Serrations are OK I grudgingly admit

jlfletcher83

jlfletcher83

Joined
Dec 22, 2006
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Up until last week the only serrated knife I used on a regular basis was the Assist 1. Its pretty special purpose so not I never really cut much with it. This weekend I was helping my nephew but a fort is some woods and there was alot of rope involved. I got my assist out of my car to cut the rope and serrations zoom right through rope. When I got home I got out my combo edge endura 4. I bought it because it was foliage green. I have used it quite a bit this week and tonight I went and picked one up that is fully serrated. I really like fully serrated now. I still prefer plain edge for most things and I still think serrations look ugly but they definitely have their place.
 
A SE certainly cuts well through certain materials (rope, like you say, plus plenty of other stuff). I've never been a fan of a serrated edge for general usage, but like you am starting to accept it. May have to investigate carrying a combo edge, or maybe a PE delica and SE delica. Who knows.

cheers
 
Hi Jlfletcher,

When Spyderco introduced serrations to the folding knife world in 1982, there was tremedous resistance. We did learn, and share, that serrations had some real advantages:

Cutting certain types of materials with increased aggresssion, like rope.

It provided a "longer" edge".

Edge retention was significantly increased.

Now 20+ years later, modern production steels are staying sharper much longer than they did in 1982, but the other factors still stand, especially on the new modern steels.

sal
 
They definetely come in handy at times. I love them sometimes and hate them at other times. Thats why I carry more than one knife.
 
I never liked them either but if you are open to new things, you learn that they have a place. Now, I find that I will only carry a CE in my work knife. For a knife that you actually use everyday on everything, a good CE is hard to beat. I need the serrated part but I also need the PE part on some tasks.

The thing is, I will such varied materials that I get full use out of the CE blade. I will cut cardboard and plastic sheet material one minuit which is best cut by PE but the next minuit I will cut through thick plastic, buckets, heavy zip ties, rope, rags, ect, where the SE really helps. I now use CE only for my work knives. I use SE for special tasks and I use PE more for gents type knives.

For example, the Caly III is best as a PE. The Manix is best as a CE. The Rescue is best as a SE. Some knives can do anything like the Endura. PE, SE or CE all seem to make sense on this model. You wouldn't want a PE Assist anymore than you would want a SE Kopa.
 
I used to swear by serrations, but I've found that on a properly sharpened knife (eg: proper finish grit for the work it sees, proper edge geometry) they don't do a whole lot ofr me. Then again, I haven't used any spydie serrations, but on a few other EDC knives in the past I've found the only reason they were worth a damn was because the blade steel was so shabby it wouldn't even take an edge like some of my better knives, let alone hold it.
 
kgriggs8 said:
I never liked them either but if you are open to new things, you learn that they have a place. Now, I find that I will only carry a CE in my work knife. For a knife that you actually use everyday on everything, a good CE is hard to beat. I need the serrated part but I also need the PE part on some tasks.

The thing is, I will such varied materials that I get full use out of the CE blade. I will cut cardboard and plastic sheet material one minuit which is best cut by PE but the next minuit I will cut through thick plastic, buckets, heavy zip ties, rope, rags, ect, where the SE really helps. I now use CE only for my work knives. I use SE for special tasks and I use PE more for gents type knives.

For example, the Caly III is best as a PE. The Manix is best as a CE. The Rescue is best as a SE. Some knives can do anything like the Endura. PE, SE or CE all seem to make sense on this model. You wouldn't want a PE Assist anymore than you would want a SE Kopa.
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Astute observation of our selections.

sal
 
I actually have started carrying a full serrated endura and a plain edge manix. I feel with these 2 there is not much that cant be cut.
 
kgriggs8 said:
I never liked them either but if you are open to new things, you learn that they have a place. Now, I find that I will only carry a CE in my work knife. For a knife that you actually use everyday on everything, a good CE is hard to beat. I need the serrated part but I also need the PE part on some tasks.

The thing is, I will such varied materials that I get full use out of the CE blade. I will cut cardboard and plastic sheet material one minuit which is best cut by PE but the next minuit I will cut through thick plastic, buckets, heavy zip ties, rope, rags, ect, where the SE really helps. I now use CE only for my work knives. I use SE for special tasks and I use PE more for gents type knives.

