Plain vs. Serrated Blades

If I may add my 2 Canadian cents, I think part of the reason it may seem that buyers of RAT knives tend to like plain edge knives over serrated ones is they are drawn to the robustness of the RAT products and the suitability of those robust products, generally speaking, to things like batonning.

And SE knives, as has already been pointed out below, tend to be not as well suited to batonning.

Having said this, I know this SE versus PE debate has been held before in the WSS board. There is no ultimate answer.
 
R.A.T. said:
Elitists rule!
Click to expand...

Yes, yes we do. :D

I'm willing to admit that I direly hate serrations for general usage. If I was looking for a rescue knife or a rope-cutting knife I'd go with serrations hands-down. :)
 
I personally dislike serrations as well. I dont even like them for rope cutting. I feel they are great on knives that arent maintained well as tey stay usable forever. So for the general population of people that use knives (like my dad) they are very good. If you keep a plain edge blade razor sharp, i think they outperform serrations. At least this is the case from my use. I have used a couple serrated knives to try em out, but i have since given them away. Never will have one again except on my cheap kitchen knives:D. Oh,

and I am an elitist snob. Please give me my money so I can play this role well. K thx.
 
If you have to cut fibrous materials, I'd say go for the serrations. I just bought an RC-3 with serrations from twowolvesoutdoor.com and in has served me fine out here (Guyana):

ygIXe.jpg



I always carry multiple knives. My RC-3 is my hard use knife. I need it to cut rope, to skin animals and to chop wood. The serrations really help for the fibrous stuff.

For the details, I use a smaller knife like my farmer. If it is detail work, i don't need something that big.

And frankly for chopping I use a machete. I'm not a 'one blade for everything' kinda guy. I've found its better to carry multiple tools that do the job well as opposed to one tool that just does them all OK.
 
For several months I EDC'd a SE blade. I really liked it. It did most everything I wanted a blade to do. A few months ago, I started carrying a SE and a PE. I have since found myself reaching for the PE blade 99 times out of 100. So, I guess I prefer a PE. It is definitely easier for me to keep sharp. I haven't figured out how to strop the SE yet. AS far as cutting, I find that a good edge on a PE blade will cut through just about everything I want it to just as fast as a SE (cuts through paracord like butter).
 
Hi!
The picture below shows my first (and last) serrated edge, a Spyderco endura.
I took it for 10$ from ebay to check a serrated edge, EDCed it 2 Month on work, then I hade enough an replaced the serrations.
I hated cutting wood or food with serrations, and a sharp plain edge cuts all I think.


diak
 
Wow. Yesterday I couldn't even spell elitist, and now I am one. Makes me feel so special.
 
R.A.T. said:
Just goes to show what can happen to you when you hang around this forum!
Click to expand...

This forum is obviously a corrupting influence. Turned a nice slob like me into an elitist. I mostly hang out in W&SS: I just didn't realize what I was missing over here. To think that a poor guy like me could become an elitist so quickly ... I'm all choked up.
 
dawsonbob said:
This forum is obviously a corrupting influence. Turned a nice slob like me into an elitist. I mostly hang out in W&SS: I just didn't realize what I was missing over here. To think that a poor guy like me could become an elitist so quickly ... I'm all choked up.
Click to expand...

Doesn't take much around here to get top billing. Our secret is simple: we just keep those under-the-interstate-dwelling lower class of serrated edge users away from our forum.
 
R.A.T. said:
Doesn't take much around here to get top billing. Our secret is simple: we just keep those under-the-interstate-dwelling lower class of serrated edge users away from our forum.
Click to expand...

Gasp! Elitist! What about we under-the-interstate-dwelling lower class plain edge users? We may be under-the-interstate-dwellers, but we use plain edges.
 
Duh. The first commandment of our elitist club is all elitists use plain edges. Death to the serrated users! We are pros and elitists and we know what we are doing!
 
R.A.T. said:
Duh. The first commandment of our elitist club is all elitists use plain edges. Death to the serrated users! We are pros and elitists and we know what we are doing!
Click to expand...

Okay, ya got me — I'm aboard. I'm a Pro! I'm an Elitist! Down with serrated users! I just love being part of such an exclusive club. This has to be the high point of my life, one I've waited for these many years.
 
I am proud to be a non elitist rc 4 serrated edge combo guy. I consider myself a man of the people and as such, I want nothing to do with the hard line straight edge bourgeoisie crowd! down with the establishment!!!

But really, a knife is meant to cut and work well doing so...both these styles do fine.
 
On a two sided knife I really like to have one side plain edge and the other side combo edge. Look at the kershaw amphibian to see what I mean. It is a perfect dive knife.

I agree that serrations do serve a purpose, but I prefer that most of my knives are plain edge because that is what functions the best 80-90 % of the time. The amphibian is a great compromise.

For gardening work, or cutting fiberous palm-type plants -serrations work really well. Kershaw makes a good serration patern and so does R.C.

I guess I will probably be lynched for favoring both sides.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top