Help me decide... Aqua Salt plain or serrated ?

[elena86]

I had my eyes on the Aqua Salt for a long time but I couldn't decide between the plain or the SE one. Since they announced it's on the chopping block I decided to make my move ASAP. So, I need some help here ....

[vivi]

plain edge sharpened coarsely works great for me. i've thought about a se many times but I can't picture it doing anything better than what I use my PE for.

[Evil D]

Have you used SE and do you like it? It's as much a preference as any kind of performance difference because any edge you can put on PE can be put on SE with the right tools. The difference to me is more like the difference between blade shapes, there are mechanical differences in how the two cut and only you can decide if you prefer one over the other.

[Mushroom]

I just got them recently and haven’t used them yet so I can’t really direct you in one direction or the other. Though I can share with you my line of thinking for buying what I bought.

Since both the Aqua Salt and Fish Hunter were discontinued, I wanted at least one of the Aqua Salts right now and a Fish Hunter. Since the Fish Hunter only comes in yellow FRN/satin serrated edge, I got that plus the Aqua Salt with black FRN/TiCN coated plain edge.

[cabfrank]

I absolutely love the Jumpmaster 2 in SE, so there is that.

[yowzer]

Serrated. Plain edge H1 is pretty meh, but it shines with teeth.

[rgc]

Had this same debate myself. I have the knife on a seat back in my car with other equipment and therefore thought it might find a use in cutting seat belts and or rope/nylon more than anything. Additionally, as it is part of that "kit" I wanted it to always be ready to cut without me needing to pay attention or think about the blade. Hence, I went with the spydie edge version. All my other fixed blades are plain edge anyway so variety and the spice of life and all.

[TheGiant80]

When I was asking myself the same question, I found this review on a Bushcraft website that pushed me fully into the SE camp..

"I carry the knife in question in the OP daily, and have for 3+ years, 14 hours a day, 6 days a week, right there on my belt and accessible as needed....I work a VERY physically demanding job in a very harsh climate .....have used the knife for everything from chipping ice in the winter, to cutting back low hanging trees in the summer.... it stays wet all day every day, and is exposed to hydrochloric acid overspray no less than 3 days a week...... I have never made any effort to maintain the knife, never washed it, wiped it down, cleaned it or sharpened it..... it is still sharp enough to preform the tasks I require it to preform, there are no edge issues, no chips or rolls, sheath retention is 100%, and other than some minor rubbing on the black blade finish and a dirty handle, looks pretty much new...

will it still shave arm hair and slice phone book paper.... **** I dunno, I don't do that kind of pretty boy BS with my knives.... will it still rip open 50 45lb bags of ice by dragging across the bottom with the full weight of the ice bearing down on it and thus the blade dragging thru the ice as it cuts, yup, about 20 times daily.... will it still saw thru 3 inch limbs enough that I can bend em back and get a semi sized truck down a driveway....yup...... will it still cut a sandwich in half, peel an apple, open a bag of tater ships and other mundane BS....yup....

I Drive a cement mixer.... I've scraped dried concrete splatter off every surface known to man... I've used the tip to chip and pry chunks loose from my truck or cut hay twine, bailing wire, rubber hoses out from around my tires and axels .... it .....just don't care......have NEVER taken that knife to a stone, never had to..... and still, when the guys need a SHARP knife, they come to me....

the **** thing is almost magical and has developed a reputation as such around my workplace.... I ruined 4 good knives before I bought it....all in less than a 2 week span each... Benchmade, Cold Steel, Cold Steel, and Kizer..... none of em made it more than 2 weeks before being utter trash......this **** Spyderco Aqua Salt SE refuses to die, **** it refuses to dull....

Work hardened they say.... and I believe it, the more I use it the better it gets.... /shrug ...... of the 12 man crew I work with, 3 have already swapped and carry one daily as well as me, and 3 or 4 more plan to do so " at some point " when their beer money does not interfere with their tool money.