For example, the Caly III is best as a PE. The Manix is best as a CE. The Rescue is best as a SE. Some knives can do anything like the Endura. PE, SE or CE all seem to make sense on this model. You wouldn't want a PE Assist anymore than you would want a SE Kopa.
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Well, I don't know about that:D :D
 
jlfletcher83 said:
I actually have started carrying a full serrated endura and a plain edge manix. I feel with these 2 there is not much that cant be cut.
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My daily carry over the past few months has been a Delica 3 SE and a Delica 3 PE.
I've found that this combo can handle just about any cutting task, and they are very comfortable in the pockets. (Left front and right front.)
I used to carry an Endura SE and Endura PE, but found that I really didn't need the size as I thought I did.

I do carry a large SE folder and a small PE fixed blade in my shoulder bag.
Plus some others, including an Endura CE, in the car.
 
kgriggs8 said:
For example, the Caly III is best as a PE. The Manix is best as a CE. The Rescue is best as a SE. Some knives can do anything like the Endura. PE, SE or CE all seem to make sense on this model. You wouldn't want a PE Assist anymore than you would want a SE Kopa.
Click to expand...

Actually, I find the PE Rescues rather useful, and so easy to sharpen that even an unskilled laborer such as myself can make them scary sharp.

I do agree that an SE Kopa would not be on my list of "must-haves."
 
I have really come to be a major fan of serrated blades. My very first Spyderco knife ever was a fully serrated Spyderco GIN-1 Mariner I bought back in the mid 90s. Up till that point I had never given serrations a second thought other than the ones I had for kitchen knives.

The 2 serrated Spyderco blades that really expanded my appreciation and understanding of the serrated blades are my fully serrated Catcherman model and my fully serrated fixed blade Temperance model. Now the serrated blade is not the best for every type of cutting chore but there are some chores where they really excel.

For cutting materials like leather, rope ( all types), and many other fibrous materials there is just no other cutting tool that is as efficient as a fully serrated blade. Spyderco's serrations are the best ones on the market. So if any of you have tried any other company's serrations I beseech you to try the ones that the Great Spyder Factory has concocted. Especially the ones made in Seki City. :thumbup:
 
I don't feel right unless I have a fully serrated Spyderco in my pocket. Recently I went a few months without one and it was torture. :D I've started to sharpen my SE's using the ultra fine rods and am very pleased with the results. I figured the aggressiveness was already hard wired in the blade shape so why not a high polish finish. The results were good. My SE's sail through most materials as clean as my PE's. The UF rods have put that factory edge sharpness back on my SE's. It's a hoot to slice newsprint cleanly with a serrated edge. Unlike a PE highly polished, cuts with the polished SE don't seem to need any added force to start the cut. At least not so that I can detect.
 
I much prefer a plain edge knife for the most off my work, but when a serrated edge is needed, plain edge is poor substitute.

I carry a fully SE gen4 Delica, and a plain edge Robin. With these two, I can get anything done. :cool:
 
SE's work pretty well imho, and some spydies just dont look right PE imho ie the police and civvy, i usually prefer a PE but i carried a SE police for quite a while and it never failed to do anything i needed it to do, i do not like CE knives though, at all, either one or the other for me.
 
I gotta say, I haven't run into to many materials where a good edge with a coarser finish won't slice through as easily as a SE, and without any binding or clogging. Granted I've never had a spyderco SE, but my PE's do great with all sorts of rope, cardboard and other materials.

With that said, I don't mind combo edges, great for work knives. But more companies need to look at what Victorinox is doing; serrations at the tip for slicing and PE at the base.
 
I actually decided on carrying a pe and se endura 4. My dealer guy is getting in the zdp-189 enduras this week and I may be replacing them with a se and pe zdp model.
 
Buck268 said:
I gotta say, I haven't run into to many materials where a good edge with a coarser finish won't slice through as easily as a SE, and without any binding or clogging. Granted I've never had a spyderco SE, but my PE's do great with all sorts of rope, cardboard and other materials.

With that said, I don't mind combo edges, great for work knives. But more companies need to look at what Victorinox is doing; serrations at the tip for slicing and PE at the base.
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You NEED a SE spydie. See, while PE is great at a lot of things, since you've never tried out SE's, you have no idea how bad PE is compared to SE. :)

I love SE, I do need plain edge, though. So I carry both! :cool:
 
I just don't see how a SE could be any better, if my PE cuts through most everything I ask in one slice? I mean, if it didn't then yes I would definately try out the SE, but it goes right through all type of ropes, clothe, paper/cardboard, food, you name it, like a hot knife through butter.
 
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