Endura?

Joined
May 6, 1999
Messages
402
Hello all. I have settled on buying a Spyderco Endura for a utility pocket carry knife. I can not decide on which blade style to get. The plain edge, combo edge, or fully serrated. Which blade style do you prefer and for what reasons?
Thanks, Big D1
 
I have Enduras in all three configurations...plain, 50/50, and fully serrated. For some reason, I prefer the Endura in fully serrated, although your preference should depend on what use you put it to. For most chores common to most pocketknives, a plain edge may be preferable. I use my fully serrated Endura for rough cutting such as cardboard, rope, etc. And I usually also am carrying a plain edge knife, such as the Military for those types of cuts.
Jim
 
I carry a Wayne Goddard Ltwt with the 50/50 edge. I really like this knife. I carry it everyday on duty. I like the edge because i can use the plain edge for fine work and the serrations for when i have to rip something .
 
I have an Endura in plain edge and love it. I prefer the plain edge because, to me, a serrated blade is not versatile enough. I can cut cardboard or rope (something I don't do that often, by the way) with a sharp plain blade, but I can't get a fine cut with a serrated blade. Perhaps if I worked on a ship or something like that, I'd go with serrated. But I carry my Endura as a general purpose pocketknife, so plain edge it is.
 
This can be a frustrating question, because there's no obvious right answer. Serrated edges have some performance advantages in slicing some types of materials, and they stay sharp forever. Plain edges are useful for more types of cutting.

I prefer plain edges. They cut more materials better, and can also do finer-cutting that's difficult to do with serrated edges. Also, by sharpening with the right grit, plain edges can approach serrated-edge performance even when slicing tough materials. In addition, even though serrated edges might outslice plain edges, there are times that push-cutting is fastest of all, and only plain edges do push-cutting. For example, my serrated endura is slightly faster than my plain endura for slicing poly rope, but I can actually push-cut my plain endura through the rope faster than either knife can slice it! For an all-around knife, plain edges win for me.

All-serrated, for me, is a specialty setup. Great if I'm going to be cutting very tough stuff all day, and would like the knife to stay sharp forever. Whenever I carry an all-serrated knife, I also carry a plain edge to handle the jobs that serrated doesn't do well.

Some people find partially-serrated to be "best of all worlds". They can fine-cut with the plain part, and cut rough materials with the serrated part. But some people, myself included, find partially-serrated to be "worst of all worlds". I find the resulting shortened plain edge part to be not that useful -- for one example, for something like food prep, a short plain edge followed by a short serrated edge are pretty much useless for many jobs. On the other hand, for anyone who does a lot of slicing, and doesn't understand how to optimize their plain-edge sharpening strategy for great slicing, partially-serrated makes lots of sense to me.

Which edge works best for you is really dependent on what you cut. Of course, it works the other way as well -- if you carry a serrated edge, every job looks like a slicing job. You can do zipper cuts by catching a hook and pulling down.

Over time, your strategy should be to get one kind of blade, then down the line buy the other kind, and see which works best for you.

Joe
 
Count me among the minority who prefer combo edges. I use the plain section for fine work and push cutting and the serrated section for, believe it or not, just about everything else.

Please do not even think that I put myself anywhere near Joe T's catagory when it comes to knife knowledge; and my approaching statement about food prep is not intended as a disagreement with him so as to impky that I know more than him (for be it from the truth) but, I have to say that two of the most common types of "food prep" I do relatively daily with a small combe edged folder (154CM EDC) is bagel cutting and citrus fruit (oranges and grapefruits, mostly) cutting.

In these two uses, though my Sebenzas cut them as if they do not exist, the plain part pierces and cut the softer media and the plavcement of the serrated section coincides with the crusty part of the bagel and the skin of the fruit. By rotating the bagel, orange, grapefruit, whatever, I "saw" cut through the crust or skin and slice the softer material inside.

I also cut cardboard fairly often and find the aft placed serrated section ideal for this. It's also better to get the shipping tape gunk on the serrated part rather than the forward plain part so as to keep the plain edge nice for "nice" work until I get a chance to hit the blade with lighter fluid or solvent. Bottom line for me, a small (less than 50/50) section of serrated is just fine; though I do prefer plain edge for their looks and for other types of cutting ... like general food prep.;)
 
One part of this discussion always troubles/confuses me. That is the efficacy of a fully serrated blade versus a plain edge in a comba knife.

I may well be wrong, but I seem to remember either a magazine article or a Cold Steel ad which suggested that the fully serrated blade is more effective for combat. I know that materials like leather are more easily cut with a serrated edge than a plain. But, it seems to me that serrations carry to potential for the teeth to snag on various and sundry things/places in a combat situation.

Some people view knife combat as a primarily slashing business. I tend to see it as a stabbing sort of affair. While that might in itself answer my question, I'd still like to hear the opinions of others, particularly Joe, on this single, narrow issue.

Thanks,
 
BigD1,
For a novice like myself I find the plain edge easier to sharpen
after it has been used. I use the Sharpmaker 204.

I used the serrated for awhile and really like it. In fact I like it so much I boutht a plain edge and it is enroute to me. Hopefully it arrived today.

Look around a see if anyone has one available for sale here. You could probably get two nice users, one plain and one serrated for the price of one new one. Which is what I did.

Good luck and be safe,
Mike
 
Plain edges are much more useful, not to mention easier to sharpen.
 
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