Plain edged or serrated?

[defjon]

Going to make this short, I can carry a pocket knife with a blade 3 inches and under in my state, and after examining the law, it can also be spring assisted.

I am wondering if there is any data or science behind choosing serrated or plain edged in a knife pressed into self defense? I know the plain edged blades are really quick to sharpen with my accusharp, but the serrations might be better if ever the need to cut a seat belt would arise.

Not to sound crazy or morbid here, but the serration might also cause more of a tearing or ripping type of wound. I don't know. Right now, I'm leaning towards the regular edge just because I can't see a real use for the blade being half serrated (the bottom half).

 

[earlthegoat2]

Keep plain edge blades sharp and they will do fine.

Serrations on a seatbelt hasten the cutting action of the sharp areas of the serrations making them seem to cut faster. A good positive swipe with a sharp plain edge will do it that fast or faster as well.

Serrations serve to keep a knife from dulling as fast by protecting sharp areas with little protrusions hence the serrations. The system works and they are undeniably popular. I think that most knife carryers do not understand sharpening though and are not skilled at it so choose the serrations.

I woodwork with handtools. I know how to sharpen. Make mine non serrated edge.

 

[JEB]

i prefer the plain edge. i have never found myself in a situation where i wished i had a serrated edge nor can i imagine a task that a half serrated blade can do better than a well sharpened regular blade.

 

[TimboKhan]

I don't have a problem with serrated edges, but my preference is plain edges. I think it was the newest issue of Blade that I was reading that A.G. Russell said that his customers prefer plain edges to serrated 10 to 1.

Earlthegoat was at least partially right: One of the reasons I prefer a plain edge is my sharpening ability. That isn't the major reason, but it is a reason.Frankly and shamefully, sharpening a knife is something I seem genetically incapable of doing regardless of what I try, although I can at least get a working edge on my Sharpmaker which represents a quantum leap in sharpening skill for me.

 

[Cosmoline]

I've been told that serrated blades are primarily for bread. That they were designed to grab hold of a squirrely loaf and keep the dough from gumming up under a straight edge. But I really don't know. Where did the first serrated blades come from?

 

[76shuvlinoff]

Benchmade Mini Griptilian plain edge for my edc. Stays sharp, non assisted opening but opens one handed as quickly as any other. The axis lock is rock solid. Non threatening appearance.

 

[Mp7]

For a beautyful knife make it a plain edge for me.

For a workhorse i´m fine with a half serrated in 440C

... that is not a beautyful knife, but for 20$ i paid
i am surprised about the quality. It is heattreated awesomely
for being made in China. S&W put a logo on it.

as a tool or weapon i couldnt be happier.
It´s not kept in the same box with the beautyful ones though

I´ll get an olive wood opinel soon for edc.
Cause it looks very gentlemanish and works a treat.

 

[wvshootist]

I prefer fine edged blades. I do have a couple combo edged blades but it is the plain jane edge that does it for me.

 

[StrawHat]

For me it is plain edged blades. It seems each time I get one of the serrated blades I end up removing the serrations. Yes, I can sharpen serrations but for my own knives, I just remove them. Except for the kitchen bread knife.

 

[boricua9mm]

For me personally, serrated blades make certain tasks much easier, such as cutting rope, corrugate/cardboard, or in the emergency situation mentioned, cutting a seatbelt.

I like both plain and half-serrated blades. If you're looking at a quality made knife, I would not let the presence or absence of serrations be a deal-breaker. I would be more concerned with the finish of the blade. These days I gravitate more towards beadblasted, satin, or mirror polished finishes. The black blades tend to look really beat up after they've seen a good bit of use.

 

[conw]

I find half-serrations kind of useless, but if you want a blade that is combo light-utility and sd knife, to be carried all the time, Spyderco and a few other companies make knives with a very short section of plain edge on the tip, and the rest serrated...you can use the tip (talking 1/4-1/2" here) on envelopes and what-not, and save the sharp serrations for emergency or SD use.

 

[Black Toe Knives]

A "sharp" straight edge knife will make fast work of anything, including a seat belt.

 

[bobelk99]

A plain edge looks better to most people.

A sharp plain edge will cut anything you need to cut as easily as a serrated.

Most people don't know how to sharpen a plain edge, or fail to keep it truly sharp. I believe the serrated edge would be helpful to them.

If you are willing to keep it sharp, go with the plain edge.

My comment based on ownership of many thousands of blades over time.

 

[Leadhead]

I don't mind a bit of serrations on a larger blade but for a 3" blade I'd go plain.

