Serrations?Good or bad?

[Confederate]

I am not buying any serrated knives. In my experience serrations do not make rope cutting better -- they do not cut anithyng better. Perfectly sharpened edges will outcut any serrations....

Well, in my experience it all depends on whose serration pattern you're using. I honestly have no use for most patterns, especially the big bumpy ones that come on most mixed blades. CRKT's serrations tend to rip into things and tear, requiring considerable force to be used in cutting. Same thing with Benchmade, Gerber, and others. It's what you get trying to cut with a saw.

Now serrations have been on blades for just as long as plain edges, so I'm not for discounting them too much. They're also found in nature, like on this here shark's tooth (photo below). But most serrations found in nature are fine serrations, so that should tell us something.

Cold Steel's serrations, as mentioned, are good. Spyderco puts out a number of knives with very nice patterns. But the rougher serrations aren't good for much, in my opinion. Like man has done from very ancient times, I open my potato chip bags with knives and the other day I tried opening a bag with my Gerber EZ-Out. Cut real nice til it got to the serrations then ripped the bag open down the side. (Guess that's why they call that crappy little knife "EZ-Out," because that's what happened to the potato chips.) That never happened with my Cold Steel Vaquero!

We should learn from nature and make our serrations finer.

Shark's tooth.

Arrow head.

 

[GarageBoy]

In some situations, you need to keep cutting, no time for touch ups..out comes the serrations..
BTW: cutting rope is not as easy as it seems, serrations help a LOT
Also, slicing paper with a single well sharpened serration is cool
And, black blades, do they REALLY cut back on corrosion?

 

[Pete1977]

And, black blades, do they REALLY cut back on corrosion?

My black bladed raven used solely around salt water did not experience any corrosion on the blade for almost 3 months of constant use. The liners showed spots of corrosion within weeks of use.

so in my experience, yes, the black coating does.

Peter

 

[nozh2002]

...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...

Let me also play words a bit:

To say that "a serrated blade worked much better" is an opinion, rather than a fact. whether it is true, or "not true" is debatable.

Of course it is my opinion as well as what you are sayng is you opinion not a fact - also debatable etc, or you opinion is different than my somehow? Are you implying that my opinion is just a debatable opinion and your opninon is solid fact? Why so?

I try it myself and found it unusable - it stuck in the rope until I strain in and srained rope PE cuts better. To cut with SE I need to applay much more force and this is why it works on strained and does not on free. This is my opinion. I sharpen my knives myself, and they always shaving sharp and always they overcut serrated edges in any conditions.

Thanks, Vassili.

 

[DeathByCactus]

I have both combo and plain edge.... I find both equally useful. It really depends on what you do with your knives and what your personal preferance is imo.

 

[Talos]

I just purchased a Spyderco Dragonfly with a serrated edge. It's my first Spyderco and my first knife with serrations. For me it was an inexpensive introduction to both and I'm impressed with both. (So was my wife, she wants one now). I can see why there are so many fans of Spyderco knives here. My next knife will be a Delica but I will stick with a plain edge. Both have their place.

 

[shao.fu.tzer]

I don't know if they're good or bad, but they're ugly.

I usually prefer plain edged knives, but sometimes a knife's looks benefits from having a serrated bit. On Benchmade folders like the 806SD2, I've found that I actually like the way it looks better than the plain edge 806D2. It gives the knife a meaner look. The serrations break the lines up a little and make the blade appear longer than it actually is.

Shao