How many of us do like serrations?

jeegeet

jeegeet

Joined
Jan 2, 2000
Messages
356
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So, If you don't like them, tell us that in another thread
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. There is even one going.

I like serrations because:
  • They cut better through some types of materials. I do not like low grit sharpened eges. They look ugly (to me) and I have an impression the don't last long. For this reasons I always polish my edges.
  • They give a blade wilder look which I like.
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I like 2/3 plain 1/3 serrated ratio on a 4" blade. That gives me enough plain blade for most of the needs and enough of the serrated blade too.

How about you guys?

Kris

 
Kris,
How's that Nimravus doing?

I like serrations for the same reasons. Plus I like to have a razor sharp plain edge, and the serrations will cut faster even when they are dull, through certain materials.
I just wish they were easier to sharpen!
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Riley
Do it right,or not at all.
 
I like them. I almost changed my handle to "The Serration Guy". Although I don't like 1/2 serrated as much. When you need serrations to do some real saw-like cutting, it's always better to have more leverage, and that means having the serrations on the far end.
 
I love serrations, just about all my knives have them, whenever I get fixed blades I also try to get serrated ones, Even if I got a Sebenza I probally would have it serrated,
IMHO I think that a blade looks naked without them, but that is just my opinion....
 
Try field dressing big game, first with a plain blade, then a partially serrated one.
Anyone who doesn't like serrations will change their mind quickly.


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George
StarPD
 
Yeah, I lik'em too. Partial serrations on the larger blades give knives additional versatility. I don't even mind a fully serrated blade since I always carry two knives. But I only like the large, aggressive
serrations (eg. Spyderco, Kershaw). They make short work out of the tougher cutting tasks, have a longer "serration" blade-life, and give a blade that "don't f___ with me" look.
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I like em too. Thought I was the only one. Keep Bucking the Trend Guys !

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Visit john@cumberlandknives.com

<A HREF="http://www.cumberland-knives.com" TARGET=_blank>www.cumberland-knives.com
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for all your knife needs.
 
You know, I really sawbacks too. That trend seems to have died. Even in the knifemaking community
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I like the serrated edges on my Spyderco's, but dislike the small serrations on my Cold Steel knives.
 
I like them when they're done well, ie Spyderco's. Good cutting while able to be sharpened. I have a partially serrated CPM 440v Native that has a 35/65 plain to serrated ration making it almost like a fully serrated knife. Plain edges are better for lots of tasks but it's a matter of choosing the right tool and since I carry more than one knife I have a few options of what blade to use.

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Simon Yu

"I look at it this way. If things get much worse I'll be too dead to care."
 
For making quick, rough cuts in heavy canvas, rope or other tough materials, I like to keep a serrated knife on my workbench. I use an old cheapie that never gets sharpened and never fails to cut. I've field dressed game with both kinds of blades, and with half-serrated. But the half-serrated style isn't my preferred on game--serrations aren't where you need them when you need them most, IMO. The old Buck Selector, with one drop point smooth blade and one drop point serrated was at one time my favorite set-up.
Now, however, the new CPM steels seem to cut the tough stuff, including hide and cartilage, just as well as serrations, with their profusion of aggressive vanadium carbides. David Boye's dendritic stuff also cuts aggressively enough to replace serrated blades in most applications. I recently exchanged a new Random Task half serrated for a straight blade, and the 440V straight edge cuts rope and cardboard much better than the serrated--doesn't hang up like the serrated edge tended to, on the points of the serrations.
I think the best serration pattern yet is the one designed and deployed by Kit Carson, and exhibited on Buck's Intrepid series and others. Ka-Bar's pattern is much the same--reverse image, smooth scallops that don't have long teeth to hang on subject material.
These serrations are wickedly efficient, strong, and easier to sharpen than the more traditional, pointed tooth style.
IMO-WY (never ask WY)
 
Considering the abuses I put my knives through, I would be resharpening a straight blade every other day. That's why I like serrations. Then again, mebbe sitting down with a whetstone and a straight blade every night would be good therapy....

Anyway, I always have at least one straight blade on me too, so I can pick and choose.

Dave.

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Icarus should have listened to his father.
 
My whole collection consits of partial serrations. 30 knives ,save a protech sidekick,and a dalton cupid.I just love the look of those Blades.

