Serrations?

[antipaladin]

I see a lot of posts where people regret getting serrations on their knives. My EDC has them and I find them useful. What are the disadvantages?

 

[Dangerously]

Whittling wood, for one. Something you want to push cut rather than saw, maybe because it’s soft and sawing would push the material around too much.

 

[22-rimfire]

Fully serrated knives are just fine. Don't care for the partially serrated ones.

Serrations are good for cutting fabric, cord, and similar things. But depending on how much you have that use, I find the plain edge to be much more useful and certainly easier to sharpen.

 

[ROCK6]

For many, they're just too aggressive for most EDC work. For others they just don't like breaking up a plain edge for easier sharpening. While I'm mostly indifferent, I do prefer my primary knife to have a plain edge, but I have often carried a second knife with a fully or partially serrated edge. When you actually need to cut through thick, fibrous material quickly, you really appreciate them. A lot of guys in the military get partially serrated edges...but I often make fun of them because they just suck at sharpening their knife to keep a keen edge I think they're a good option for many, but you'll find just as many who wouldn't prefer them; more choices, more better.

 

[91bravo]

Serrations are just a poor man's saw. A sharp plain edge will cut anything a serrated edge will and at the same time, make a cleaner cut. Different strokes for different folks is what it boils down to. Some like em, some don't. I fall into the latter category.

 

[Stumpy72]

Serrations are good for cutting rope and (as said above) fabric, cord, etc. On the other hand, serrations are (IMO) a real PITA to sharpen it’s entirely possible to live without them. I’m quite happy without them. In addition, the BM “Lifesharp" service doesn’t include the serrated portions of any of their blades so if you have a serrated BM, keeping it sharp is on you. It all comes down to personal preference.

 

[McFeeli]

I used to love combo edges on my knives, and I still carry some that have it, but I haven’t purposely bought a knife with serrations in a long time. I believe they do have their place on knives, especially for one you won’t/can’t sharpen for an extended period. After I got pretty good at sharpening my knives and knew what it took to get a decent edge on them, I’ve been a plain edge man since.

 

[Mo2]

Most knives don't do serrations correctly Get a spyderco serrated knife and you should be all good. This is the advice I've read on this specific forum all the time on this subject.

All of the partially serrated knives I've had in the past has been few but really useless to any tasks I needed them for. I'm likely going to try some spyderco serrated knives at some point in time.

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/question-cold-steel-serrations-vs-spyderco-serrations.1603092/

^Recent thread on the topic. Search box can find more information on serrations from past discussions.

Also here's a good yt video on the subject

 

[Insipid Moniker]

I actually like fully serrated blades quite a lot, though I'll happily concede that they're a bit more of a niche tool.

The advantages of serrations, in my mind at least, are that they significantly extend the working life of an edge, both by creating a much longer cutting edge and because aggressive serration patterns will tear through material even when fairly dull. The second advantage is related to that, they grab material that even a sharp plain edge can deflect off of without a lot of pressure and care. The third advantage kind of ties into the second, loose cloth and similar cutting media almost invariably bunches when you try to slice it with a plain edge, while serrations will rip through it without any difficulty at all.

The disadvantages of serrations are, again in my mind, all directly related to the advantages. As a tradeoff for an edge that will last much longer, you also have an edge that will take much longer to resharpen. As a trade off for the aggressive nature of serration patterns you loose some ability to make fine, clean cuts.

I don't really think there's a right or wrong answer for serrations, so if they work for you, get 'em, if they don't, don't.

 

[WillB]

I see a lot of posts where people regret getting serrations on their knives. My EDC has them and I find them useful. What are the disadvantages?

My EDC folders have partial serrations, and I find them useful for the uses serrations are useful. Other than sharpening, no downsides for my uses.

 

[cchu518]

This is an $8 dollar Smith's diamond rod, it keeps all of my serrated edges ridiculously, nasty sharp.

Try it out. SE really are great for cutting fibrous material.

