Wow Pacific Salt is being discontinued.

[Wartstein]

Why is everyone assuming the new model will be FFG?

Copy and pasted Sals reffering sentence for you: " Blade will be same as H1 version in pattern, but full flat ground. We'll use the stronger tip"

[Cambertree]

FFG LC200N Pac Salt 2 sounds great. I wonder if it'll have the Seki style 'spiky serrations'?

One of the many little things which seemed like CQI tweaks on the SE Caribbean were the shallower serrations.

[T_MAC686]

I do hope there’ll be a bunch made first with FFG Lc200n and the same old style handles. That’ll please everyone. :cool:

This is what I’m hoping for too as I prefer the feel of the Endura 3 handle to the Endura 4 handle. Fingers crossed!

[tonijedi]

Why is everyone assuming the new model will be FFG?

Copy and pasted Sals reffering sentence for you: " Blade will be same as H1 version in pattern, but full flat ground. We'll use the stronger tip"

Thanks, I hope the same happens with the Salt 2.
I see a lot of happy folks, but I foresee a lot of unhappy army folks when they use FFG LC200N the way they are used to use HG H1.

[James Y]

FFG LC200N Pac Salt 2 sounds great. I wonder if it'll have the Seki style 'spiky serrations'?

One of the many little things which seemed like CQI tweaks on the SE Caribbean were the shallower serrations.

I prefer shallower serrations, myself. But I don’t know if pointier serrations are a Seki thing, or if it simply depends on the model. There are some Seki models with shallower serrations. For example: saber ground Delica 4 SE, and some others. I would love a LC200N FFG Pacific Salt with a shallower serrations pattern.

Jim

[NWPilgrim]

....

After some sharpening to smooth the points it is impressive in what it can do. Slices soft tomatoes and even cheddar cheese very easily and controlled. Slices through thick cardboard like a greased zipper. .....

With all respect just an honest question: In my experience, if you have two blades of similar stock and shape and sharpness, but one is sabre / hollow grind and one ffg, the former stands no chance when it comes to cutting cardboard - what do you think?

Fair question! My experience is that hollow or saber grinds tend to bind up in thick material such as double-thick cardboard or thick plastic. So I was very surprised the H1 SE slices through it so effortlessly. I’m going to have to play with it more and observe how the material peels away from the blade to fully understand the mechanics of it.

ETA: When I am cutting cardboard I am NOT drawing the blade through the board thereby dragging the points of serrations through. Rather, it settles into one or two serration "cups" and then just slides through. The same amount of blade is above the cardboard sheet from start to finish. I think it must be the acute edge within a serration that enables the amazing slicing.

I have a S35VN PM2 FFG PE and the Pacific Salt cuts just as easily if not more so. It is radically changing my opinion of serrated edges as well as saber/hollow grinds.

[Sumdumguy]

What don't you like about it

I dislike compression locks - they can pinch, and just aren’t anywhere as handy as a back lock. I’m not in the free-swinging or flicking camps either. I do have a few comps, but rarely use them.

I do hope there’ll be a bunch made first with FFG Lc200n and the same old style handles. That’ll please everyone. :cool:

I can understand the pinching. I've sold a few for that, most notably the Kapara. I have not had a nested one pinch me though. As for handiness, I can tell no difference.

I will definitely pick up an FFG LC200N Pacific to keep on my boat.

[Cambertree]

I prefer shallower serrations, myself. But I don’t know if pointier serrations are a Seki thing, or if it simply depends on the model. There are some Seki models with shallower serrations. For example: saber ground Delica 4 SE, and some others. I would love a LC200N FFG Pacific Salt with a shallower serrations pattern.

Jim

Yeah I prefer the shallower serrations too. I find the pointy Seki spikes can hang up a bit on the ridges when they're new, and they have less of an arc to get the Sharpmaker rod corners into when sharpening.

That's why I was interested to see that the LC200N serrations from Taichung seemed noticeably shallower.

