Cabella Griptillian D2 serrated

O

oldgranpa

Joined
Feb 12, 2004
Messages
44
Before the site outage you great people helped me find a D2 blade to add to my small collection. I went ahead and ordered the 3.45" D2 Griptillian from Cabella's with the (half) serrated blade. Thanks for the advice.

But I ordered the serrated blade just 'cause it looks more scary and I don't have a blade like that. Not sure if should have.

So, please tell me what advantages a half serrated blade has. Any cons?

Glad to see the site back. Congrats to the admin. for your computer skills.

og
 
FYI, I contacted Benchmade yesterday about the Griptilian with the D2 blade.
I asked if Cabellas was the only place to get the D2 & they said yes. I also asked if Benchmade planned on bringing out a Griptilian with the S30V blade & they said no, for now. They are trying to catch up on the backorders & they have no time to bring out new stuff....so they say.
I love the Grip, but I think that the added improvement of the S30V would be an awesome choice. You know they are going to do it, it's just a matter of when.
 
The two big cons of serrations are that they are difficult to sharpen without degrading the contours of the serrations and you can't do fine push-cutting like whittling. A lesser problem with thin blades is that it makes the blade weaker. Half serrations give you a section of blade that you can sharpen and use for push cutting, but it is not near the base where you do heavier work.

For a defensive knife the half serrations are in the wrong place. When you slash with a knife the last inch or two of blade closest to the tip does most of the work. That is where you would want the serrations for a defensive knife.

The advantage of serrations are greatest when you can use a sawing action and particularly if you can't apply a lot of pressure to what you are cutting. Cutting rope would be a prime example. The rope might not be well supported and all you can do is lightly saw at it. Nice long serrations would be great in that case. Half serrations are half as useful in that case. On a folding knife the serrated region starts to get so short that you lose a lot of sawing effectiveness.

I watched a guy trying to take down Christmas decorations from the side of the building. They were attached with light wire. He had to work one-handed. A serrated blade would have helped him a lot, but it would have been dulled in the process. Doing a neat resharpening job that preserved the shape of his serrations would then have been tricky. You can use a Spyderco Sharpmaker to get the sharpeness back, but the teeth will start to lose their shape with time. I don't own any serrated folding knives. I only use serrations on bread knives.
 
Thanks, guys,
I went back and read the FAQ. And I'm convinced I ordered the D2 serrated blade for "looks". I probably will never or very rarely ever use the serrated part of the blade. It just looks more scary to impress my friends.
Cheers,
og

Oh, BTW, e-mail confirmation from Cabellas says they are shipping the knife by airmail at no extra charge. Great service!!
 
I think you'll be surprised by how much you'll like this knife. And if this is your first AXIS lock, your going to love it. A good choice in a great steel. ;)
 
I agree with the serrated blade scariness factor. I got way too many fear inspired questions and comments when I used my combo edge SS Spyderco Delica at work. I didn't expect this at all, to me a knife is a combination of its function and visual appeal. But it did spook people.
 
Yes, I really like the axis lock on my BM705. So that was one selling point on the Cabella D2.
The lock on my Spyderco Native is solid too.
I'm a little unsure about liner locks although one I have seems real good.
The Spyderco knives, like the Native and Josh's Delica with the big hole in the blade are scary looking with just a plain blade. Since I already have one with the hole, I decided to get the Cabella without the hole (unlike the BM 806 or 550).
Folders are fun. I like the scary ones. But I carry the BM705 where 'scary' would not be appreciated.
og
 
I don't dare use my BM 710 at work, it would probably cause a few heart attacks!! :eek: I stopped carrying the Delica because I didn't like the comments I was getting even though I thought they were out of line and represented weak personalities. I now carry a SAK at work. Such is life.

I can't wait to get my D2 grip. I prefer the tumbstud openers to the opening hole. It will be my 2nd Axis lock. It will not be the last :D
 
D2
The Cabella GripD2 arrived today and it is a first class Benchmade knife. The 3.45" black combo blade had the MelPardue logo on one side, the Benchmade trademark on the other side with USA and 551. So this is the same as the old model 550 but without the thumbhole, two thumb studs are on the blade instead. There is a D2 marked behind one thumb stud. And it has the famous Benchmade Axis Lock with a full length SS liner on both side of the black grip. The liner is embeded a little down inside the grip so no shiney metal shows like on my 705. So, in the dark, this knife is all black with nothing to reflect light. It came in the standard Benchmade foam lined box but also had a nylon pouch with it. Didn't get a pouch with other Benchmades.
As they promised, Cabella shipped it priority air mail in a big box, I guess they have to do that so the postal service doesn't loose it.

The funniest part of this is the USPS (not UPS) tracking system for packages. Cabella provides a tracking number with orders. The USPS tracker still shows the package is in their system at the origin, just checked the tracker awhile ago. And here the package is already delivered. The postoffice system is still in the dark ages and can't even make a computerized tracking system work!! :eek: :p

I sure can recommend the Cabella D2 Griptillian.
og
 
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