Regular or serated

[lkothe]

I'm not much of a knife guy, they get used and abused but I prefer a regular blade.

Why are there so many blades any more with some serations on them?
Benifits?

What is your preference and why?

 

[RichardA76]

I would say that the companies/stores are cashing in on the zombie apocalypse and survivor shows. "you need a saw too" type thing.

I will say that for a bug out bag yes I would want a serrated edge for "survival" purposes, however just for a blade to carry and use daily, not so much.

 

[excat]

About 40% of my knives have serrations on them, I only have 1 fully serrated blade, the rest are 1/4 serrated. Before I became a city boy, I used a serrated blade all the time working on the farm. To me, the big benefit of a serrated blade is you can cut rope, string, twine, etc. with your serrated part of the blade, and you don't have to worry about dulling the smooth end as quick. I would use the serration also for notching wood when I would go camping. Now that I'm living in the city, I have much less of a need for the serration, as most of my knives end up being used to open packages, or other non-manly crap like that.

 

[chask]

. . . To me, the big benefit of a serrated blade is you can cut rope, string, twine, etc. with your serrated part of the blade, and you don't have to worry about dulling the smooth end as quick. I would use the serration also for notching wood when I would go camping. . . .

edxcat_56 hit the nail on the head with "the big benefit of a serrated blade is you can cut rope, string, twine, etc. with your serrated part of the blade". The real question is what you intend to cut with your knife. I know this will sound almost infantile but here goes. A knife is a tool. You don't buy a hammer to cut stuff and you don't buy a knife to hammer nails. Well, actually I really do know one guy who has used his knife to hammer a bunch of big nails into a 2 x 4, but that's a whole other story. The serrations help you get the blade started on some tougher stuff that almost needs a saw. Rope is a great example. I have found tie wraps sometimes can be - depends on how sharp my blade is. If you don't think you will be cutting the more manly stuff (as excat_56 put it) you probably can get by with a regular blade. If you think you might ever need to cut some tougher stuff you might want to think about some serrations. Like loaded mags, it's far better to have and not need than to need and not have.

If you stlil want to have a plain blade there are a couple of ways you can get around that. One is by learning how to sharpen your blade and put some micro-serrations on it. I'm nowhere near enough of an expert to tell you a whole lot about it but I have seen plain blade knives that will effortlessly cut rope, and that more manly stuff. The only thing I can figure is I think they get a very sharp blade working up to a fine grit, then go over the edge (a couple of times at most) with something kind of course. I think some of it has to do with the blade profile (recurve, tanto, etc.) or angles too; maybe using mulitple ones or creating a curved edge. The only other way I am aware of is the choice of blade grind - like V, zero and chisel. Some grinds do work better than others. I have read that a chisel grind is a very efficient cutting edge. Although for some people this is about like criticizing a 1911 or a Glock. All I know is I have used a chisel grind for several years now and only very rarely have I needed a serrated blade.

All this said, my EDC was an Emerson CQC-6 (has a plain edge chisel grind tanto) up until about a year ago when I got a heavily used Emerson CQC-7 from one of our county's retired warriors (at leat I think he retired). Now I carry both, mostly so I have something that will get the job done when my plain edge won't cut it. The 7 was his EDC for 8 years or so. Though it looks like it has been through hell it still works like a brand new one (well, except it operates as smooth as silk as opposed to a new one's stiffness). It is a fairly small knife (for my big hands) but it has a half serrated tanto blade. I get it out when I need to hit something tough or if I haven't had the time to freshen the edge on my 6. I should add that as long as I mantained the edge on my 6 it would go right through some pretty tough stuff. The only time I ever had any trouble with the tougher stuff was when I had let the blade get a bit on the dull side, usually what would prompt me to get around to sharpening it. IMO, there really is something about a chisel grind that helps with cutting, but here again we are getting close to or above my knowledge level. I've got some links about it (PM me if you want them) or do a search for chisel and zero grind blades.

Good luck. Like almost all tools that get infrequent use, they seem such trivial things until you are up the creek and really need something that will get the job done.

 

[dennishoddy]

About 40% of my knives have serrations on them, I only have 1 fully serrated blade, the rest are 1/4 serrated. Before I became a city boy, I used a serrated blade all the time working on the farm. To me, the big benefit of a serrated blade is you can cut rope, string, twine, etc. with your serrated part of the blade, and you don't have to worry about dulling the smooth end as quick. I would use the serration also for notching wood when I would go camping. Now that I'm living in the city, I have much less of a need for the serration, as most of my knives end up being used to open packages, or other non-manly crap like that.

I won a $20 bet with a guy that said his "lariat" knife would cut a rope faster than my plain blade.

I bought a 12 pack after the "competition".

Its all about knowing how to put a razor edge on the knife you own.

 

[excat]

I won a $20 bet with a guy that said his "lariat" knife would cut a rope faster than my plain blade.

I bought a 12 pack after the "competition".

Its all about knowing how to put a razor edge on the knife you own.

I haven't met a knife yet of decent quality metal that I can't put to a razor's edge. All my knives will cut rope effortlessly, I just prefer the serrations as it will not kill the edge of serrations as quick like it will a plain blade. It's just like cutting paper with a knife, one of the worst things to do when it comes to maintaining your edge. Will my knife cut paper, of course, I'd rather use scissors if available than sharpen my knife because I was cutting paper with it. Every time you sharpen a knife it takes life from the blade.

As to your bet, yes, of course if you have a razor's edge, it will cut through rope faster than a serrated edge. Serrations aren't meant for slicing, quick or any other precision work, they are made for brute cutting force, like saw teeth. They will cut as efficiently as the force is put behind them. Anyone that would make that bet should lose $20, but I have to say, that's a damn expensive 12 pack.