Will it camp knife?.... **** I dunno that either, but it'll saw a limb, hack a root, bounce off a few rocks and still slice a mater for your sandwich ...../shrug ....don't know what else you need it to do but that's good enough for me.

just an fyi.... if you are gonna get one, I strongly suggest the SE.... one of the guys at work got the plain edge version, and does not like it near as much as our serrated versions.... evidently when they cut those serrations in, it " work hardens " the steel more than a plain flat grind so.... that seems to be where the magic happens.....

for what it's worth anyway.....

lot of cement build up on it.... but she's still cooking..... remember, this is after 3+ years of daily use that killed 4 quality knives in 2 weeks each.....

belt clip mounted at a cant, I carry it at a 45, between my first and second belt loops so that with my right hand in my front pocket, my palm lays in nice across the handle but she don't jab me in the gut when I sit.... can have that knife in my hand in half a second when I need it... and put it back in place just as quick......just.....perfect."

[tonijedi]

I have the PE and I like it for the design.
I would only go serrated if you have a particular use for it.
I do understand the beauty of SE, used it plenty on folders, just can't justify it on a fixed blade knife.

[Doc Dan]

For this steel and with this knife I think I'd go with SE. I have two DF's in this steel, one SE and one PE. The PE dulls very fast but the SE is still going strong. Weird, but reality.

[VooDooChild]

Serrated

There are plenty of plain edge fixed blades that will probably be better than plain edge h1. Theres not many full serrated fixed blades on the market that are in the same category as the aqua salt.

I say se aqua salt and get some other pe fixed blade for when you want a plain edge.

[cabfrank]

This is a good point. There is competition on the PE front, but none at all with SE.

[Brock O Lee]

Excellent point.

I have a SE, and considered getting a PE. In the end decided against it, because I already have a number of PE blades in a number of steels in that size.

[vivi]

So who here has tried a PE Aqua Salt at 200-400 grit?

Nothing against the SE version, it's an awesome knife, but sharpening my PE Aqua Salts like that they've never had bad edge retention and they've never failed to cut any material, including thick synthetic rope.

PE H1 is far from worthless, and out performs my 1095 ESEEs and other popular PE knives. I wouldn't be so quick to write it off.

[Evil D]

Seems like there's this push lately to make one or the other absolutely superior over the other (PE vs SE). I think a lot of these competitive comments need to be prefaced with "for my uses" and I'm probably as guilty of this as anyone else. It's like saying running shoes are the absolute best footwear just because you never feel a need for boots or visa versa. This is why I've largely stopped even suggesting knives unless I'm asked directly, it always turns into a meaningless debate. Just because Vivi can make PE work for all his SE jobs and I can do the opposite, it's all user specific and won't apply to everyone and every situation. We need to stop making this a competition and just focus on the real pros and cons of either one, and in this situation I think the comment about SE fixed blade availability vs PE availability is the best point made. There are slews of PE fixed blades in practically any steel you can think of but only a handful of full SE options, and that alone would sway my decision.

[vivi]

I agree it isn't a competition. What works best for you may not work best for me and what works best for me may not work best for OP.

I feel PE H1 gets a bad reputation but sharpened the way I sharpen it, I think the video shows it's a cutting beast.

So PE H1 might not be the best choice for you, or for OP, but I just want to see the comparison made between what PE H1 is capable of. Not what some people have experienced based on solely the factory edge or their own high polish edges.

That said the concepts in my video can apply to SE too. You sharpen SE H1 to 200 grit and it'll hold an edge about as well as any knife Spyderco makes.

For my particular uses PE coarsely sharpened works the best. Maybe that'll be the case for whoevers reading this, maybe not.

I just want to put these ideas out there, because PE H1 sharpened the way I do it is pretty magical. We all know it's tough, rust proof and easy to sharpen - but thinned out and sharpened coarsely it's quite the edge holder too.



I've come across a lot of posts over the years that make it sound like you break down one box with PE H1 and the edge is gone. I'm just trying to paint a more realistic picture based on my own experiences.

SE H1 is equally as awesome, I have plenty of knives in that configuration and they're great.

[standy99]

My main thing for SE is will I have to cut rope. If it’s yes it’s SE all day long. Have a SE on the boat for this reason.

But have PE Pacific Salts for all bait cutting and filleting on the boat also…

[Evil D]

Cliff Stamp did a video about H1 years ago that's probably still on his channel where he took a Pacific down to a scandi grind, and then I believe took it even further into a really thin FFG. That video really shows that blade/edge geometry are maybe more important than outright sharpness depending on what you're cutting because that knife would cut cardboard almost indefinitely.

[vivi]

I'll look for that one tonight. I love his video on getting shaving sharpness from a brick.

[justjohn]

I was in the same boat, couldn't decide; so I bought them both!