Talk me into buying a partially serrated edged knife.

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fireincairo

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Feb 21, 2011
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I've never owned a partially serrated knife, but I'm considering the ZT 0350ST which is partially serrated. I suppose the biggest concern I have is having to sharpen the serrated portion. Otherwise, it may be a nice option to have available.

Have any of you been wary of buying partially serrated knives, only to find you were glad you had the option? Is sharpening serrations hard to do?

I would get the non-serrated, but then I would likely have the recurve grinded out for sharpening sake. Then I figured I may just as well go for the partially serrated version. I dunno...
 
all my knives are straight edge, but having serrations are a good choice because they stay sharp longer and its good if you got to cut rope or something. i know lansky's has a serrated sharpening stone. if i remember right all you do is run the stone inbetween the teeth.
 
The Sharpmaker from Spyderco, and others will also sharpen serrations. So, as long as they are sharp, the serrations are quite usefull, for some materials.
If you have to cut rope, heavy cloth material, or saw through a nail or other metal, then serrations are great. I wouldn't want serrations on every knife, but on some it's nice.
I don't personally have too many with serrations, but when I have used them, they are either perfect or horrible. Some serrations will grab certain types of rope, and not really cut.
As an EDC pocket knife, those serrations could be useful, but you will have to be able to sharpen them.
 
I have sharpened serrations with spyderco sharpmaker. No problem. Sharpening recurve on sharpmaker isn't an issue either.
 
Personal philosophy- one or the other, plain edge, or fully serrated.
IMHO one or the other
 
XanRa said:
Personal philosophy- one or the other, plain edge, or fully serrated.
IMHO one or the other
Click to expand...

I absolutely agree with this, I HATE combo edges, unless they are gigantic blades you're giving up too much functionality, you don't have enough serrations to be actually useful and you've shortened up your plain edge by quite a bit of wasted space.

Don't do it man....

Get a fully serrated blade though, they're great and normally have enough of a tip for you to be able to do stuff like pull of splinters or something, unless you're carving wood or doing food prep, a good SE can do almost anything a PE can do

Edit: sorry, I know I was supposed to try to talk you into the combo edge instead of out of it but I'm just expressing my personal view that you'd be better with full serrations if you want serrations. I was very wary of serrations till I first got them and found I really liked them but I think this is one of those things where "middle of the road" isn't really the place to go.
I think you're a lot less likely to regret a full serration blade than a partial, and you should find it a lot more useful.
Different strokes for different folks though
 
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The spyderco Native is a great one to go fully serrated with, its about a 80% serrated 20% plain edge which is just about perfect for opening packages or doing delicate cuts with the tip, while still having the cutting power of serrations. After years of carrying plain edge I'm really a fan of a well ground combo edge, just with Benchmade didn't grind into their blades soo much when they put them in.
 
I might be the minority, but I'd say GO FOR IT.

I personally don't mind Kershaw/ZT's serrations at all. Unlike 90% of the other companies out there, their serrations actually cut things instead of just tearing and ripping material. This makes them really useful for cutting fabric, rope, etc. because they don't bind in the material, get stuck, and make a mess of things. Kabar and Kershaw are the only two companies I've tried who actually make decent serrations, imho.

I hear where you're coming from with the recurve, too. I'd buy a partially serrated folder over one with recurve any day...I really hate sharpening recurve blades.
 
Dorito Monk said:
I might be the minority, but I'd say GO FOR IT.

I personally don't mind Kershaw/ZT's serrations at all. Unlike 90% of the other companies out there, their serrations actually cut things instead of just tearing and ripping material. This makes them really useful for cutting fabric, rope, etc. because they don't bind in the material, get stuck, and make a mess of things. Kabar and Kershaw are the only two companies I've tried who actually make decent serrations, imho.

I hear where you're coming from with the recurve, too. I'd buy a partially serrated folder over one with recurve any day...I really hate sharpening recurve blades.
Click to expand...

Kershaw serrations are like mini veff serrations- which are awesome
 
I agree with the fully SE or fully PE. All but 2 of my knives are plain edge, one is a ladybug H1 Hawkbil fully SE, the other is a SOG Flash 1, CE, that I never really use, besides the reasons already listed, the other annoying part about a CE is that you have to sharpen the plain and then the serrated in two separate stages. I also strongly agree with not having enough serrations or enough plain edge to be as helpful as one or the other. Really though I've never felt like I needed a Serrated edge, sharp plain edge cuts everything just fine including thick rope. The reason I got the H1 in SE is for the better edge holding vs PE. I guess you could kinda saw through wood with a SE?
 
I've always been anti serration. Then I got a benchmade Stryker for a steal and it had a partially serrated blade. I carried the knife the next day, ended up needing it to cut a lot of line quickly (out 50x50 ft tarp got caught in a wind storm and was trying to beat everyone to death) and the knife worked great.
The serrations won't always give you a clean cut but I think they will take more abuse then a straight edge and should sharpen up easy on the sharpmaker or similar.
 
I dislike partial serrations... If you want serrations, go all or nothing. A fully serrated knife can be great and cut through just about anything. It won't be a great slicer but will do a decent job. Spyderco's rule in the full serration relm.
 
None in my current rotation but I have in the past. Used to be to me just an excuse to be lazy with the sharpening. Serrations will usually cut when the rest of the blade is dead dull. I prefer a blade out of D2 or something that takes a while to get dull.
Go for it you can always get the straight edge version later.
 
I was always against CE until I got a deal on the mini-grip. I love the CE now. I have a CQC-10 CE and a BM mini-grip CE. I find the CE to be the best of both worlds. A lot of people will say the serations are not as useful as on a full SE blade and the plain edge is not as useful as a full PE blade. Well the same is true in reverse. The CE serated portion is better at some tasks than a full PE blade and the plain edge portion is better at some tasks than a full SE blade.
 
It surprises me how few locking folders are available with two blades. The Spyderco Dyad and the Byrd Wings are the only ones that come to mind, unless you go to a multitool. It seems like one knife with SE and PE blades is what most who have posted here would like to have, the best of both worlds. I guess the downside is the bulk of a twin-bladed folder.
 
I think partial serrations are great for those that dont maintain a blade. My mom has partial serrated knife she uses for hiking and camping. It has never been sharpened in 10 years and still will cut up veges and bread and such.
 
If you do not like even a recurve for it makes sharpening more difficult - why to consider serration at all?
Are you sure you want to be talked into buying one?
Sure it will make you think twice about regrinding the blade. But it probably does not make the regrind impossible - just more extensive... ;)
 
I've only had one knife with partial serrations and I cannot bad mouth it, even though it lost itself when I was drunk on a camping trip and never returned to me (so that's one strike against it). I don't think I will be buying a knife with serrations in the future. Knives with serrations have their place, if I was a cop, fireman or a rodeo cowboy helping cowboys that are hung up on a bull or a horse where you might have to cut rope quickly. I can see where serrations would be preferred, but they are not for me. I will admit they do cut and cut well- but I just don't care for them.
 
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