Pe or se blade

M

MAIMOMEDIC

Joined
Sep 2, 2009
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I noticed that PE blades seem to be the blade of choice for most. For LE and heavy rescue jobs would you still choose a PE over SE
 
Not a LE or such. So...

I think this issue could be helped along by knowing what knife/knives you are considering.

If I carried a knife just for emergency use for ropes, seat-belts, etc. I probably would keep one of the blunt tipped full-serrated knives.

I do note that many knives made with the "rescue" market in mind have at least partially serrated blades, if not being fully serrated. Not sure if this is because of demand from the users or from the purchasing agencies, though.
 
As an infantry soldier in 03-04 Iraq, I carried a plain edge. Mostly because serrations are a royal bitch to sharpen.
 
MAIMOMEDIC said:
I am going to get a zt350 wanted to know if PE or SE for that type of usage

thanks
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Charlie Mike has pretty much "hit the nail on the head".

Are you comfortable sharpening serrations? If not, the serrations could kill the enjoyment you have in owning the knife. This issue is of major import - dull serrations versus sharp plain edge; sharp wins most of the time.

The 350 appears to have a bit of recurve, so that will help in cutting many of the things that people like serrations for.

And, you can use a coarser stone when finishing off sharpening - many of the advantages for cutting some materials that people see with serrations can be gained with a plain edged blade this way.
 
If I were to buy a serrated knife, it would be fully serrated. Spyderco comes to mind. Also the old school BM AFCK.
 
I LOVE SE

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I like PE a lot better due to the sharpening issues, all of my blades are PE except for my CS Gunsite and GunSite II that come only CE.

IF you think you need a coarser edge then don't polish it when sharpening it, stay with a 400 grit stone. Coarser grit sharpened edges work great for cutting rope, general field tasks etc while polished edges work well for slicing tasks like food and paper.
 
I've tried serrated and find that I prefer plain edge. For me, a plain edge performs better than a serrated edge for the tasks for which I carry a knife.
 
If I had to choose one, it would be PE. It just seems to be the more versatile, and easy to maintain option
 
I tried serrated and I didn't find it to cut more effectively than any of my pe knives. If anything it caused more drag when I cut stuff. All of my knives are hair whittling sharp and I've never had any issues cutting fibrous materials like clothing or rope. SE just seems to get in the way for me. If I were to keep a knife for emergency type situations, I'd probably keep an extra one that I didn't use for EDC so I always made sure that I had a very sharp knife at any given time. Then again, I only carry one and it's never even close to dull. I'll sharpen my knife that night if it doesn't shave hair easily.
 
For the collection it is all PEs... For my users, CE on almost all of them. Maintaining the serrations can be difficult but I like them and they stay sharp a lot longer than PEs. Handy when it comes to straps, cords and ropes. I'm a minority I guess as like you I have noticed most forum members prefers a PE blade.
 
I was LEO and took some time to learn and did so from the simple observation of cutting competition.I have NEVER seen nor heard of a cutting competition where ANYONE used a s/e to cut with.That says volumes to me,I want a knife that CUTS all the time when I need it to.If I need a saw I get a saw.Thats my nsho s'all.Hope that helps,but your choices are yours alone,best of luck.
 
PE is a lot more sought after to collect, it seems. So I try to obtain blades I collect in PE, they sell better and bring a better price.
I like PE in all users because of the sharpening issue. If I have a SE and carry it I never use it, but instead just carry it as a secondary knife, as a emergency self-defense piece.
So the odds are high it's never gonna actually cut anything.
 
MAIMOMEDIC said:
I noticed that PE blades seem to be the blade of choice for most. For LE and heavy rescue jobs would you still choose a PE over SE
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I've been in EMS for over 16 years. I've also been a volunteer FF and have worked in LE in the past as well. I've carried both SE and PE. I've found that in 99% of real-world rescue situations that a PE will work just as well as a SE and, in some instances, even better. Ever notice how those seat-belt cutters are always PE? I find that a properly sharpened PE flat-ground blade will slice through a seatbelt like no one's business. The only time a SE ever out-shined a PE in my experience was in cutting certain types of rope or having to cut through certain types of heavy clothing but, in all honesty, you shouldn't be using a knife to cut off patient clothing (That is a rookie, amateurish thing to do). Now keep in mind this is not taking "heavy" rescue applications into account. For true heavy rescue apps there are better and safer tools to use for cutting other than a folding pocket knife.
 
I used to be huge into combo blades but more often than not wished that I had some more PE left on the blade so about a year or so ago I switched to only PE. I haven't looked back since. Rope, clothing, I havent had any problems with any of it as long as my knife is sharp, and I sharpen them regularly.
In terms of rescue operations, I really have no clue. It seems like a sharp PE would do well, but at the same time a sharp SE will stay sharper longer. Frankly, just do what I did, combo it until you wish the rest of the blade was PE or SE and then go with that from now on.
 
for me it also depends onthe blade. if a certain knife is flat ground then i might choose PE over SE. also some knives actually look better with SE or CE. for example, i find some tanto blades to look better with CE serrations, like the black tanto kershaw blur, i think it makes the knife look more agressive. a CE tanto blade can actually be pretty useful for utility as well.

Kershaw-Tactical-Blur-1670TBLKST-600x600.gif
 
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