 

[PH/CIB]

For field dressing game, skinning, caping, or any fine work such as whittling, or woodwork or cutting a straight line I prefer a non serrated blade, for cutting up cardboard boxes or ripping through rope or fabric, I prefer a fully serrated blade, my Spyderco Endura has almost all of the blade serrated and I carry it for work and self defense.

 

[gga357]

Nice sharp plain edge is best.

 

[ArfinGreebly]

Make Mine Plain

I own . . . several . . . knives.

Among those knives, I have maybe, what, three with partially serrated blades? One or two folders with a fully serrated blade?

I simply can't warm to them. I have a really nice Kershaw 3120 with a combo edge. I've never carried it. Never will. I find I prefer a well-sharpened plain edge, even for cutting bread. (I have a Gerber French from the seventies that does a fine job on soft bread.)

I don't usually sell off a knife, but I now have a couple candidates. It's a policy of mine that I don't "collect" knives, i.e. all of my knives are users or backups for users. When I identify a knife in the stable that I know I will never use (beyond testing it), there's no point in keeping it.

Now that I've discovered that serrated blades really don't work for me in most contexts, I won't be buying any more, and I'll have to find loving homes for the few serrated or combo blades I have.

So, make mine plain.

 

[Silly Rabbit]

wow cant believe the outcry against serrations
defensively, cant answer
as far as utility I find I use the seratted portion of my blade AT LEAST 10 to one
almost always gets utility work done faster and can still cut cheese!

 

[Black Toe Knives]

I use my straight edge as utility and I can still "Slice" -- not saw -- a tomato so thin you can see through it. It's really personal preference.

I don't use serrated steak knife either, I will use my EDC.

 

[Quickdraw Limpsalot]

Give me a razor sharp plain blade every time. I've owned several half serrated blades, but I've found that the serrations do more harm than good for my particular needs.

 

[Smokey Joe]

Saw vs. knife...

Jim (Black Toe Knives) nailed it:

It's really personal preference.

Either will do the job--except for slicing fresh warm bread, where a "knife" with "teeth" is a necessity.

Emergency personnel seem to prefer serrated for "doing" seat belts, so when my wife joined our local volunteer fire dept, my son & I got her a nice blaze-orange-handled serrated Spyderco for her turnout coat pocket (which I don't think she has ever used for anything!)

In WWI, German engineers were issued saw-toothed-backed bayonets, specifically for sawing tree roots they might encounter while excavating. I've seen museum examples of these, and they'd make a truly horrid wound were they to be used for bayonetting humans. I understand that the Allied soldiers in the trenches dealt with this by shooting captured Germans "while attempting to escape," if they were captured in possession of a saw-toothed bayonet. No official record of this, of course. I mention this because it relates to the use of a knife in SD--what would a lawyer do with your "specially deadly weapon" with its "saw teeth, designed to make a nastier wound," if the question were to get into court?

Be that as it may, personally, I know how to sharpen a straight blade, and therefore prefer those for all uses except bread, as noted above.

 

[Sniper X]

depends on what you need to or have to cut and how fast....I find serated works great on hoses and rubber belts and stuff, but plain works better on everything else.

 

[earlthegoat2]

Im going to try to say this as gently as possible and it echoes what has already been said by me and others above:

Serrated knives exist primarily so you can get away with not sharpening them as often.

Whether it is the person who owns the knife who does not know how to properly sharpen a knife or is not motivated to do so or sharpening the knife is not prudent or convenient because of extenuating circumstances.

Steak knives for instance are used a lot and dull quickly especially if you are cutting on a plate or glass cutting board. If you insist on doing this all the time and do not wish to vigalantly sharpen as they get dull then the serrated knife is for you.

I find that a well maintained plain edge blade is both sharper and easier to use for the whole entirety of what knives are used for.

 

[conw]

It still comes down to tasks. If you gung ho PE-only guys were sawing many dozen thick ropes and zip ties each day, you'd want a good spyderco H1 serrated (which according to Sal Glesser outperforms H1 PE as well as VG10 PE and SE by a large margin - interesting tidbit) unless you fancied resharpening frequently.

That said, most people including me prefer a PE only. I just don't pretend they are the absolute best for every single task.

I may have mentioned this earlier on but I do like a civilian type blade, or the CS vaquero, for SD because they are just ghastly sharp and would potentially leave a more gaping wound than a fine-grit-sharpened PE, particularly through clothing.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

If the steel is really hard and will hold an edge well, then plain edge definitely. On those types of knives, the serrations are way too hard to re-sharpen. On softer steels, where the stick tools actually work to sharpen the serrations, I don't mind having a couple of combo edges.