serrated edge making people nervous?

D

dulleddown

Joined
Sep 2, 2007
Messages
155
Hey guys,

Nearly all my knives, and certainly my EDC's, have plain edges. I've always thought that a serrated edge looks kinda, well... scary, and I suspect that folks in my office or out there in the wild would also think the same thing. I don't mean I'm scared of serrated edges, just that they look kind of more bad-ass, if that makes sense.

I don't doubt that having a half-serrated knife would serve some people better, but I suspect that some are like me and want as innocuous, 'professional' looking, clean knife as they can get for EDC use; one that won't freak people out when it comes out of the pocket in public.

I personally prefer the look of a plain edge... seems more old-school or craftsmanlike to me, but suspect that if I wasn't so concerned about what others might think, I'd occasionally carry a 1/2 and 1/2 blade.

Anyone else care too much what other people think too?
 
As long as my knife is legal, I don't really care what other people think. In fact, other people will surprise you. For all the "sheeple" out there, you will find some people interested and reasonably knowlegeable.

That said, I agree that there is no good reason to go around scaring others out of foolishness or carelessness, especially in a business setting. It isn't polite.
 
The only reason I don't carry half serrated or fully serrated is because I don't like it. I'm not sure that people would be scared of a CE or SE blade when they wouldn't be scared of the same blade in PE. I think that if they're gonna freak out, it's because you have a knife, not that your knife has a scary looking edge.
 
I have a fully serrated CS Vaquero that I enjoy a whole lot. It cuts through everything much easier than my plain edge knives. I haven't thought too much about the serrated blade looking scarier or meaner than the plain edge but I definately see where you are coming from.
 
I personally dont like how serrated edges look or cut so I dont use one. I do agree that they are less people friendly as well
 
Frankthetank said:
I have a fully serrated CS Vaquero that I enjoy a whole lot. [... ] I haven't thought too much about the serrated blade looking scarier or meaner than the plain edge [...] .
Click to expand...
Perfect example of attitudes: I was using my Vaquero Grande as usual cutting back thorns from a local trail. They had really overgrown this narrow section. Just as I got the area pretty well cleared, a little girl came by on her way home from school, saw the knife and what it did, and gave me a big smile.
 
Serrated blades have their uses. Some people use them in their yards on occasion to saw through small branches or some other tough substance. In the event you're ever caught with a dull knife, you'll be happy to have the serrations. I personally like the smaller pattern found on Cold Steel knives, but Spyderco also has a unique pattern without nasty looking teeth.

I carry my primary knife to do regular cutting jobs and for self defense. A serrated pattern helps out if you have to use the knife for that purpose, but they have to be up front to do any real good.

What I do is keep a tactical knife in my back pocket and a smaller slip joint or locker for work around the sheeple. Even Mack the Knife knew enough to keep his "out of sight." I learned that the hard way. Women I'd worked with for years all went to the boss to say they were uneasy about my carrying a 2 1/2-inch locker. Had they known about my Cold Steel 4-inch Voyager with serrated blade in my other pocket, I think they would have fainted!
 
I use a knife a lot and I cut quite a bit of rope so I like the Combo blades. I prefer blades with just a small section of serrated edge. Having said that, I really like my Kabar folding Warhog but it is a nasty looking knife. Not sheeple friendly.:D
 
udtjim said:
I use a knife a lot and I cut quite a bit of rope so I like the Combo blades. I prefer blades with just a small section of serrated edge.
Click to expand...

When I worked in the post office, we had a lot of plastic to cut: strapping and sheets. A serrated edge would pop the straps at a touch. Most of my blades were combo edges with a couple of full serrated.

If any of you remember the Cold Steel ER-1, that was the best small knife I had for plastic, and it slid open , cut, then slid shut so fast, people would ask me what happened. :)
 
I've never though about it like that. I think the "scare" factor of a knife has to do more with the size and style than whether the blade is serrated or plain.

With that said, I've never been a fan of serrated blades. They're a PITA to sharpen, and I've just never had much use for them.
 
Sharpening them is one of the major down sides. They do cut some materials better than a plain edge. It is always a trade off.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Perfect example of attitudes: I was using my Vaquero Grande as usual cutting back thorns from a local trail. They had really overgrown this narrow section. Just as I got the area pretty well cleared, a little girl came by on her way home from school, saw the knife and what it did, and gave me a big smile.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but, thats you. ;) Put a 22 year old dude there with the same knife and the reaction might be a bit different. :grumpy:
 
dulleddown said:
Hey guys,

Nearly all my knives, and certainly my EDC's, have plain edges. I've always thought that a serrated edge looks kinda, well... scary, and I suspect that folks in my office or out there in the wild would also think the same thing. I don't mean I'm scared of serrated edges, just that they look kind of more bad-ass, if that makes sense.

I don't doubt that having a half-serrated knife would serve some people better, but I suspect that some are like me and want as innocuous, 'professional' looking, clean knife as they can get for EDC use; one that won't freak people out when it comes out of the pocket in public.

I personally prefer the look of a plain edge... seems more old-school or craftsmanlike to me, but suspect that if I wasn't so concerned about what others might think, I'd occasionally carry a 1/2 and 1/2 blade.

Anyone else care too much what other people think too?
Click to expand...

I don't carry serrated because a PE works better for me, not because I think people think SE looks scary.

I carried a combo blade for a while. It was a 3 1/2 inch blade I felt like I didn't have enough of either type of edge for it to really be effective. I also found that the SE at the base of the blade kept me from being able to do some heavy cutting jobs where I wanted to cut at the base of the blade so I could put the heaviest controllable force on the item being cut.
 
Many kitchen knives are larger than most my "tactical" knives. People don't think twice about seeing a good sized knife in the kitchen. But, some people aren't used to seeing knives (of any size) in other settings.

Serrated edges do make some people uncomfortable. But, a serrated edge can be handy.

Rich
 
I carry PE for two simple reasons; it will do things a SE will, and also things a SE has a hard time with. Its also a breeze to sharpen on my stones.
 
There are some people who are scared of any knife, no matter how big or small, or whether plain/serrated. One woman felt threatened when I was using the tiny scissors on a SAK Classic to cut paper. But that isn't all-too common in my exp.

If you want a knife with serrations, why not? You don't need to use it around the office or "flick" it open in full public view. Just keep it in your pocket for if you need that type of edge. I carry PE knives (esp. my Sebenza), but when typical cutting in front of others, usu. use one of my SAKs instead. Also like SE knives (in particular my SE Endura 4). But I wouldn't pull it out to use with other people within view at my workplace. Even the Seb can be seen by some as scary, simply being a knife. And yes, I even sometimes like combo edges, particularly if the blade is not too short.

So, other than those common courtesies, who cares what people *might* think? If you want to get a knife w/serrations, do so. There are some jobs, like cutting heavy marine rope, I've found nothing can match a good serrated edge.
Jim
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top