Hate for serrated knives?

For a simple test, try cutting a pencil in half with a plain edge. Or better yet a plastic clothes hanger.

Serrations are easy to sharpen with a Spyderco SharpMaker.

(I also like coated blades and Tantos too - but I hate the mall.)

My knife is sharp, so cutting a pencil in half is easy. Push cut, It would be harder to saw at it with serrations. Being that I have a couple full serrated blades, they just don't cut as nice.
 
It is a mistake to group all serrations together as well, just like it is a mistake to say they are stupid because your personal use doesnt require them. Foe example Spyderco serrations are very different in form and function to Cold Steel super edge and Ka Bar serrations with a squared wave. Some are made for sawing, others to effectively give slashing physics to a push cut. There are a lot of poorly designed serrations and some which are excellent for their purpose. Serration type are just a design feature, like choice of steel or grind.

From reading all the posts it seems that those who like them, like myself have practical experience in using them. Interesting that it is often for rescue/emergency service too. I am a bit surprised that the other people who like combo edges like them for the same reasons as me :)
 
My knife is sharp, so cutting a pencil in half is easy. Push cut, It would be harder to saw at it with serrations. Being that I have a couple full serrated blades, they just don't cut as nice.

Maybe we should have a cutting contest. Plain edge vs. Serrated. On difficult things, like small PVC pipe, large zip ties, small electrical wire, things of that nature. No chopping, slashing, or batonning. Just one hand on the handle, and cut till you can't cut no more. Any plain edge guys want to play? Rat Frankenstein?
 
Simply one Mans (that has lived more than a half century) personal viewpoint:
I have both and use both.
For those living in an urban city street environment, a combo is perfect for a multitude of cutting needs encountered daily.
I don't dislike or like one over the other.

Two of the few companies that know how to design/produce efficient serrations are Spyderco and Gerber.
Cold Steele serrated blades while quite sharp, are impossible to sharpen due to the micro style of serrations.

As Mr. Bladepics says in post #12
"They are not scalpels"
(agreed) and in his case, he knows a serrated blade will save his life where a plain edge had failed.

And as Mr. Chris Larrikin mentions in post #14:
serrations should not shred or saw material; they should use geometry to maximize the depth of a cut with as little sawing or draw cutting cutting as possible; in effect you should pretty much be able to push the blade straight forward against the material and have the serrations do the slashing for you.

As Mr. 3f8 says in post #23:
"Get a diamond tapper rod sharpener and learn to love your serrations".

The blanket statements of:
"Partial serrations are pointless and generally ruin any knife they appear on."
and
"They are compleatly Sp (completely) unnessary Sp (unnecessary) if you know how to sharpen a knife."
or
"they are ugly"
and
"Serrations are for bread. Not man things."

are most often made by the 15 to 25 year old demographic.

If I were to find myself in a true survival situation in the jungle, woods or mountains with no dedicated sharpening tool.. I'll take a partially serrated blade over a plain edge any day.

I have no problem sharpening serrations and am skilled at it, here are a few of my preferred serration's, all cut cleanly, none rip, tear or shred.
(Btw, bites from Sharks teeth are not tears, rips or shreds... they are clean cuts, Sharks teeth as you all know are sharp and finely serrated)

We love our Natives:

Doubles_zpse1e998eb.jpg


Spydie Tasman Salt:
DSCN0569.jpg


German Bravo 1:
DSCN1224_zpsbf23f95d.jpg


Gerber Covert Auto:
GerberCovertAuto2.jpg


A Spydie Delica which I don't use much, the Orange Ritter is actually my favorite most comfortable plain edge I own, sharp and opens and closes smooth as silk.

SpydercoDelicaRitterMiniGriptilian_zps2ab48ba5.jpg


British knifesmith Rob Bayley's design, very easy to sharpen with very efficient and unique serration's

RobBaily1_zpsbd457b8a.jpg


RobBaily2_zps1a45fa0a.jpg


The other partially Serrated I own is a Gerber LMF II purchased seven years ago but never used.
And I own a fully serrated Spydie Civilian, simply as a collectors piece and because it's so freaky looking.

I don't discount or condemn serrated or even partially serrated knife blades, I enjoy using them, I like the way they look and know how to sharpen them.
To those that say: "you don't know how to sharpen a P.E. knife" or, "learn how to sharpen a knife so you don't need serration's", I reply: if you learn how to sharpen serration's they won't "tear" and "rip".
Again, just one Man's personal viewpoint.
 
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Very nice, Chambelona. Especially the Gerber Auto and the Baily. Nice
 
To those that say: "you don't know how to sharpen a P.E. knife" or, "learn how to sharpen a knife so you don't need serration's", I reply: if you learn how to sharpen serration's they won't "tear" and "rip". Again, just one Man's personal viewpoint.

And this, big time. Good call.
 
well made fully serrated knives have their place. However, I hate knives with a combo edge

I like the way victorinox does theirs, little waves beveled on one side. spyderco also makes nice more aggressive serrations.
 