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Thats a Good ONE
 
Well, much as I generally say I hate serrations (I just rarely cut french bread with a pocket knife), I took a fine file to my SAK and went after the seat belts of an old wreck, and that thing did wonders. Worked much better than a serrated Spyderco that a friend had. So, if you include that sort of micro-serrated edge, you can get another vote for serrations. If not, then I have to say I hate them for anything other than bread (and rope which is under tension).

--JB

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e_utopia@hotmail.com
 
Just to add a note to what Will said, I would wonder how many people who like serrations for general cutting have used high performance plain edges. Steve Harvey made an important point when he said that serrations are cut much more acute than the profiles of most plain edges, recut one of your plain edge blades to match and see what the performance ratio changes to. Or try a blade from Wilson, Boye, Schott, Martin etc . .

That being said I do like serrations, they don't cut cardboard, fabrics, strings etc., better than the high performance plain edges I own, but they are more durable with respect to heavy use (impacts off of rock), and they can saw through certain types of heavy cord better and will saw/tear even when quite blunt (like a plain edge will chop). As a specific example, my Project I from Chris Reeves will cut half-way through 1/4" poly at 30 lbs of force, the wave serrations can saw right through the cord with less effort. If you are cutting unsupported heavy rope under tension they are very nice to have. If the rope if loose you can just make a loop and pull the blade through, this is easily done on 1/4" and 1/2" hemp and poly rope. Which makes me curious as to what the limit would be. I will have to get some 3/4" and 1" cord next time I pass by a hardware store.

-Cliff

[This message has been edited by Cliff Stamp (edited 04-30-2000).]
 
By and large I'm not a serration fan, but a situation came up recently where a serrated blade worked perfectly.

I was out pruning my banana trees. Weird thing about banana trees, you plant one, and 2 years later you have 10! Anyway, banana tree limbs are weird. The limbs themselves are very soft and pulpy; however, they have tough strings running through them. You don't want to have too much of a push-cut component through them, because it crushes the limb.

I started out with a short machete, but sometimes it wouldn't get through the last batch of strings, and would rip the limb. If I did it faster, it'd go all the way through the limb, but then hit another soft pulpy limb that I didn't want to cut.

I switched over to my Leatherman Wave. Plain edge, as sharpened from the factory (unused) didn't work well at all, it had a lot of trouble with the stringy fibers. Sawblade worked okay, but the pulpy limb interfered with how fast it cut, and it left ragged cuts. The serrated blade was the winner by far -- made much smoother cuts than the saw blade, didn't fill up with pulp, and cut through the tough stringy fibers no problem.

Would a high-performance plain edge have worked better than the serrations? I'm not so sure -- my deerhunter fared better but still not as good as the Wave's serrated blade.

So there ya go -- I found a serrated blade application for ya!
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Joe
 
Originally posted by Riley:
How's that Nimravus doing?
Click to expand...

Hi Tomm,

Great knife! Holding great so far and has more work coming.
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Cliff, I too found that high performance plain blades perform great on cardboards and ropes. I also found (it goes along with Joe's post) that sawing through branches, weeds with thick stems, etc. is much easier with a serrated blade. Well, this is kind of a "Doh, Sherlock!" finding as certain materials are better sawed through than cut or chopped through and then serrations are going to kick butt.

But tell ya what! When I need a popping hair plain blade, my small Sebbie or MT is always in the other pocket
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Kris
 
I personally like both. I (like many others on the forums) carry one folder with each blade type every day.

One time I had to cut a Cascade dish soap box in half. That stuff is some serious cardboard. I whipped out my serrated Delica and sawed through it. It was very effective and required little effort. The serrations really did all the work. I know that my plain edged knives would have had a heck of a time cutting through that thing.

My wife used my serrated Delica to cut a piece of 1/2 inch rope at work one time. She bragged to me about how effortlessly it cut. So I cut the same piece of rope that she did, twice, once with my serrated Delica and once with my plain-edged BM Pinnacle. Both cut the rope, but the serrations did it with about 1/2 or 1/3 of the effort, and I always keep a fairly aggressive (micro-serrated/non-polished) edge on my plain edge knives.

To be fair though, I do notice that the serrations can get caught up on things sometimes and can get in the way. That's why I carry both - because I know that sometimes I'll need to cut things that my plain edge would have a hard time with, and vice versa.

I find that my everyday cutting can be easily achieved with either blade type. It's only on rare occasions that I have to cut something that specially requires one specific blade type or the other.
 
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