 

[Lee48]

I have plain edge, fully serrated and partially serrated knives and all of them are useful. Partial serrations are not so great with shorter blades, however. With short partially serrated blades you don't really have enough room to use either edge very well.

The Spyderco Sharpmaker does a good job on serrations as well.

 

[22-rimfire]

Vic SAK serrations are useful especially if you have them on a separate blade.

I have two knives that are fully serrated; Spydie Endura and SOG Air Sog (little knife from the past). They are useful tools when needed. But if I had to choose on blade type, it would have a plain edge.

 

[mt666tm]

Serrations work well as a saw up to a point where the blade thickens and it jams up. I was using a partially serrated blade to cut some thick thorned vines up on my roof and it jammed up on the thicker ones so I resulted to using a whittling/chopping motion to finish them off.

They do have their uses, and in an emergency situation I'd prefer to have a partially serrated blade than a straight edge to cut through seatbelts, paracord, rope, etc.

I prefer partially serrated over full, but most of my knives have a straight edge.

Sharpening is an issue as well. Not impossible, but definitely time consuming. As long as you've got a couple beers to kill you can bring them back to life.

 

[mushka]

I like and prefer plain blades. I don't like serrated blades at all. Only one I have is a bread knife that was given me a long time ago. It cuts hard crust bread quite well. Only good use I've seen for a serrated blade.

 

[cbrstar]

Anyone remember the Ginsu knife commercials? It was the first serrated knife I had ever seen and I almost thought they were magical lol

 

[Wowbagger]

Serrations are just a poor man's saw. A sharp plain edge will cut anything a serrated edge will and at the same time, make a cleaner cut. Different strokes for different folks is what it boils down to. Some like em, some don't. I fall into the latter category.

I totally agree.
As far as I can tell serrations have two uses :
Damaging the human body, preferably a foe's.
And cutting rope. Cold Steel's one swipe vid is impressive. I have embedded it below. I don't ever need to do this though.
Push cutting polished, plain edges do every thing I want to do with a knife. Sharpening some serrated edges, Cold Steel in particular (those tiny teeth), is quite tricky, I suppose they make some special thing for that; I saw a Cold Steel specific ceramic stone or sumpin' once here.

Secondly the bevel is on the wrong side for right handed users. Serrated edges are single bevel knives. For further info see Japanese kitchen knives where they put the bevel on the correct side for right (or left) handed users.

Serrated edges look good for the Catalog photos though . . . and that's the main thing.
Here is about as serrated as I get . . . just when you thought I didn't have any serrated folders.

 

[SharpieB]

I have a few serrated and partially serrated knives but definately prefer plain edge.

My fully serrated Native 5 worked great for pot roast in the woods for dinner tonight though. I tend to use serrated knives to eat with when camping, but not really much else.

 

[Planterz]

A common position on partial serrations (not to be confused with the member with that name) on this forum is that there isn't enough serrated length to be of practical use. A position I've held myself for many years, with few exceptions. A partially serrated Spyderco Military, for example, has a significant length of serrations. A Benchmade 707 Sequel, however, does not.

Some of us do like fully serrated knives (typically Spydercos), including myself, particularly in a straight edge like a Rescue or Atlantic Salt. They cut like a demon through tough materials. However, as mentioned by others, they're best used for tasks where a clean cut isn't necessary. I would also posit that the majority of us that do carry a fully serrated knife also carry a plain edge knife (I do).

Serrated knives (usually partial) are popular with the masses, meaning ordinary people that carry a knife but aren't enthusiasts like us. Mostly, I think, because the vast majority of them don't and/or can't actually sharpen the knife. I can't tell you how many times I've seen someone saw their way through cardboard with the dull serrations because the plain edge portion is as dull as a butterknife. I bet many of you have seen the same.

It also depends on the serrations themselves. Spyderco's, naturally, are the best. Cold Steel's are the worst.

 

[Wowbagger]

Here you go; I found it.
We had a dude here for a long while posting all kinds of serrated work knives all the time. He uses the heck out of them for landscaping and other things. Lives in South America or something.
The Peacent
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