Plain Edge Fans getting the short end of the design table??????

Marion David Poff

Marion David Poff

Joined
Oct 8, 1998
Messages
5,403
Good Day,

I was playing with BM Ares and thought it was really cool, except for the serrations.

So I asked my shop owner to let me know when the plain gets in....

But now I am thinking that, without the serrations, it is gonna look pretty stupid, like the Dark Star blade.

Any thoughts on this?

I know that manufacturers sell far more serrated knives, but.....

And I know, beauty is in the Eye of the beholder.....

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Marion David Poff aka Eye mdpoff@hotmail.com
Coeur D'Alene, ID
http://www.geocities.com/mdpoff

An interesting business oppurtunity... http://www.geocities.com/selouss

"We will either find a way, or make one." Hannibal, 210 B.C.
 
I'm with you on serrations. Don't want them on a general use knife; regard serrations a very specialized use feature; I think they got started for cutting synthetic climbing rope. On the Rambo type knives they were always just aesthetic.
 
MDP, been there, done that! I started a thread on this way last spring asking why stores seemed to have only serrated knives when the great majority of the BF members prefer plain edged blades for most work. The general answer was that the serrated blades sell to the kids that populate mall stores and, by extension, buy knives from manufacturers. I will personally be very happy when we get beyond this craze for serrations and for chisel points (American tantos). They may have their purposes, but their purposes are not mine.

BTW, the first serrated knife that I ever saw was in a Randall catalog in the late 1960s. They said that the teeth on the back had been developed at the request of an Air Force pararescue doctor for use in VietNam. Their purpose was to saw through aluminum aircraft skin. The knife was also the first hollow handled survival knife that I had ever seen.

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Walk in the Light,
Hugh Fuller
 
Marion I have to agree. When I first started collecting knives they all had serrations and I loved them. But as time went by I found that I rarely needed the serrations. For the most part they cut in the way (i.e. tearingg rather than cuttingwhen working with thin materals). And now that I'm mastering my new Apex sharpener I see less of a need for serrations (I just finished sharpening a CS Bush Ranger, I kept the factory angle and polished up to 600 grit-I don't have the 3000 grit tapes yet-and the knife with slice a free-falling sheet of paper twice! Once from right to left and again on the return trip. I'm pretty sure with an edge like that even the toughest manilla rope will not be an issue). I too want an BM Ares, but like you I'm waiting for the plainedge. Another problem with the combo edges is that unless the blade is long enough, you don't get the best of both worlds, but the worst. Just my opinion.

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"Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav'n"
John Milton
There are only two types of people; those who understand this, and those who think they do.
 
You got that right! I can't wait to get my BM Aries,ButI gotta have a plain edge cause I might want to cut something like a stick or letter or I don't know what something.I have an assorted collection of serrated and partial serrated and I don't need any more.I own an Elishewitz Specter that is one of the nicest knives I have ever owned. I waited over a year for it and it doesn't have any serrations. For that kinda money you can bet that if they were important to anyone other than rescue types,I would have had them put on. I notice that Allen doesn't show any serrated pieces on his site.I'm surprised that he let BM release the 730 serrated first or at all. Well any way I'll wait cause I gotta have one.

lbwheat
 
i'm with you guys here. serrations are a very specialized tool. on all of my regular carry knives, i have plain edge only. one is sharpened somewhat coarse as joe talmadge suggests, but the rest are shaving sharp. if i'm going out to do yard work or somewhere that i know i'll be cutting lots of rope and cardboard, i'll take my spyderco rescue or harpy. they are my only serrated knives that i'll keep. but i will not compromise both the plain and serrated and put them on one knife. like you guys i'm waiting for the plain edge 730's. might even give up my 710 for it.
 
Hello,

YEP i dislike serrations too!!!!
For one thing there all nice and shaving sharp when you get them, then after use they just seem to never be able to be sharpened back to original sharpness. and most People cant sharpen them no matter what type of sharpener they use. they think they can but , they must have a different idea of what "SHARP" is than i do.

Also i just think they are limited to specific use like stated above, and actually hinder performance on everything else.

but the MAIN!! thing is that they Weaken a blade dramatically as they cause perfect areas for Stress Fractures to occur during
Flexation.

I guess thats why i will not put them on my Blades. besides i think they just look
cheesy.

my .02
Allen
 
Some people say that with a partially serrated blade you get the best of both worlds. Others say the worst of both.

Theres an old saying that goes; "I may not know art, but I know what I like", and I for one like serrations (though looking around at the 22 knives hanging on my walls, only 10 are serrated).

The knives I carry are primarily backup weapons first, and tools second. I like the look and option of the serrations! Just my opinion!
biggrin.gif


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"May you live in interesting times"

AKTI - A000389


 
I'm with ya on this one. Big time.
My Starmate has a partially serrated blade and try as I might, I just don't like the serrations. I've almost convinced myself time and time again that they are a good thing to have on a knife. I go back and forth on this subject thinking I like them and then deciding I don't. Back and forth... Then I find myself looking at the knife and thinking seriously about going to the knife store the next day and buying a plain edged Starmate. As a matter of fact, I was having this same dillema earlier this evening before dinner. Looking at the knife, trying to convince myself that the serrations come in handy, all the while, the little voice in the back of my head saying "This SUCKS! You don't like these stupid serrations! Just go out and get a plain edge one and get it over with! YOU LIKE PLAIN EDGES! SERRATIONS SUCK! JUST DO IT!!!"
Am I losin' it here, or what?

Geez... Nevermind. I just read what I wrote. Most assuredly losin' it.

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So, what IS the speed of dark?
 
Ha, ha. I'm in the exact same boat. My favorite knife is my serrated Military, but I've recently decided that I'd prefer a plain edge. However, I just can't force myself to go out and buy the same knife. I would trade for a plain edge, but if that happened, I'd probably just want the serrated one back after a few weeks.
smile.gif


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Cerulean

What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain? - Blake
 
I dislike serrations also!!! The reason I don't like them is that I don't really have a use for them! I have a friend that cuts bandages off race horses every day, he loved a Spyderco Q I gave him. I can sharpen it just fine with the factory files. His new knife is a 3" CS Voyager, and he says it's the best he's seen! This is a specialized job though.
Maybe serrations are only really popular with people that can't keep a knife sharp!!! They just seem to be in the way for me!!!!
 
I've pretty much given up on the one 'true' blade. I tried to trade my Military for a serrated one recently (it's sold) thinking to employ it as part of a two knife carry system and the smaller blade seemed to me to be the logical candidate for smoothness.
Butt then I cannot, will not swap my Starmate over to serrations, so my quandry remains.


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><CHINOOK*>
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Cleverly Disguised As A Responsible Adult
 
Hi, I agree that the tactical look,{serrated blades} has been overdone. I prefer plain blades, as 99% of the things I cut, I would not cut with a serrated blade & if I ever have an need to cut rope or similar material, my knife is sharp enough to cut it without serrations. Just M.H.O.
smile.gif
. Thanks!

Doug.
 
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