My hatred of serrations, and yours, perhaps

If you are going after rope, get a Cold Steel. They are designed, apparently, to massacre hordes of rope, and meat bags.
 
I used to hate serrations. Then I tried them. Now, I think they're pretty handy for just about anything.
 
I will say that serrations are great for striking a fire steel, especially if the steel is small and fits in the serrations.
 
I think that the only serrated knife that I own is a Sog Seal Pup. I used to hate them, but then i learned how to sharpen them. I still don't like how they look, but they do help to protect the edge from damage. They will also continue to tear material long after a plain edge knife stops cutting.
I believe that not all serrations are created equal. Kershaw seems to do a good job on them, as well as Sog. Spyderco, I'm not so happy with.
 
They serve their purpose. I don't mind them, but when possible I usually try and get the plain edge configuration if available. I have found that half serrated make for great field knives since I don't always have the time/resources to sharpen them.
 
Joshua J. said:
I also hated serrations before watching these videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_8hcCnzaOk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAs8umcDJOU&feature=related

I think this is the best method of sharpening serrations. I do it using stones instead of a belt sander, and I can get my full SE knives better than factory sharp. The fully serrated Endura is probably the best model to try your first serrations with, it has no PE section to get in the way and the sabre grind makes things a little easier.
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Thanks for posting this. I always knew serrations had their strengths but I never had any interest in owning serrated knives, mainly because I think they're ugly. I always thought a SpyderEdged Millie would be a powerful cutter and I think I'm gonna have to track one down now when I gots the dough.

Edit: Maybe I missed it but nobody has mentioned how with serrations, the blade length is actually increased because of the simple concept of "the shortest distance between two points is a straight line." ...This is another argument for overall cutting power.

The one downside I've heard mentioned most is how they tend to tear and rip rather than cut cleanly once they get dulled. Clearly, these videos show that they retain their overall cutting ability when damaged but they're gonna goober fibrous material up at that point.
 
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I used to avoid serrations like the plague but I have recently started using various partially serrated spyderco knives @ work. I cut a good amount of dirty nylon rope @ work and the serrations really rip through it and stay sharp way longer than a plain edge.
 
Try and remove seven feet of 1/4" nylon rope from around the spindle of a mower blade sometime, then tell me how serrations aren't useful. Or slice open 40 bags of cement. Or chop honeysuckle vines off the axle of your tiller.

There are some jobs serrations just excel at, and I encounter them often enough that I keep a FS Manix 2 in the left pocket of my works pants in addition to the plain edge knife in my right.

Hate is something you should save for communists, not knives.
 
elkins45 said:
Try and remove seven feet of 1/4" nylon rope from around the spindle of a mower blade sometime, then tell me how serrations aren't useful. Or slice open 40 bags of cement. Or chop honeysuckle vines off the axle of your tiller.

There are some jobs serrations just excel at, and I encounter them often enough that I keep a FS Manix 2 in the left pocket of my works pants in addition to the plain edge knife in my right.

Hate is something you should save for communists, not knives.
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Good post. People that have actually used a good serrated in many situations are well aware of their virtues. They will eat through some jobs that would be very tedious or even dangerous with a plain edge.
 
Serations are good forbrope and necks but not much else. So I'm just a plain edge guy. Those outward bubbling serations are nice (see first page) if you just have to have some.
 
I've always avoided serrations but I had this thread in my mind tonight while I sat down to a steak and realised I've been a fan of them for a long time and never realised.
 
I have one serrated knife; a Tasman Salt. For the application in which I intend to use it (rope, vines, etc.) it was a no brainer to get a full SE edge. However, I don't prefer them at all.
 
I have no use for em, personally. When I first got into knives, most of the blades I bought were combo edges. As my knowledge (especially of sharpening) grew, I stopped buying serrated blades. I find that even for cardboard & rope, my really sharp pe blades work just as well or better. Just my 2 cents.
 
Awesome cutter... :thumbup:

endura01.jpg
 
Hmmm, there's an interesting trend in the comments here...in any case, it is important IMO to note that not all serrated blades are created equal, and IMO Spyderco leads the pack by a large margin.

This thread has some interesting discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of serrated edges.
 
For many years I regarded serrations as a novelty. In my mind they were for looks, for people that couldn't sharpen knives (Ginsu), and sort of a crutch to saw through stuff that should have a real blade used on it for a clean cut. That's what I told myself over and over. Then I saw a few videos of serrated blades cleanly push cutting paper (albeit with a fast stroke) over and over and over. I was confused. Serrated knives can be sharp? Really?

Then like Joshua below, I watched these two videos.

Joshua J. said:
I also hated serrations before watching these videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_8hcCnzaOk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAs8umcDJOU&feature=related
Click to expand...

If you watch the first part of each video where they do the torture testing, you *should* be convinced that serrated edges last longer. WAY, way, way longer, than plain edges. I can't imagine any other conclusion with the evidence so clearly presented. To quote one of the guys in the video, "If your task is simply to make one object into two, the serrated blade performs better for longer." Ok, so I paraphrased, but that's the message.

I only have one serrated blade so far: A Delica 4. It holds an edge quite well and can be sharpened, relatively easily with a strop and the sharpmaker, back to paper slicing levels. I use this knife constantly and it still comes back to better than factory sharp after over a year of use and repeated sharpenings.

I think anyone here who says plain edges perform as well as serrated simply haven't seen the evidence or are deluded. Watch the videos.

Brian.
 
Yeah, serrations are great on steak knives 'cause they not only "increase length", they protect the cutting edge. The tips of the serrations hit the plate and the edges inside the serrations stay sharp. This would also hold true for other tough use where a straight edge would get dinged or dulled. I can see them having their uses.

That said, I prefer a straight edge myself. I've purposely sharpened away serrations.
 
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