Spyderco .. SALT 1 Plain edge or serrated.

panch0

panch0

Joined
Jun 16, 2008
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My wife has o.k.ed a knife purchase. :D I live in south Texas and do alot of Bay fishing and some freshwater also. This will be my new fishing knife. Now the uses this knife will see is cutting bait, rope, fish cleaning, fingernail cleaning. the question i have is which knife will surve my purposes, the plain or serrated edge. What are the uses, pros and cons of each? Thanks in advance
 
Fish cleaning (and I guess fingernail as well) would probably be easier with PE, and PE can do rope as well. So I guess PE would be your best all around. In my not-exactly-professional opinion, I wouldn't polish the edge. Use a medium stone to sharpen. Anyone want to second that?
 
I have PE and SE Pacific Salt. My opinion:
Major advantage of serrations is they keep the knife cutting effectively longer.
Major disadvantages of serrations: Harder to sharpen; precision cutting is more difficult.
SE blade has very short PE portion at tip, perfect for fingernail cleaning.
I would recommend PE for uses mentioned.
 
panch0 said:
My wife has o.k.ed a knife purchase. :D I live in south Texas and do alot of Bay fishing and some freshwater also. This will be my new fishing knife. Now the uses this knife will see is cutting bait, rope, fish cleaning, fingernail cleaning. the question i have is which knife will surve my purposes, the plain or serrated edge. What are the uses, pros and cons of each? Thanks in advance
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Hi,

I live in Central Florida and do a lot of inshore fishing in the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon, I split my time between fishing out of a boat and my kayak, the latter which usually entails a good deal of wading (although probably not as much as you Laguna Madre cats like to wade:) After trying different some Spydie models I finally arrived at what I believe is my perfect "get wet" kayak knife.....and it's actually two knives. I carry both a Salt I PE, for rigging, bait, and general chores and I also carry a Tasman Salt SE for emergency type cutting if I need to whack the webbing or line very quickly.
They are featherweights and I barely even know they are there. The H1 just needs a fresh water rinse with my reels at the end of the trip and a small spray of Reel Magic now and then. When I'm on my boat I generally carry a Para or lately a Tenacious PE. (Oh and I use a cheap fillet knife for the rare times I need to cut bait).

I don't really think ANY of the Spyderco lineup is going to be a good fillet knife thats also going to stand up to salt water exposure. (Lower Laguna Madre is a super high saline environment as I understand)
Buy a cheap Rapala fillet knife for those chores.

Hope this helps.

MW-
 
mwong61, thanks for the great advice. I do carry a cheap $6 rapala fish filet knife and other knifes in my truck, but dont like carrying it when I am out wade fishing(it gets in the way sometimes).

I want an good carrying knife that I can have at my side and can pull out of my pocket and use. Sometimes I wander too far from the truck to walk back and get another knife or something else. I like to go wading as light as I can and a good all around knife is a must for me.

It looks like a Plain edge is favorite so far so keep the advise coming.:thumbup:
 
If you're uncertain which one of the two to choose, you're usually better off with PE. Get a plain edge and keep it really sharp.
 
panch0 said:
mwong61, thanks for the great advice. I do carry a cheap $6 rapala fish filet knife and other knifes in my truck, but dont like carrying it when I am out wade fishing(it gets in the way sometimes).

I want an good carrying knife that I can have at my side and can pull out of my pocket and use. Sometimes I wander too far from the truck to walk back and get another knife or something else. I like to go wading as light as I can and a good all around knife is a must for me.

It looks like a Plain edge is favorite so far so keep the advise coming.:thumbup:
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Pancho,

A couple more thoughts, if I were a dedicated wader, I might consider
a kydex neck sheath. I've seen some aftermarket type deals that would fit the bill. Also, if you really think your going to need to be doing filleting, you may be better served the a PE Pacific Salt. It's essentially an H1 Endura.
Longer blade could be useful.

M-
 
If you're uncertain which one of the two to choose, you're usually better off with PE. Get a plain edge and keep it really sharp.
Click to expand...

Why would someone prefer a SE. I am just asking cause they look really cool and all, but would like to know what they can do that a PE can't do. I know they will retain a cutting edge longer. What else?

I'm leaning to a Salt 1, and liked the idea of the kydex neck sheath, but would still like to know the different fuctions of each. Thanks

-frank
 
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panch0 said:
Why would someone prefer a SE. I am just asking cause they look really cool and all, but would like to know what they can do that a PE can't do. I know they will retain a cutting edge longer. What else?

I'm leaning to a Salt 1, and liked the idea of the kydex neck sheath, but would still like to know the different fuctions of each. Thanks

-frank
Click to expand...

SE cuts rope and other fiberous materials better.
 
I prefer the SE for sawing through rope, old weight belts, tangled monofilament and the like. It also works really well for cutting bagels in half. (You can use the back of the knife for spreading cream cheese.) For most other uses I would rather have the PE.
 
Just pulled the trigger on a Salt 1 PE:D:D:D:D. Thanks to all who helped. Maybe after I get enough brownie points with my better half. I'll try out a SE.
 
panch0 said:
Just pulled the trigger on a Salt 1 PE:D:D:D:D. Thanks to all who helped. Maybe after I get enough brownie points with my better half. I'll try out a SE.
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Cool, congrats, I love my Salt I. Keep in mind that H1 is not quite
as hard as some of the other steels Spydie uses such as S30V or VG10.
The Plain Edge might need a few sharpenings before it reaches it's
"work hardened" state and be able to retain and edge as well as the other
steels.

I sharpen my Salt 1 on my Spydero Triangle Sharpmaker and can get
it very sharp.

M-
 
Cool, congrats, I love my Salt I. Keep in mind that H1 is not quite
as hard as some of the other steels Spydie uses such as S30V or VG10.
The Plain Edge might need a few sharpenings before it reaches it's
"work hardened" state and be able to retain and edge as well as the other
steels.

I sharpen my Salt 1 on my Spydero Triangle Sharpmaker and can get
it very sharp.

M-
Click to expand...

Thanks, I love sharpening my knives so that wont be a problem.
 
Just got it today! Again thanks guys for the advise. Feels good in my hand and it is hair shaving sharp out of the box.
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I got both serrated and plain of the pacific salts but I rarely carry or use the serrated. The plain is my lunch knife. I ordered a plain salt one as well, it's a little smaller and will fit in my pocket better.

I have read some threads from folks that have problems sharpening their h1 blades but honestly I have never had that problem. I don't let mine get dull in the first place though. I might have a different opinion if I ever have to reprofile mine but since I've gotten a sharpmaker I swipe my knives frequently on it, just a few times, and they just stay sharp.

I love my salts! I don't know why I keep getting other knives, between my dodo for work, my salt for lunch, and my tenacious for misc, I'm pretty much all set.


Oh, except for my fixies for outdoors. And maybe a multitool or two. Well 4 actually. Unless you count SAK's then it's more like 6,


Disregard what I said about only 3 knives.
 
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