Serrations yes or no

[Mistwalker]

Score one for serrations, (at least in my opinion), if often comes down to where and why. Here are a few pics of working with a SEAL Team and some Bamboo.

Using the serrations I was able to get pretty smooth crosscut in about a minute and a half.

and quietly whittle, not hack, out a sharp bevel in about the same amount of time. The serrations did well in just tearing away sections.

Then I cleaned it up a bit just working with the knife and then checked out the tip some.

The green piece in this picture is the off-fall untouched…you can see one side of the cut is cleaner than the other.

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[spamel]

I can see no time when I will need to cut a rope so fast that my life depends on it. If I need to cut lots of rope (Which I don't as I hate to cut good rope down, it should stay as a long piece so that it can be used for other things, cutting bits off here and there annoys me!) then I will place the rope around the blade and pull. I keep my knives sharp. If it is inch thick hemp rope (Which I come across everyday as a gas man! ) then place the rope on a tree stump, blade on top and batton through with a log. Remember to whip either side of the cut before you make it or the rope will spring open and be a mess.

So, no serrations for me please.

 

[Chinkapin]

No wire hangers! No serrated knives!!!!

I have a spyderco with a totally serrated blade and I find it virtually worthless for use as a general purpose knife. I would defy anyone to carve out something with it. Unless of course you are "into" deep grooves in everything you carve.

 

[plcreel]

I do not have serrations on any of my blades except a few that I could not get without them.
I would love to have a Gerber ASEK but I will not buy one until I can get it without serrations.

PLC

 

[steven andrews]

Many people say that a serrated blade is an advantage when cutting seat belts, but I have found seat belts to be very, very easy to cut with a plain edge. Their strength is in their resistance to a pulling force. A sharp plain edge will breeze through them.

I have found that serrated blades cut slippery materials like cable ties and polypropylene rope better as they tend to bite into the surface better.

I also like serrations on a bread knife, as a plain edge has to be kept very sharp to cut soft bread. I quite like the gentle Victorinox serrations as found on their little paring knives..they are sort of half way between plain edge and the more aggresive Spyderco-style serrations.

That said, if I had to choose a fixed blade and a folder for the rest of my life, they'd both be 100% plain edge.

 

[Goatboy]

bugger to sharpen, and unless you've cordage to cut not needed

 

[ForgeCorvus]

I do not have serrations on any of my blades except a few that I could not get without them.
I would love to have a Gerber ASEK but I will not buy one until I can get it without serrations.

PLC

Buy a file as well ....sorted

Some makers are missing a trick not selling their blades in both flavors (I think half & half is just wrong though, the jagged bits always seem to be just where I want smooth)

As someone who avoids the blue builder's string (I won't dignify it by calling it rope) like the plage, as it always seems to fail, wear, unlay or stretch at the worst times I really don't have any need for one.
A mate of mine who uses it all the time (hes a farmer and Agri-engineer) cuts it with a mini gas torch, never using his knife at all (a number 8 Opi BTW)

 

[Asa Samuel]

Serrations arent for me, I can see why people ike them but roughly grinding a plain bladed knife gives you loads of tiny micro serrations which cut rope just fine for me. and I'll only bother doing that if I've going to be cutting a lot, which I don't anyway.

 

[Templar]

Hmmm if Im going to cut Bamboo like that I'll stick to my Parang, razor sharp and takes less time.... lol

 

[Air Pirate]

There's nor really one particular thing about serrations I don't like, I just prefer not to have them. They do make a mess of cutting food up, that's one reason I guess.

 

[delta1]

If your knife is sharp it won't need serrations.

Indeed. Short & to the point!!!! well said.

 

[galopede]

not a fan of serrations myself.

My most useful EDC is a Trevor Ablett Farmers/Spearpoint folder. I sharpen the spearpoint smoothly on a stone but sharpen the heavy farmer's blade with a quick swipe with the edge of a file, giving it micro serrations and it's excellent for cutting rope etc.

 

[Inusuit]

I have a couple of folding knives with serrations. All in the drawer. All dull. Wouldn't buy or carry another one.

 

[TinkyPete]

I have several SOG knives some with half serrations (including a seal pup, flash1 and flash 2), all are great quality knives good for anything that a plain flat knife can do, and then cut quicker and smoother than alot of my plain ones, also have a couple of multitools such as a sog paratool, powerlock and leatherman wave and a couple of others all have part or serrated blades. As for a separate sharpen tool I have a multi purpose sharpener that does serrated and flat blades in one and is only 3 inches long it is one of my smallest and lightest sharpeners as does a great job.

 

[hog]

Good on a bread knife and best left in the kitchen.

 

[PeterHW]

Good on a bread knife and best left in the kitchen.

Exactly.... nothing wrong with a folding saw and a straight fixed blade.... but serrated edges are neither one nor the other and not as good as either when needed...

 

[Martyn]

Serrations = bleh!!

They do cut a little faster if you are using a sawing motion, but they are awful push cutters.

hate em.

 

[maddave]

For me serrations serve no "real" purpose that a sharp plain blade doesn't. I think they're put on knives to make the look "tacticool", you hardly ever see them on a working knife, only military style...

 

[lannyman8]

not for me although a have a few folders with half and half....

they are not much cop unless hacking through wire and lots off junk as such as they stay sharper than a straight blade.....but thats it.....

again straight edge bushey and folding saw does all you will ever need.........job done...

 

[gregs656]

Not for me. I have no call for them, they just get in the way.

I think partly serrated blades do it all wrong. It should be in the middle so you have a PE heel and a PE tip with a serrated centre. I think that would make quite a handy combo if you had a need for a serrated edge. Maybe not in thirds, but you get the idea.