What are serrations good for?

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evert67

Joined
Oct 22, 2011
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I wonder why so many knives are (half) serrated, particularly tactical knives. Serrations won't help in slicing, slashing or chopping, at least not me. And how often do you use your knife for sawing wood? (I usually chop.) So what are serrations good for, other than looking mean?
 
They work really well for cardboard, rope/twine etc without needing to be sharpened as often as a plain edge. Used to work in a receiving room at a furniture store and those serrated blades made short work of all those materials. Now as a remodel contractor I carry only plain edges and if needed sharpen them up after work.
 
I really don't like serrations, in fact the only knife I do have with serrations is a Gerber "Blakie Collins" in stainless. The only time I use it is when I go canoeing, the serrations are for chewing through the kayak/canoe plastic in a sawing motion in the event of being trapped. That's about the only use I can think of (but, I'm biased ;)).
 
Serrations are good for cutting stuff and tend to stay functionally sharp longer than a plain edge, imo. I find that they work best on soft or fibrous materials (rope, webbing, etc.)--excellent for rescue tools and landscaping work. I generally don't care for PS blades though; full SE or PE for me. SE blades are fantastic cutters...

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Half serrated knives are just a waste of a knife in my opinion, they make a mess of the blade and don't really give you enough space to use either unless they are very large knives. I'd rather carry the proper tool for the job than have a combo tool that does multiple jobs poorly.
Fully serrated knives are great and have their place, admittedly most of my knives are plain edge but I love me some fully serrated spyderedges or something of that sort. Great for rope, zip ties, cardboard, taking down vines, small branches, opening your mail, cutting sod to size, chopping your arm off if it gets stuck under a rock and you have to escape, cutting pvc pipe, slicing your steak or other food prep, etc etc. Pretty much any cutting task that the material doesn't need a perfectly clean separation.

I've never had a problem with slicing or "slashing" with sharp quality serrations.
 
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I think using dull serrated knives might have given some people a bad impression, and/or they don't want to be seen as noobs. For people who don't have any intention of sharpening a plain edge well and often or might have to cut through some tough stuff on a regular basis, it's a pretty good idea.

Tactical is basically emergency defense, rescue, etc. completing a mission. Certain things that wouldn't take much time and effort for a serrated edge would take more time and effort with a plain edge and leave it rather dull.

Better way to think of it - what can a plain edge cut that a serrated edge can not cut? It's a better choice for law enforcement and military guys that are not really in love with knives and edge maintenance - and even if they are it's still not a bad choice at all.
 
Cutting bread, carpet I understand. But on a tactical combat knife? As a military you're not going to saw up your opponent, are you?
 
Soooo stupid to have half serrated blades. Completely pointless. Don't argue with me on that either, mall ninjas. :p
 
Properly sharp serrations don't "saw". Saws have jagged teeth that rip the material. Good serrations increase the cutting surface of the blade (Spyderco's metric is "up to 23%") and as you draw the blade across the surface being cut, more blade surface is cutting. They work especially efficiently on a soft, giving surface such as rope, seatbelts, vines, gardening, meat, most foods, etc.

Surely you've used a serrated blade on a kitchen knife. They have their purpose. I don't see how they are a hinderance in a fight either. Obviously a sharp PE will do the trick. But in a light, glancing, partially deflected slice, I think sharp serrations are more likely to create a worse injury.
 
A good serrated pattern like Spydercos can push cut as good as any plain edge. Saying they "saw" is to simplify them. But saw they can.
 
nick425 said:
Soooo stupid to have half serrated blades. Completely pointless. Don't argue with me on that either, mall ninjas. :p
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Half serrated blades have their good too, a plain edge's main advantage is wood working and skinning animals so a little bit of both isn't a horrible idea as long as it isn't designed like crap.

I would take a Sharpmaker with me on deployments and sharpen knives for most of the guys, get to talk knives with them, see what was holding up best, etc. The guys with plain edge folders would bring their knife back to me most often by far, then half-serrated....

A big problem with the differences in blade shape, serrations, size, etc. is nobody thinks outside their own little box and they think what is best for them is best for all else.
 
I can do virtually anything with a serrated Spyderco that I can do with a plain edge, from peel an apple to sharpen a pencil to just about anything else. They are particularly good at going through cardboard and clamshell packages, in addition to the rope, rubber tubing and other things one generally associates with serrated blades.

And there is a generally consensus that they stay "sharp" longer, which I think really means that they continue to cut fairly well when they are starting to dull.

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FrankenSpydie from the Powernoodle laboratory.
 
serrations are great for cutting synthetic materials, they also excel at making notches in wood.
 
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Let me rephrase my question. What knife does a modern military carry? (I understand there are many types of soldiers, marines, sepcial ops, etc., so please do distinguish between them.) The original WW-II knife and thereafter was the KA-BAR, a knife without serrations. Are modern-day knives very different? Do these knifes include partially serrated knives? If so, for which groups of soldiers and for which purposes?
 
evert67 said:
Cutting bread, carpet I understand. But on a tactical combat knife? As a military you're not going to saw up your opponent, are you?
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To begin with, most people here do not carry knives with the intent of using them as weapons and we don't view other people as "opponents". The minority that does might have years of training, and a solid understanding of both the knife and the consequences that the action might bring. Those with no training, understanding, or knowledge usually make statements using the word "opponents" to describe a person and assume everyone understands the scenario.

To answer the question, serrations are good to cut things, just like a plain edge is good to cut things with. Serrations are indeed sharper, because they are chisel ground on the bevel. Common sense plays a role in formulating questions, or at least is should. At least this way one does not appear to be overly unknowledgeable (ignorant). Just saying. ;)
 
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