brownie0486
Member
I'm posting this on the various forums fopr discussion:
I was contacted privately by another forum member who had seen previous posts about our/my observations regarding serrations and their effectiveness or non effectiveness against different types of outer clothing vs. plain edged of the same design.
This person took the time to cut a dungaree jacket with a half serrated recurved blade of 4 inches in length. He wrote as his observations and findings were somewhat different than the findings of the class in LR many years ago. He thought I should be aware of these findings and asked me to comment on the disparity between the findings and possibly an educated guess as to why the disparity.
In previous classes years ago [ not in the last 6 years ]we saw that serrations would drag/grab scertain material slowing the blade and effectively reducing the depth of the cut made through the medium [ material we were cutting ]when checked against the plain edge on the same materials.
His recent observations with the half serrated blade showed that the serrations dug deep, did not drag and produced very nasty cuts to the material vs a plain edgeed blade of the same design.
We talked a bit over emails and I recommended that he post his results on the forums for all to be able have the information available to them here and as well, bring this discussion to the forefront with others impressions and comments.
He and I both agreed the half serrated would not have been as effective at the cutting performance if it had been fully serrated as more teeth would mean more drag. We also agreed the recurve of the blade [ blade design ] may have played a role in the results as well.
I also suggested that the teeth of serrated knives are of somewhat different design dependant on different makers. For instance, the spyderco serrations from the early days on certain models [ and continuing to this day ] are cut deeper [ have longer teeth height ] than other makers serrations. The serrateds tooth design will also affect the outcome of whether one is better than another.
We discovered that there are many variables and disparities between makers blade designs and teeth configuraions to include the height of the teeth as well as the overall pattern to the teeth which is also different dependant on model and maker. Serration designs have also evolved to a degree where they are shallower [ less toothy and consequently less aggressive ] than the early daysas a rule. This may be due to observations of their own testing data or perhaps from listening to the buying public and attempting to compromise between too aggressive and not very aggressive.
All the above can skewer the results one has and so we are now left with a few choices to make. Some serrations obviously cut better through material than others. Dependant on the maker and model, tooth design, etc the serrated knife may or may not be a better choice for self defense over a plain edge.
In the future, I'll not quote our own testing results of years past as the time passed has brought forth many changes in the industry and one can not hold an objective view if they hold onto old data and do not continue to retest the designs and patterns of serrations from different makers vs. the plain edge in the same guise.
Comments?
Brownie
I was contacted privately by another forum member who had seen previous posts about our/my observations regarding serrations and their effectiveness or non effectiveness against different types of outer clothing vs. plain edged of the same design.
This person took the time to cut a dungaree jacket with a half serrated recurved blade of 4 inches in length. He wrote as his observations and findings were somewhat different than the findings of the class in LR many years ago. He thought I should be aware of these findings and asked me to comment on the disparity between the findings and possibly an educated guess as to why the disparity.
In previous classes years ago [ not in the last 6 years ]we saw that serrations would drag/grab scertain material slowing the blade and effectively reducing the depth of the cut made through the medium [ material we were cutting ]when checked against the plain edge on the same materials.
His recent observations with the half serrated blade showed that the serrations dug deep, did not drag and produced very nasty cuts to the material vs a plain edgeed blade of the same design.
We talked a bit over emails and I recommended that he post his results on the forums for all to be able have the information available to them here and as well, bring this discussion to the forefront with others impressions and comments.
He and I both agreed the half serrated would not have been as effective at the cutting performance if it had been fully serrated as more teeth would mean more drag. We also agreed the recurve of the blade [ blade design ] may have played a role in the results as well.
I also suggested that the teeth of serrated knives are of somewhat different design dependant on different makers. For instance, the spyderco serrations from the early days on certain models [ and continuing to this day ] are cut deeper [ have longer teeth height ] than other makers serrations. The serrateds tooth design will also affect the outcome of whether one is better than another.
We discovered that there are many variables and disparities between makers blade designs and teeth configuraions to include the height of the teeth as well as the overall pattern to the teeth which is also different dependant on model and maker. Serration designs have also evolved to a degree where they are shallower [ less toothy and consequently less aggressive ] than the early daysas a rule. This may be due to observations of their own testing data or perhaps from listening to the buying public and attempting to compromise between too aggressive and not very aggressive.
All the above can skewer the results one has and so we are now left with a few choices to make. Some serrations obviously cut better through material than others. Dependant on the maker and model, tooth design, etc the serrated knife may or may not be a better choice for self defense over a plain edge.
In the future, I'll not quote our own testing results of years past as the time passed has brought forth many changes in the industry and one can not hold an objective view if they hold onto old data and do not continue to retest the designs and patterns of serrations from different makers vs. the plain edge in the same guise.
Comments?
Brownie
