Serrated or plain..?

K

kimberjim

Joined
Feb 5, 2002
Messages
9
Well I've just bought my ist Emerson.It's a Mini Commander with a plain blade and I love it.

I would like to get another for EDC,this time with a serrated blade but am still unsure as to the practicality of this edge for genral use

Should I run with the serrations or stick with the plain blade.Having never owned or used this style before I'm really not up to speed with the pro's and con's.

Any advice would be great.

regards ...kj
 
serrations are good for any cutting that requires "sawing"... such as, cutting rope, plastic ties, etc... the serrations provide more blade surface for cutting. My EDC is partially serrated, and I find plenty of use for the serrations... it just a matter of knowing that the serrations are best for and what the plain edge is best for
 
Check the FAQs for these boards, they'll cover serration use well.

None of my EDCs are serrated at all, serrations are harder to maintain, less flexible in terms of use, more threatening looking, and do not make clean cuts.
For cutting highly fibrous materials like seatbelts and nylon roping, a fully serrated blade is a pretty good idea, IMHO Comboedges (partially serrated edges), which try to bring both serrated and plain edge elements to the table, fail on both counts; there's not enough serration to really do any good, and there's not enough plainedge to really do as much good as a fully plainedged knife would.
It should be noted that I do however have one fully serrated blade on my Leatherman WAVE, for the two times a year I need a fully serrated knife, it does quite nicely.
 
Thanks for the info fellas.I,ve just checked out those knife faq's and they pretty much said it all.
Think I will stick with the plain blades at this time and give the combo's a miss.

kj
 
Most knife knuts at this board are purists and will not settle for anything other than a plain-edge. Some will even stake that their personally sharpened plain-edged knives can do anything a serrated edge does plus more.

While, I would agree that a plain-edge is more versatile than a serrated, I personally feel that there is a place for serrated knives. According to an article written by Spyderco's Sal Glesser, there are situations where a serrated blade will outperform a plain edge. In the article, he even dismisses the notion that the serrated knife is a "saw" that tears or rips.

Serrated knives do not saw objects. Rather the serrations grab the surface while the bladed part does the slicing -- according to the article.

Anyone wanting to disagree can take it up with Sal Glesser since he was the author.

Think about it. Even professional chefs, whose livelihoods depend on knives, who take pride in their knives, and who in a single day handle a knife more often than you or I will use serrated edged knives on some applications. I think of serrated knives as a highly specialized tool that you use occasionally.

A few people collect and own both kinds. That solves the problem, quick.
 
I have a pair of Spyderco Chinooks...One plain, and one serrated. I carry the plain-edge one, while the serrated-edged one sits in my "knife-drawer".

Stick with the plain-blade.
 
As I said before, every once in a great while, Fully serrated blades have their uses, for those, there's my WAVE.

Although for some really weird reason i'm thinking about a fully serrated Spyderco Police, it's a world gone mad!
 
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