Serrations?Good or bad?

[ahgar]

while i agree that serrations have their uses i must also say that they are evil and quite possibly of the devil. as you might have guessed i prefer plain edges. later,ahgar

 

[Tripz]

i dont really have a preferance, i own many PE and half SE blades (which i rotate carrying) and they all do their job as my EDC. On the other hand, there have been sometimes when carrying a PE that i wished i had brought a combo half serrated edge BUT the PE ended up working fine. So as i said, dosen't really matter to me. I love them both!

 

[Krull]

In general:A PE is best for day-to-day nitpicking things;a half SE is a good "compromise" if you want to have one to do it all,the full SE is a rough use only deal but is wonderus to have with you! so.....

Solve all your problems-get a full SE and a PE and carry both! :thumbup:

 

[Andrew Taylor]

I have a knife with partial serrations and I find I dislike them more than I like them. I can't think of one situation where I have used them, but I remember lots of situations that it drags when I open letters, or cut plastic bags of compost, and even fouls up on cable ties. A sharp, plain edge will cut anything IMHO.

I agree carry one of each, or a plain edge and a mulitool.

 

[Capt. Carl]

I don't think there is any need. A good plain edge knife will cut almost anything as well and I do not think semi-serrated knives have a long enough serration to be effective.

 

[Capt. Carl]

Also, I do not understand why the serrations on a semi-serrated knife are at the control part of the blade where the plain edge should be.

 

[Galeno]

Also, I do not understand why the serrations on a semi-serrated knife are at the control part of the blade where the plain edge should be.

I agree fully. I hate the placement of the serrations because it interferes with optimal cutting ability.

At the current time I am not too enthusiastic about the serrated model I bought, but once I get it I wil probably learn to love it.

Thanks for the input, it's nice to hear your opinions.

 

[outofgum]

Serrations can be a huge advantage if the metal has been work hardened during during their creation. H1 steel is known to have this property.

 

[beefangusbeef]

P.S. Of course there is people who do not have time or desire to keep their knives perfectly sharp - police, military, fire fighter etc. They may never sharpen knife and may not know howto do this but steel need cutting-power. So for this kind of use scenario serration is prefferable. But knife enthusiasts like me who looking for excuse to resharpen knife serration is noncense.

That is a good point, but in emergency situations you can cut rope quicker with serrations than pe, same for clothing, rucks and other abrasive material that even a sharp pe might just glance over with a quick flick. The serrations dig in deep and quick. Also, they are nice when you are cutting LOTS of rope, say 100 or more swiss seats

 

[peacefuljeffrey]

Do you think the PE would have served better as a utility knife?

I used to be a pretty big fan of combo edges, but lately I prefer plain edges -- and I totally dislike fully serrated edges.

My reasoning is simple: I do not like sharpening serrations at all -- I hate it. So any knife I have that has a combo edge will get sharpened only on the straight part, and if the serrations get dull, they probably won't get resharpened... It's just too much trouble.

So from now on the knives I buy will be straight, so I can maximize my ability to resharpen them.

-Jeffrey

 

[stevekt]

If you spread peanut butter with a fully serrated knife it looks way cool!

 

[Pete1977]

The primary reason for black blades and serrated blades is to appeal to unsophisticated buyers without knife sharpening experience. (This is not the only reason and these are not the only buyers, but they are the large majority). Most of these buyers are young males who think these blades look tough and more agressive. Uncoated plain edge blades appeal more to buyers who like a blade that is easier to sharpen and which allows more subtle cutting options than sawing things apart (this is a sophisticated minority). So serrated blades are often black blades and plain edge blades are often uncoated.

I have found that a serrated blade has more uses than making a knife look agressive and tough, and being a sophisticated knife buyer, i still purchase combo and fully serrated knives. a serrated blade is as easy to sharpen as a plain edge with a sharpmaker.

the black coating on many knives is to delay corrosion of the blade on lesser stainless steels.

I am not buying any serrated knives.

On my experience serration does not make rope cut better - it dos not cut anithyng better. Perfectly sharpened edge will outcut any serration and the only reason for it that it keep sawing much longer then Plane Edge keep cutting - it will stop cutting when dull.

This is why all cheap knives have serration (I mean $1 for 10 kind of cheap) like chinese kitchen knives which continue sawing over years without sharpening having worse steel possible - you just need to applay more forse ans it will rip apart everithing.

This is why all expensive knives - like custom etc never have serration (over $300).