From the way I recall Sal describing the sharpening method at the factories, they have an abrasive wheel which is dresssed with grooves which produce the serrated pattern. Then every 50 knives or so, the wheel is re-dressed to account for stone wear and to keep the serration grinds within spec.

I concluded from this, that you could get a knife from a freshly dressed wheel which is a bit more 'spiky' and angular, and one from the end of a 50 knife run which is a bit shallower and more smoothly arced in it's peaks and scallops.

When I first saw members' reviews of the Caribbean serrations, notably Evil D's, I wondered if they might have just randomly got some of those 'end of a run' shallower serration patterns. But after seeing a few of the Caribbean SEs, it does seem like they are more shallow by design.

My one Golden SE example - a Gin-1 UKPK - seems a bit more shallow too.

I hadn't noticed that on the sabre ground SE Delica 4, thanks for pointing it out.

Anyway, it's not really that big of a deal, as they eventually get sharpened down anyway, and the spiky serrations seem to be a Seki thing.

Just sayin' a slightly shallower SE pattern on the 'spikes' of the FFG LC200N Pac Salt would be a nice CQI performance tweak.

[Jazz]

I actually decided I like medium serrations best. Shallow are okay, but a bit deeper, the points and valleys can hold onto seatbelts, rope, and what have you better, with less chance of slipping off before you make an important cut. Maybe that’s all in my imagination. I haven’t tested.

[vivi]

....

After some sharpening to smooth the points it is impressive in what it can do. Slices soft tomatoes and even cheddar cheese very easily and controlled. Slices through thick cardboard like a greased zipper. .....

With all respect just an honest question: In my experience, if you have two blades of similar stock and shape and sharpness, but one is sabre / hollow grind and one ffg, the former stands no chance when it comes to cutting cardboard - what do you think?

Fair question! My experience is that hollow or saber grinds tend to bind up in thick material such as double-thick cardboard or thick plastic. So I was very surprised the H1 SE slices through it so effortlessly. I’m going to have to play with it more and observe how the material peels away from the blade to fully understand the mechanics of it.

ETA: When I am cutting cardboard I am NOT drawing the blade through the board thereby dragging the points of serrations through. Rather, it settles into one or two serration "cups" and then just slides through. The same amount of blade is above the cardboard sheet from start to finish. I think it must be the acute edge within a serration that enables the amazing slicing.

I have a S35VN PM2 FFG PE and the Pacific Salt cuts just as easily if not more so. It is radically changing my opinion of serrated edges as well as saber/hollow grinds.

Same experience here. My SE Pacific Salts are thinner behind the edge than my FFG PE Spydercos. If you're happy with how a FFG Delica or Endura cuts, I think you'll be happy with the geometry of a SE Salt / Pacific Salt.

[knivesandbooks]

....

After some sharpening to smooth the points it is impressive in what it can do. Slices soft tomatoes and even cheddar cheese very easily and controlled. Slices through thick cardboard like a greased zipper. .....

With all respect just an honest question: In my experience, if you have two blades of similar stock and shape and sharpness, but one is sabre / hollow grind and one ffg, the former stands no chance when it comes to cutting cardboard - what do you think?

Fair question! My experience is that hollow or saber grinds tend to bind up in thick material such as double-thick cardboard or thick plastic. So I was very surprised the H1 SE slices through it so effortlessly. I’m going to have to play with it more and observe how the material peels away from the blade to fully understand the mechanics of it.

ETA: When I am cutting cardboard I am NOT drawing the blade through the board thereby dragging the points of serrations through. Rather, it settles into one or two serration "cups" and then just slides through. The same amount of blade is above the cardboard sheet from start to finish. I think it must be the acute edge within a serration that enables the amazing slicing.

I have a S35VN PM2 FFG PE and the Pacific Salt cuts just as easily if not more so. It is radically changing my opinion of serrated edges as well as saber/hollow grinds.

Same experience here. My SE Pacific Salts are thinner behind the edge than my FFG PE Spydercos. If you're happy with how a FFG Delica or Endura cuts, I think you'll be happy with the geometry of a SE Salt / Pacific Salt.

