Serrated Edge vs. Straight Edge

When I used to keep using a knife after it got dull, I found that a half-dull serrated blade continued “cutting” (really more like tearing and gouging, with more effort) longer than a half-dull straight blade.

When I learned to sharpen better, I lost my tolerance for dullness. I started carrying a pocket stone or hone and got in the habit of sharpening immediately after dulling. Then the serrated blade lost the advantage for most of my cutting. Now I usually carry straight edge knives.

To expand a little on what SALTY mentioned about sawing, a saw is a completely different animal than a serrated blade. Saw steeth cut a kerf, which creates clearance and access to the material beneath that just cut. All the serrations I’ve seen are extensions of a wedge shape, which has to force the sides apart to cut deeper. This is problematic in a material like wood fiber, which doesn’t move aside for the wedge. Whole different animal.

All that said, I have an old SOG multitool with both straight and serrated blades. I LOVE it for hiking/camping/bushcrafty stuff.

Parker
 
I'm still pretty new to knives, but was convinced by several posters on the Spyderco forum to try serrated. I was a bit worried that I wouldn't like it, so I didn't really want to spend much at first. However, I ended up biting the bullet and getting a serrated Endela and a serrated Caribbean. Honestly, I really like them both, and a week or two later ended up ordering a Pacific Salt 2, a Rockjumper, and a Dragonfly Salt - all serrated.

A big factor is the design of the serrations themselves. There's a lot of discussion on the other forum about this, but a lower-amplitude serration with a more "wavy" shape tends to work better than a more "pointy" shape. Spyderco does a very good job with their serrations, and when sharp (that's key), they can slice and push-cut just as cleanly as a plain edge. This is not sawing, tearing, or ripping; again, when sharp.

As for sharpening; that's also misunderstood. The most common recommendation is to basically follow the directions that come with the Sharpmaker. Use the corner of the triangle and simply sharpen the scalloped side; very similar to a plain edge. One detail is to not follow the curve of the blade as you would with a plain edge. Instead, keep the angle of the blade the same through the entire swipe, which essentially follows the direction of the serrations. After 5-6 swipes on the scalloped side, follow with one swipe on the back side, laying the blade low near to the stone, just to remove the burr.

Again - I'm personally still pretty new to this myself, but after reading and watching just about everything I could find on serrations, this is what I've found out. I'll also say that I'm probably your average office guy who is just looking for something to cut. I'm not a hard user, warehouse worker, or outdoorsy type who uses knives to cut stuff all day; so I have limited experience myself. That said, the thoughts/opinions of people much more experienced than myself are just as valid as my own; and many of those more experienced people love serrations.
 
Professionally I have to open a number of different types of packing form something that can fit into your hand or sit in your driveway. Having teeth to bite into something helps a lot when needed so the half serrated blade works very well for me. Any type of adhesive buildup will make cutting more difficult as the edge is covered in crap, the serrated part will still keep going and can make it easier for the strait edge to continue to cut without having to stop.
 
I have the one that’s half & half. It serves a purpose for me in my craft. Excellent knife for cutting pex in a pinch or stripping coating from trac pipe.

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SAK Huntsman (sheathed or no, your choice) + a quality straight edge knife, no serrations, of your choice, (fixed or folder, whatever "quality" means to you).
...
You can thank me later...
 
Either one as long as it reaches the bottom of a peanut butter jar. Serrations make the spreading better looking.
 
K.O.D. said:
I definitely don't like combo edges, especially on folders. The only exception would be a d/e otf one side serrated, one plain. Otherwise, the amount of real estate you get for the serrations is nearly worthless. Plus, serrations can be a bitch to sharpen.
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In fact, I considered, or say am considerring the combo edge, any defect or disadvantage you don't really prefer while everyday use?
Please advise. Thanks.
 
Mikel_24 said:
I have seen it mentioned above a few times and I would like to advice AGAINST combo edges. There always seem to be not enough edge of each kind to be useful. Besides, with the exception of Victorinox, all makers that I know off put the serrated edge right by the handle area (closest to the hand) wich is the part of the blade you would use for whitling or delicate tasks as is the section of the blade that offers the most control.

I suggest you avoid them... I have a few combo edges (Emerson Comander, Colt AR15, Spyderco Endura4, Spyderco Tenacious) and I would like and carry them a lot more if they were plain edges or fully serrated.

Mikel
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Thanks for the comments, this will help me consider if I will have a combo one...(I am thinking if I need a full serrated or combo now)
 
killgar said:
Back when I worked a shipping dock the first knife I used had a combo edge (Benchmade Darkstar). I thought the serrated portion would come in handy. It didn't. Instead it proved to be a problem for at least one task that I had to perform regularly- cutting pallet wrap (like heavy-duty seran wrap).
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very actual usage example in real world everyday use, thank you.
But I am considering if I go hiking, if a serrated (full or half) is better to do something on wood, branches, etc.
 
catspa said:
When I used to keep using a knife after it got dull, I found that a half-dull serrated blade continued “cutting” (really more like tearing and gouging, with more effort) longer than a half-dull straight blade.

When I learned to sharpen better, I lost my tolerance for dullness. I started carrying a pocket stone or hone and got in the habit of sharpening immediately after dulling. Then the serrated blade lost the advantage for most of my cutting. Now I usually carry straight edge knives.

