In short, without them, the knife's performance would have been only so-so.
Thanks!
The serrations on this Gerber EZ-Out take up much of the
blade and they do a fair job of cutting, primarily because
they're not as "toothy" as some.
The pattern on this S&W Extreme Ops hawkbill makes it great
for trimming small branches, opening packages and other tough
cutting chores, but while finer than some, it's still a bit tougher
than the pattern on Cold Steel knives.
"What big teeth you have, grandma!" I still can't think of anything
this pattern would aid in cutting, and if I could, they'd be in the wrong
place on the blade. It would require strong push strokes.
Serrations on part of a blade is less of an issue if the
blade is large enough to have a respectable length of
plain edge.
Spyderco's serration pattern is another one that I like.
Sure, a knife designed for the sole purpose of cutting bread and only bread should do a little better in it than a knife designed for more general use, but that doesn't mean the general use knife can't cut bread well enough. Hell, if I had that logic, I would need a Lamborghini just because it's faster than my current car, even though my current car does its job well enough. 