One reason why serrations suck!

I am not much of a seration fan myself but they proced there worth today. I had to cut a double lined 5 inch fire hose in a hurry using my scary scary sharp sog seal 2000. The smooth part of the blade would have taken forever and I wasnt acomplishing anything. I cut through the hose with about 6 passes of the 1 1/2" serated section. It would have taken 30 passes with a plain edge. That is why on the cold steel proof dvd they cut fire hose with a fully serated vaquero. If they did it with a smooth blade it would look bad to those that dont know how hard this stuff is to cut. Try to cut some of this stuff sometime with both styles of blades. Stand it on its side and cut away. For those that cant get Fire hose I can help. I have a few 100' of scrap fire hose at my house if some of you die hard knife testing guys want some I will send it to you at shipping cost just send me a message.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
I don't think the problem is with the serrations as much as it is with the people who haven't learned how to sharpen or use them.
Click to expand...

I have carried both a serrated and plain knife at work. (commercial lobster fisherman) . the plain knife is good for fine cutting chores but when you don't have a means to sharpen the knife a serrated knife will outcut a plain one every time.

try to cut heavy engine hose with a plain edge knife. or cut up a lot of cardboard or garden hose. or rope. or 3/8 inch thick rubber deck mats. or rubber auto or truck tires. use a plain edged knife and a serrated one and see which one does a better job.

and the spyderco sharpmaker is a must for serrated knives. if you can hold the blade edge parallel to the table top you can use the sharpmaker. and for those that can't there is a very detailed picture filled instruction manual and a dvd (mine was vhs) to help you learn.
 
Well, I have cut engine hose, cardboard, garden hose, rope, deck matting etc. I have had good results with plain edge flat ground knives as much as serrated. I specifically had worse results with hollow ground, saber ground, or chisel ground blades because the shoulder wedges in the cut causing more friction.

This would also affect serrated cutting, so it can be hard to separate which is the problem. One thing the plain edge knives needed was a good edge - serrations do protect them more and also offer multiple recurve sections which slice better, if the high points don't create unnecessary friction.

A Vic sawblade worked almost as well because it cut a channel in the materials, reducing friction from pinching. My Endura has a pretty high grind line keeping it out of the cut, but my others are all wedgey.

The accompanying blade profile may have a lot to do with our perception of poor cutting.
 
personally, i prefer PE, because its uses are not as limited as SE is, and they're easier to touch up in the field. for rope and stuff, SE can't be beat. i think preference is based on tasks the knife is used for. i don't think you can say they're junk though, just because they don't fit your particular needs.
 
A lot of you are saying that serrations are better because they don't need sharpening as often. Eventually all edges will dull. In a survival situation, sharpening a PE on a smooth rock is not difficult at all. Finding a perfectly rounded rock that has sufficient length to sharpen the serrations may be a difficult task. I do have to say that a lot more people are standing up for serrations (as they are) than I had expected. Oh well, if you want to live life the difficult way, that is up to you ;) .
 
i hadn't thought about it much before, but in the 4 years i have EDC my cheapo S&W SWAT combo edge, i must have used the serrated edge about 90% of the time. i can't think of too many situations where the precision required was more than the SE could offer. it is usually that speed is what i want and whether it is rope, wire ties, boxes, cabling, or those annoying thick plastic bubble packages almost everything comes in these days, the SE wins.

in the few occasions i just want to open something up, or make a fine cut, i angle my wrist and run down the front edge. it is obvious to me the serrations stay effective much longer by design and because of that, it would be less necessary in a survival situation to have to worry about sharpening them anyway.
 
A double edge serration patter is usually referred to as a sawback.
Seriously............. You'll increase the angle too much on a double ground serration pattern, but they do make great saws.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top