To expand a little on what SALTY mentioned about sawing, a saw is a completely different animal than a serrated blade. Saw steeth cut a kerf, which creates clearance and access to the material beneath that just cut. All the serrations I’ve seen are extensions of a wedge shape, which has to force the sides apart to cut deeper. This is problematic in a material like wood fiber, which doesn’t move aside for the wedge. Whole different animal.

All that said, I have an old SOG multitool with both straight and serrated blades. I LOVE it for hiking/camping/bushcrafty stuff.

Parker
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Ya I am considering while hiking/camping, if I need to take both, or combo, or only straight one, according to some comments, seems like taking both is better than a combo one...especially in a serveral-days-and-nights hiking.
But for 1-2 days hiking, maybe a combo one is still working.
 
Dextar said:
In fact, I considered, or say am considerring the combo edge, any defect or disadvantage you don't really prefer while everyday use?
Please advise. Thanks.
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Unless it's a very large blade, the partial serrations just aren't long enough in most cases to be useful. The exception would be the 4" Cold Steel Recon 1, it's more like 2/3 serrated.

Serrations are for sawing basically, and 1" doesn't give much length to go back and forth with.

Better to carry a multi-tool with both, and a saw than a combo edge imo.
 
afishhunter said:
For me a serrated blade of any type on any kind of knife is a deal murderer.
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A couple summers ago, at one of my regular off-grid beaches (non maintaned, no baywatches, nudist, dogs allowed, etc) I noticed a piece of net (enormous) tangled in between some big rocks at the shore. As you can see it is not thin netting at all, and it is packed with sand, as it gets washed everytime the tide goes up. There is no way to remove it one piece (cannot untangle it and it would be very heavy... as in half a ton heavy I mean). I decided I would do my best to remove it piece by piece and carry it to the nearest garbage container. This is one of the hauls (arround 30kg) and there are still many more to do.

In the picture you can see a Spyderco Spyderhawk in H1 and titanium hardware (the most recent orange version) which is a very dedicated tool. I also used a regular Spyderco Rescue Wave in VG10. Both blades went through the cordage like a chainsaw, specially the hawkbill shaped one. Edges were touched up after later on, as the sand shows no mercy on the steel.

Well... I invite anyone to try to slice and dice the leftover of the net at the beach with any plain edge. If you decide to come, the BBQ and beers are on my. Pinky promise. Then we can chit chat about what kind of edge performs better.

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Dextar said:
Thanks for the comments, this will help me consider if I will have a combo one...(I am thinking if I need a full serrated or combo now)
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Fully serrated gets my vote!

Dextar said:
very actual usage example in real world everyday use, thank you.
But I am considering if I go hiking, if a serrated (full or half) is better to do something on wood, branches, etc.
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Beware, serrated edges cut fibrous materials quite well (and tomatos, and bread!) due to the edge geometry. But even though we call them SERRATED... they don't work on the same principle as a propper saw. A saw removes material with each pass, and the kerf is wider than the blade itself as in most saws the teeth have a set (sligtly bent to alternating sides for each tooth), this prevents the blade from binding. I say MOST OF THE BLADE because otherwise someone will quickly remind me that Victorinox saws in the SAKs have no set...

A serrated edge on a knife does not remove material, it will not create saw dust. It just parts away the fibers pusing them to the side. As soon as you get to the depth of the serrations, they blade will bind and no longer cut. So at the very most, they allow some notching, but not proper sawing action.

For hiking, I think any SAK with a locking blade and saw is unbeatable... You can always carry one in the backpack and your regular EDC clipped to your pocket. The One Hand opening Victorinox that come with a SAW (say One Hand Trekker, for example) don't come with a clip and are a bit heavy for pocket carry. You can skip the locking blade feature and go with a small SAK such as the Farmer.

Anyway... buy whatever you want. In a couple months (at most) you will be eyeing another knife anyway.

Mikel
 
OP, I think for day to day EDC use, I would always prefer plain edge. It's just more easy to maintain and the use is more versatile.

Unless the knife is designated for a very specific use only, for example, a rock climbing knife mainly use for rope cutting, where I see the serration would potentially have some advantage over a plain edge. Otherwise, I do prefer PE over serration.
 
You get a more cutting edge and aggressive edge with a serrated blade of the same length as a plain edge. The negative is that they scare away most knife owners who don't realize they are easy to sharpen.

 
Say, how ‘bout this? Buy one of each, and go hiking every weekend for a month, alternating the knives for each cutting task. Then buy two combo knives, a big and a small one, and go another month. After that, aside from slight soreness in your legs, you’ll be in a position to give advice to other members considering the same decision.

Mikel gives me the idea to make a hawkbill combo blade with the serrations on the tip half and the plain edge toward the handle. And maybe attachment for an extension handle for use as a billhook. On second thought, maybe just grind serrations on a billhook to start.

Parker
 
I can see the argument more in a purpose built knife for a certain task like the Spyderco salt series being for maritime use. No real time to sharpen the thing and you are cutting rope and things of that nature. Outside of that? I think they are of very limited use in terms of pocket knife use (serrated kitchen blades aside). Combo edges with wood cutting in mind seems entirely impractical. Even if your blade is a full 4 inch size you are looking at something around 2 inches in serrations? What is that going to get through wood wise in practical terms? My guess is not much. Then looking at carrying an entirely separate serrated blade? If the OP is looking to get wood work done while camping you are better off just getting a purpose built light saw for that. They have some for backpackers that will fold up into darn near nothing.
 
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