Toughest fully serrated knife?

A

Anzycpethian

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Apr 22, 2012
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I'm rather new to collecting knives (but not using them) and I'd like to know what you guys recommend for me if I want a fully serrated quality knife mainly for EDC household or outdoors use for under 150$.

I found so far only the Spyderco Endura 4 to be really suitable for my needs.
Is there anything similar out there with a fixed blade like this and preferably full tang? Maybe made out of 1095 steel? I don't have much hope after my own research.

Background of this thread is that I find myself using the serrated blades of my Leathermen (Leathermans?) mainly and nearly daily instead of the straight blades. I know how to keep them sharp, I love how easy and fast they cut through pretty much everything that I don't care about. Back in Austria where I grew up I had my decorative, forged Flamberge (sword) on the wall that kinda always reminded me of the historical importance and practicability of waved and serrated blades (more so the invention itself). So I guess I just grew up with the continuous use of fully serrated knives (along with great satisfaction) if that makes any sense to you. So years passed and now I'd like to get something new, that replaced fiddling around with my Leatherman multitools.
 
Have you checked out the Spyderco Jumpmaster?
 
This is made really well but you'll have to find one on ebay. It's made by A.G. Russell
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I LOVE both of your suggestions! They are both beauties!
Thank you so much! I think this thread is gonna cost me a lot of money^^
 
I think Spyderco makes the best fully serrated blades around. I think a combo edge would do really well for you as well. That way you have your serrated edge, but you have a plain edge to do slicing and things serrations may not work as well.
I would suggest:
Spyderco Military
Spyderco Paramilitary 1 - Discontinued but pop up pretty often.
Spyderco Police
Spyderco Native
Spyderco Manix 2

All are exceptional blades and you couldn't go wrong with any of them.

If you want something different you could check out their rescue type blades(Saver Salt, Atlantic Salt, Assist), their hawkbill types(Civilian, Matriarch, Harpy)
 
Mora sell a serrated version of the Clipper. Ragnar's Forge will stock it and it will be cheap and nearly indestructible.

You should also be able to find the recently discontinued CRKT MUK. These are semi-serrated with amazinngly powerful Veff serrations - the Spyderco serrations are good but I have both and I think these are better for a lot of jobs - and super tough. And again, cheap.
 
You could consider a Spyderco Pacific Salt, seeing as it's essentially a rust-proof version of an Endura. And I could be wrong but I believe the H1 steel used is work hardened, so the serrated variety has a particularly high hardness from grinding the serrations.
 
There aren't many fully serrated non-folding knives that aren't kitchen knives, and there aren't many fully serrated knives that aren't Spydercos. Spyderco has the Jumpmaster, and had (discontinued) the Aqual Salt.
 
Thank you all for taking time and writing in here. I appreciate that a lot! Gotta decide now which one I want first...
 
Toughest serrated knife I've ever seen. 30+ years and I can't get my mom to throw her's away (even though I've given her custom US & Japanese hand-forged blades to use).

It can cut through a nail, tin can, radiator hose, and still cut a tomato paper thin!
Ginsu_Knife.jpg


Ginsu does sell folders nowadays too!
 
Off the top of my head, the only knife that meets your requirements (fixed blade, tough, fully serrated) I can think of is the Spyderco Jump Master.
 
Chris Pierce said:
Off the top of my head, the only knife that meets your requirements (fixed blade, tough, fully serrated) I can think of is the Spyderco Jump Master.
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Is the Jumpmaster that tough? It's a hollow grind, the most delicate grind there is, so I doubt it. A serrated Endura or Rescue is a lot less likely to take damage used hard.

It's also a littel strange when people talk about a full tang being a necessity for toughness, because so "full" tangs are actually skeletons and less tough than many hidden tangs - and the Jumpmaster is a skeleton tang. It doesn't really matter, because the full tang meme is silly anyway, but there you go..
 
You think an endura or rescue is tougher than a jumpmaster? Not to mention H1 it tough stuff and in SE H1 holds an edge better that any other steel Spyderco has tested.
 
rycen said:
You think an endura or rescue is tougher than a jumpmaster?
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In terms of what it takes to damage the edge. Yes. You do know what a hollow grind is? It's the grind with the least amount of steel possible over the largest part of the blade. It's the grind at the opposite end of the spectrum from the convex grind that most hard use knives use - in fact, it's literally its mirror image. These days its largely used for what, skinners and straight razors?

Not to mention H1 it tough stuff and in SE H1 holds an edge better that any other steel Spyderco has tested.
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Edge retention and toughness as not, not nearly, the same thing. And a tough steel won't magically compensate from an arbitrary degree of thinning. And you're rather overstating H1's properties. This what Ed Schemp, who designs knives for Spyderco, thinks:

I found the the edge retention is not as good as VG 10, but like VG-10 is very user friendly as the edge will generally roll without much chipping and can usually be burninshed back with little effort.

H-1 has some of the properties of 300 series stainless steel, particularly in the least worked or ground portions of the blade. Infi steel does use Nitrogen like H1 but is still a Martinsitic steel rather than Austenitic (Martinsitic is hardenable by quenching, Austenitic is not. H1 is hardened by deformation.)
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..I.e. it's a good steel, but not magical - on the order of an older premium steel like VG10, but with excellent corrosion resistance. So personally, given that a Jumpmaster is not a cheap knife, and it is a hollow ground, it's a knife I'd steer clear of using for applications that genuinely need the toughest possible serrated blade.
 
You need to do a little more research.Mr Schemp is referring to H1 in plan edge not serrated big difference.A convex may be better at chopping or batoning two things a serrated knife no matter the grind should be asked to do.

Also the two knives you think are less likely to take damage are folders and hollow ground.
 
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I wish I had purchased an Aqua Salt serrated when they were on closeout. It seems perfect for many tasks. Also, H-1 is a very tough steel.
 
I'm a little confused now. Is the Rescue tougher for hard tasks (cutting pvc for example) then the Jumpmaster then? I say right away I'm not familiar with the different grinds so I let you experts judge.
 
Anzycpethian said:
I'm a little confused now. Is the Rescue tougher for hard tasks (cutting pvc for example) then the Jumpmaster then? I say right away I'm not familiar with the different grinds so I let you experts judge.
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The rescue is a folder and the jumpmaster is a fixed blade.
A serrated edge is not a saw. A saw will cut a kerf, a knife will separate two pieces. Using a knife to cut PVC is an exercise in futility.

As far as the jump master being tough, yes it has a hollow grind. But the steel it is made of is tougher than most other steels and since it is work hardened, it cannot be flat ground. Besides, with a serrated blade who is going to baton or chop?
I for one don't know why some one would need a "tough" fully serrated blade but I tried to help anyway.
 
rycen said:
You need to do a little more research.Mr Schemp is referring to H1 in plan edge not serrated big difference.
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Not to toughness, no.

Also the two knives you think are less likely to take damage are folders and hollow ground.
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The Rescue is flat ground. The Mora is a folder and Scandi. There might be such a thing as a hollow ground Endura, but I've only seen flat grinds.

As for folders vs not-folders, a decent folder lock will take more force than the blade can handle without snapping when dealing with blades of this size.
 
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