Plot twist: FFG SE wharncliffe delica.

[Ez556]

Why is everyone assuming the new model will be FFG?

Copy and pasted Sals reffering sentence for you: " Blade will be same as H1 version in pattern, but full flat ground. We'll use the stronger tip"

Sal did say that two years ago, but just a few days ago in the discontinued thread he said this when someone asked about the fate of coated H1:

Hi VooDooChild,

Welcome to our forum.

The Pacific Salt 2 will also have the black blade option as that's what the Military gets. Also, I have no plans to disco H1 in the Pacific. I carry a serrated Pacific when I'm in Kauai.

sal

It's my understanding that H1 cannot be full flat ground, so that means we will for sure still have a saber ground H1 Pacific Salt. Whether we will see the addition of the option to get it with FFG LC200N is something to look forward to, but there being a version that is NOT FFG is pretty much guaranteed according to the latest info from Sal.

[Wartstein]

Why is everyone assuming the new model will be FFG?

Copy and pasted Sals reffering sentence for you: " Blade will be same as H1 version in pattern, but full flat ground. We'll use the stronger tip"

Sal did say that two years ago, but just a few days ago in the discontinued thread he said this when someone asked about the fate of coated H1:

Hi VooDooChild,

Welcome to our forum.

The Pacific Salt 2 will also have the black blade option as that's what the Military gets. Also, I have no plans to disco H1 in the Pacific. I carry a serrated Pacific when I'm in Kauai.

sal

It's my understanding that H1 cannot be full flat ground, so that means we will for sure still have a saber ground H1 Pacific Salt. Whether we will see the addition of the option to get it with FFG LC200N is something to look forward to, but there being a version that is NOT FFG is pretty much guaranteed according to the latest info from Sal.

Thanks, that´s good info!! I was just relying on Sals quote someone else posted, did not look WHEN Sal actually said this.

Ok, I am also sure that H1 cannot be ffg.

I´d really wish Sal could chime in here and tell us, if the Pac Salt 2 will be ffg (and SE) or not.. If it will still be sabre grind, I´d pick up the current version, if it will be ffg, I´d wait for the Pac Salt 2.

Now, I know, some might tell me: "Just get the current one now and the Pac Salt 2 later". But I just can´t afford too many knives, and selling used ones again is quite a hassel where I live...

[Wartstein]

.....

Same experience here. My SE Pacific Salts are thinner behind the edge than my FFG PE Spydercos. If you're happy with how a FFG Delica or Endura cuts, I think you'll be happy with the geometry of a SE Salt / Pacific Salt.

....

With all respect just an honest question: In my experience, if you have two blades of similar stock and shape and sharpness, but one is sabre / hollow grind and one ffg, the former stands no chance when it comes to cutting cardboard - what do you think?

Fair question! My experience is that hollow or saber grinds tend to bind up in thick material such as double-thick cardboard or thick plastic. So I was very surprised the H1 SE slices through it so effortlessly. I’m going to have to play with it more and observe how the material peels away from the blade to fully understand the mechanics of it.

ETA: When I am cutting cardboard I am NOT drawing the blade through the board thereby dragging the points of serrations through. Rather, it settles into one or two serration "cups" and then just slides through. The same amount of blade is above the cardboard sheet from start to finish. I think it must be the acute edge within a serration that enables the amazing slicing.

I have a S35VN PM2 FFG PE and the Pacific Salt cuts just as easily if not more so. It is radically changing my opinion of serrated edges as well as saber/hollow grinds.

Thanks NWPilgrim and Vivi! That really makes me courious,tbh.

In my experience hollow sabre grind just can´t be as good when it comes to cardboard slicing as a similar ffg blade is, cause the upper part of the hollow grind and the "shoulders" of the flat portion towards the spine somewhat "stop" the cut..

But of course I believe you, and would like to try for myself.

Still, given the choice between basically a linerless, very light serrated Endura with either sabre grind or ffg, I´d always go for the latter...