Best example - Strider SNG never serrated and Buck Strider with 420HC - serrated.

Thanks, Vassili.

P.S. Of course there is people who do not have time or desire to keep their knives perfectly sharp - police, military, fire fighter etc. They may never sharpen knife and may not know howto do this but steel need cutting-power. So for this kind of use scenario serration is prefferable. But knife enthusiasts like me who looking for excuse to resharpen knife serration is noncense.

a high price and a custom maker don't necessarily make knives better.

A serrated blade does in fact cut rope better if the rope is under strain.

what makes serrated blades nonsense to knife enthusiasts?

I don't think there is any need. A good plain edge knife will cut almost anything as well and I do not think semi-serrated knives have a long enough serration to be effective.

Heavy plastic, engine hoses, thick hawsers, 5 gallon plastic buckets, heavy zip-ties etc. are all media that are cut better with serrations. So, it depends on the application and cutting media facing the user of the knife whether serrations are better or worse.

Also, I do not understand why the serrations on a semi-serrated knife are at the control part of the blade where the plain edge should be.

in some instances, the serrations near the ricasso start the cut in tougher material, but for the most part I agree, a combo edge blade is more suited to have the serrations near the tip of the knife, or in the center of the blade, leaving the plain portion or portions at the base and tip.

That said, plain, serrated, and combination edged knives all have their place and uses. An excellent (and expensive) compromise gets you a flat ground plain edged blade with a point, and a sheepsfoot serrated saber ground blade. The Spyderco Dyad. another compromise is to carry two knives, which most of us do anyhow, one serrated, and one either plain or combo.

As for my preference? I have carried fully and partially serrated knives, as well as plain edge, and right now, most of the knives I carry are fully plain edged, or in certain instances, 50/50. The victorinox one hand trekker is a knife with a serrated blade, more of a scalloped edge, than say, a spyderedge, where the serrations are at the tip of the blade, and after a few weeks of using it, I find that I like to use that style of serration pattern and location much better than other styles and placement.

Peter

 

[nozh2002]

That is a good point, but in emergency situations you can cut rope quicker with serrations than pe, same for clothing, rucks and other abrasive material that even a sharp pe might just glance over with a quick flick. The serrations dig in deep and quick. Also, they are nice when you are cutting LOTS of rope, say 100 or more swiss seats

Again on my experience it is not true, serration does not cut rope or enything else better then sharpened plane edge. Is it emergency situation or not, does not matter. However if you do not know or will or car to sharpen you knife - and majority of people do then you better relay on serration which will rip through for sure if you put a lot of force to it because it tends to stuck in the rope - cutting is much harder.

If rope under strain plane edge will cut it just perfect, way better then serrated blade. I would say that serration can cut rope under strain and it is almost impossible to cut rope which are not under starain with serrated blade. So I may agree that serration cut rope ander strain better then same serration blade cut same rope without strain, but not better then plane edge.

However if you need to cut a lot of rope and not able to touch up blade then serration will be prefferable, but you'll be really tiered. However you may check how Busse cutting rope and they always plane!

Now expensive knives in general better then cheap, and expensive knives in general does not have serration except Green Beret by CR, which is for military and in general they have no time and skills to sharpen it properly.

Thanks, Vassili.

 

[pkdmslf]

PE or SE, it's a personal preference. It doesn't make one an "expert" or "amateur" if you carry one or the other as some earlier posters have written. I don't know where they get off making those statements. I guess they're "experts" in their own minds. I find that in the field, i.e., camping, hunting and fishing, that the partially serrated blades give me more options for cutting various materials and I don't have to carry one of each to do it. I do agree with the adage that you get what you pay for so buy name brand quality knives and not the $5 flea market varieties.

 

[Pete1977]

Again on my experience it is not true, serration does not cut rope or enything else better then sharpened plane edge. Is it emergency situation or not, does not matter. However if you do not know or will or car to sharpen you knife - and majority of people do then you better relay on serration which will rip through for sure if you put a lot of force to it because it tends to stuck in the rope - cutting is much harder.

If rope under strain plane edge will cut it just perfect, way better then serrated blade. I would say that serration can cut rope under strain and it is almost impossible to cut rope which are not under starain with serrated blade. So I may agree that serration cut rope ander strain better then same serration blade cut same rope without strain, but not better then plane edge.

However if you need to cut a lot of rope and not able to touch up blade then serration will be prefferable, but you'll be really tiered. However you may check how Busse cutting rope and they always plane!