I don't like combo edge knives. I can imagine if I was needing to cut a lot of tough material I might like to try a fully serrated blade but otherwise I want plain edges. When I started buying Benchmades I bought some with combo edges. In years and years of carrying them I never found anything that I thought the serrations were better for, otherwise they just reduced the useful edge of the knife.

Now I will not buy a combo edge knife unless I find a rare knife at a very good price. Unfortunately I find a lot of knives that I am interested in for sale at various places on the net, then I see serrations and I'm let down.
 
Serrations are for bread. Not man things.

My bread can kick your ass.

Seriously though, what does this mean? What makes a "man thing"

I make a loaf that has a hard crust with beer batter and jalapeños is it still not a man thing?

Or when my mother welds and installs a new header on her (now my) car engine, is that still a man thing even though she is not a man? What about when she hand forges a set of door handles?

To contribute to the thread, I have found combo edges to come in very handy in the past when I was of limited funds and ran in to hemp rope often. Now if I found myself in that situation again I would carry a second SE blade. CE blades are truly a compromise that accomplish neither of their goals well.
 
Don't forget, it could simply be personal opinion. In addition to what has been mentioned already, I just don't like combo edges. It's sort of like how I don't like purple cars. It is my personal opinion and absolutely nothing else. I can't put my finger on it, there's just something that rubs me the wrong way with them.
 
Don't forget, it could simply be personal opinion. In addition to what has been mentioned already, I just don't like combo edges. It's sort of like how I don't like purple cars. It is my personal opinion and absolutely nothing else. I can't put my finger on it, there's just something that rubs me the wrong way with them.

I respect your opinion 100%. I think that's where these threads go off-track big time. Some of the knives I carry aren't serrated, either. I really love them, but that's just how it worked out. But it's when people start saying stuff like "Serrations suck", "Serrations can't cut well", etc. that credibility is lost. Obviously serrations can do just about anything a plain edge can do, and in many cases, do it better. Especially if you know how to sharpen them. (It's not really that hard.)
 
I didn't like them. Then I tried them. They work, so now I like them. It's like having a whole bunch of little hawk blades lined up in a row. They're easy to sharpen if you know how. Trivially easy with a powered wheel. Partially serrated or fully. It's all good. In the end, sharp is sharp.
 
I respect your opinion 100%. I think that's where these threads go off-track big time. Some of the knives I carry aren't serrated, either. I really love them, but that's just how it worked out. But it's when people start saying stuff like "Serrations suck", "Serrations can't cut well", etc. that credibility is lost. Obviously serrations can do just about anything a plain edge can do, and in many cases, do it better. Especially if you know how to sharpen them. (It's not really that hard.)

And I respect that as well. I think another thing that needs to be brought into the equation is whose serrations we're talking about. Spyderco's I'm not horribly fond of while I'm more willing to tote around Kershaw's scalloped serrations due to personal experience.
 
I hate partial serrations, and have no use for full serrations. Most partial serrations are ~1" long, and do a better job at catching on things you're trying to cut than actually cutting them. I also think it ruins the aesthetics of the knife (most of the time). It's like convincing Jessica Biel to sleep with you, but then finding out the hard way that she has the vagoo of a Romanian pull-cart donkey.

I'm sure there is a material that serrations are better on, but I haven't run into it yet.

Wow...that's a pretty harsh mental image you've conjured up there!
 
In a marine setting, I would certainly opt of a serrated knife for clearing rope jams around prop shafts and whatnot. Serrations also excel at cutting things like electrical cable in which there are may strands of copper and/or thin steel or aluminum, and all sort of insulations. On the other hand, I'd never touch a serrated knife to a fish for example.

They have their place. I own a few. Good things to have in a bug out bag, a toolbox, or a glove compartment. Nice things to have on a multi-tool. They don't deserve the hate they get but I don't think we'll see them regain the prominence they had 20 years ago. Spyderco, for example, really seems to have built that company on serrated blades. Today, I'd guess, maybe those will account for maybe 1 in 5 items they sell...hell, maybe 1 in 20.

If you know how to sharpen a knife, serrations are much less useful and quite frankly make sharpening harder. I have come to terms with it. It is a whole different ballgame from plain edge sharpening and frankly, you're looking for a different end result...you'll never get that fantastic waterstoned and stopped quality to those serrated edges.

But...you wouldn't catch me operating a boat without one handy!
 
I'll probably catch flack for this, but while my wife was in undergrad years ago, she sold Cutco. Without having any prejudice of the brand I have a rather large collection of Cutco that I use often in the kitchen including multiple full serrated carving knives of various lengths. Not commenting on price or marketing tactics I always have and most likely always will reach for the serrated carvers when slicing up chicken, turkey on Thanksgiving, holiday hams, pork shoulder and butt roasts. Serrated knives do an excellent job for those tasks. I learned a phrase from the forum, "proper tool for the proper job," I think it went.
 
Although not a deal breaker for me, I don't love them. They are a pain to sharpen and do not look good aesthetically.
 
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