[vivi]

Same experience here. My SE Pacific Salts are thinner behind the edge than my FFG PE Spydercos. If you're happy with how a FFG Delica or Endura cuts, I think you'll be happy with the geometry of a SE Salt / Pacific Salt.

....

With all respect just an honest question: In my experience, if you have two blades of similar stock and shape and sharpness, but one is sabre / hollow grind and one ffg, the former stands no chance when it comes to cutting cardboard - what do you think?

Fair question! My experience is that hollow or saber grinds tend to bind up in thick material such as double-thick cardboard or thick plastic. So I was very surprised the H1 SE slices through it so effortlessly. I’m going to have to play with it more and observe how the material peels away from the blade to fully understand the mechanics of it.

ETA: When I am cutting cardboard I am NOT drawing the blade through the board thereby dragging the points of serrations through. Rather, it settles into one or two serration "cups" and then just slides through. The same amount of blade is above the cardboard sheet from start to finish. I think it must be the acute edge within a serration that enables the amazing slicing.

I have a S35VN PM2 FFG PE and the Pacific Salt cuts just as easily if not more so. It is radically changing my opinion of serrated edges as well as saber/hollow grinds.

Thanks NWPilgrim and Vivi! That really makes me courious,tbh.

In my experience hollow sabre grind just can´t be as good when it comes to cardboard slicing as a similar ffg blade is, cause the upper part of the hollow grind and the "shoulders" of the flat portion towards the spine somewhat "stop" the cut..

But of course I believe you, and would like to try for myself.

Still, given the choice between basically a linerless, very light serrated Endura with either sabre grind or ffg, I´d always go for the latter...

There is no drag and no snag cutting cardboard with a sharp SE Pacific Salt.

https://streamable.com/px333

[ladybug93]

vivi, i'm going to send you my pac salt. i can't seem to get it there.

[tonijedi]

vivi, i'm going to send you my pac salt. i can't seem to get it there.

I also can't get my SE Salt 2 like that. If I compare the serrations with my Pacific Salt they are much thicker, being shorter along the height of the blade. The ones in the Pacific are taller, and therefore thinner all along.

[prndltech]

Ladybug93 and tonijedi, do y’all have a sharpmaker? I’m curious what you use to sharpen your SE knives?

[Wartstein]

I´d still really like to know, what the Pac Salt 2 will look like...
If it is still in H1 (and not in LC200N), the only change might be from an Endura 3 style handle to an Endura 4 style handle? Cause in that case it had to be still sabre grind and will be still linerless in any case I am sure...?

I am one of those who loves the Endura 4 (so the current Endura) handle, but I´d also like to to try the E3 handle to be able to compare.

[Evil D]

I actually decided I like medium serrations best. Shallow are okay, but a bit deeper, the points and valleys can hold onto seatbelts, rope, and what have you better, with less chance of slipping off before you make an important cut. Maybe that’s all in my imagination. I haven’t tested.

I think there's more to this than simply shallow vs deep, but since those are the most common types we get they're all we discuss. I would also prefer them to be a bit deeper, as in more curved and more U shaped so that the teeth themselves are more pronounced. However, I would also like those points to stay more rounded than sharp. The other issue is that the deeper into the blade the serrations go, the thicker the blade gets so the blade grind needs to be thinner, and since most SE knives have traditionally been saber/hollow grinds this meant that the blade was super thick at the top of the serrations. Now that we're seeing more FFG/SE blades hopefully we can get a happy middle ground where we have a decently deep serration that doesn't end up being super thick at the top of the bevel. As I see it, the better slicing/better performing SE/FFG combos are performing better not so much because of the shallow or deep grind of the serrations but rather because the blade is ground thin at the top of the serrations, ala Caribbean. It's also more than simply making them all FFG, if you compare the Caribbean to a SE Military the difference is drastic, the Military's blade grind is significantly thicker which reduces slicing performance. The resulting "deep serrations" really don't have much to do with the shape of the serrations themselves, they're a result of the thickness of the blade grind.