Now expensive knives in general better then cheap, and expensive knives in general does not have serration except Green Beret by CR, which is for military and in general they have no time and skills to sharpen it properly.

Thanks, Vassili.

inexpensive does not necessarily mean "cheap". an endura is "inexpensive" but is definately not a "cheap" knife.

To say that "serration does not cut rope or enything else better then sharpened plane edge" is an opinion, rather than a fact. whether it is true, or "not true" is debatable. I have found, the countless times that I cut rope under strain, a serrated blade worked much better, often not even using the whole cutting edge, whereas with a plain edged blade of similar length, it took the entire cutting edge, and often a second or third stroke to part the line entirely. mind you, I work with rope every day, and often times, when the lobster gear is set on, or hung down on the bottom, there is immense strain on the 5/8" mainline. The line is occasionally so tight, that cutting it with a plain edged blade rolls the knife's edge, like cutting plastic, and the blade sometimes even slips, making an incomplete cut. Never has that happened with a serrated blade, even a less than sharp one.

peter

 

[Pete1977]

This is some what of a stupid question. Oh well!

I just purchased a bm rukus with partial serrations. I've never really owned a quality knife with half serrations. Do you think the PE would have served better as a utility knife?

Also, it seems PE benchmade knives rarely come with black coating. Why is this?

Thank in advance.

I think that PE or CE work better for general utility applications than a fully SE knife, and between PE or CE, I find that the PE is more useful. but, as it has been stated before, it mainly depends on what you are going to use the knife for. a PE and CE open boxes and letters with the same efficiency. you can cut twine, open clamshell packs, cut fruit and meat, halve a sandwich, etc. with either a PE or a CE blade.

my suggestion would be to look into the spyderco sharpmaker, to sharpen your knife. it easily sharpens fully serrated knives, plain edges, and 50/50 edges with minimal effort. it doesn't take much to learn to use it, and it is great for quick touch ups, which I suggest doing with a SE or CE blade, to keep the serrations from becoming too dull. Quick touch ups often will save the trouble of having to completely sharpen the serrated part of your knife, which can be a chore.

peter

 

[Krull]

I think that PE or CE work better for general utility applications than a fully SE knife, and between PE or CE, I find that the PE is more useful. but, as it has been stated before, it mainly depends on what you are going to use the knife for. a PE and CE open boxes and letters with the same efficiency. you can cut twine, open clamshell packs, cut fruit and meat, halve a sandwich, etc. with either a PE or a CE blade.

my suggestion would be to look into the spyderco sharpmaker, to sharpen your knife. it easily sharpens fully serrated knives, plain edges, and 50/50 edges with minimal effort. it doesn't take much to learn to use it, and it is great for quick touch ups, which I suggest doing with a SE or CE blade, to keep the serrations from becoming too dull. Quick touch ups often will save the trouble of having to completely sharpen the serrated part of your knife, which can be a chore.

peter

I've got a full-on SE Salt1 and ether a Douk-Douk or my new Benchmade PE Monochrome and if I go after something like a clamshell pack;nasty heavy plastic rope or even a 5 gal plastic bucket (yep I've sawed through one) I'll go for my SE.

Cut open a food pack;cut a sandwich;open mail and it's PE time! and yea I carry a multi-tool as well...got a lot in my pockets >_>;

 

[jdennen]

I have a Salt 1 that I take on the boat, also. Of the 75 knives that I own, however, very few are serrated. I just don't like them. Even on on a Sharpmaker, the PEs are much easier. Every knife that I own is as sharp as I can make it on the Sharpmaker. Fortunately, some come very sharp out of the box. My 2 cents.

 

[beefangusbeef]

Now expensive knives in general better then cheap, and expensive knives in general does not have serration except Green Beret by CR, which is for military and in general they have no time and skills to sharpen it properly.

Maybe you are cutting weak rope or a different type of rope? is it coated or is it just plain hemp? Serrations do tend to grip rope quicker with one pull. Also heavy abrasive materials are much easier to cut with serrated knives. I have a few serrated knives that are used also for the sole purpose of sawing through frozen meat. So unsohpisticated, but then I'd rather keep a knife then a saw in the kitchen. There are more makers of expensive knives other than CRK who use serrations, but like I said before those guys are making them for niche markets and they may not be palatable to the uber sophisticated knife buyer who is more worried about his knife looking pretty and sophisticated.

 

[Raden]

I guess I'm just a unsophisticated country boy