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[mtngunr]

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[JD Spydo]

I find that Spyderco's serrated Hawkbill blades along with their serrated fixed blades to be the best at cutting rope. Both blade styles work for me and I would have to say that my fully serrated stainless handled RESCUE model would fall in third. I've used pretty much nothing but Spyderedged blades to cut rope, cordage and twine for quite some time now.

I know that plain edged blades can be made to cut rope efficiently but I've just had my best overall luck with Spyderedged blades. My original Temperance 1 model in full SE is truly a marvel at cutting rope and I've also heard that the Aqua Salt is great as well.

[mtngunr]

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[Spyder-Monkey]

Jumpmaster!

[Kirko]

Jumpmaster!

Got that right !!

[3rdGenRigger]

Anything serrated, and especially with a hawkbill blade. My SE Spyderhawk and Tasman are both phenomenal, but having said that my PE Spydies like my Millie and PM2 also do very well because I keep them shaving sharp. I end up cutting a fair bit of rope as a rigger, and sometimes I choose a PE because the cut is a little cleaner looking, but for pure ease of result when cutting rope a serrated hawkbill is definitely the way to go. It's also helpful to put a wrap or two of vinyl electrical tape around the rope where you intend to cut it to prevent fraying and encourage a cleaner cut.

[swigert]

Jump master for sure

[mtngunr]

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[Surfingringo]

I read as much as I could handle of the article. Guy seems to really know his stuff. :cool:


QUOTE:
...And then there's titanium, the Superman of blade materials. It's harder than stainless yet lighter. You won't find better corrosion resistance, and the blade will hold a sharp edge for a long, long time

Anyway, for prolonged rope cutting it is hard to beat a high carbide (plain edged) steel sharpened to a coarse (300-400 grit) edge. I do a lot of work with serrated edges and don't really care for them for cutting rope.

[HarleyXJGuy]

I do a lot of work with serrated edges and don't really care for them...

Haha!

[SpyderEdgeForever]

I'd go with the serrated edge hawkbills, the serrated H1 steel blades, from Pacific Salt to Jumpmaster, and the Assists.

[vivi]

Anyway, for prolonged rope cutting it is hard to beat a high carbide (plain edged) steel sharpened to a coarse (300-400 grit) edge. I do a lot of work with serrated edges and don't really care for them for cutting rope.

I'll second this. Something with great edge retention and a low grit edge works better for me. I feel like serrations have more of a tendency to catch and tear while cutting ropes, while the PE gives a clean cut.

[Surfingringo]

I do a lot of work with serrated edges and don't really care for them...

Haha!

Hah, yeah, I knew that sentence read screwy when I wrote it but it was early in the morning and I was too lazy to change it. I should have just said I prefer a coarse pe for rope cutting.

[tvenuto]

Spyderhawk? I'd think an interior curve would be helpful.

[Dodge]

SE Spyderhawk is what I was coming to post.

[Cliff Stamp]

The reason that a Hawkbill or similar tends to "work" for rope cutting is that the rope is sliding on the knife due to lack of sharpness and cutting ability and it is trapped by the shape which allows the cut even though the lack of inherent cutting ability would normally prevent it. Most people have never experience how a knife can cut rope well and so think that is an example of it. However a simple blade like an Opinel or Douk Douk, properly sharpened, with cut 1/2" natural ropes on a 2" draw with ~ 5 lbs of force. Properly sharpened, even a simple steel can do ~1000 cuts and still readily slice paper. Larger ropes and modern synthetics are no issue either, though you have to likely change the angle/grit finish to optimize for them.

[HarleyXJGuy]

I do a lot of work with serrated edges and don't really care for them...

Haha!

Hah, yeah, I knew that sentence read screwy when I wrote it but it was early in the morning and I was too lazy to change it. I should have just said I prefer a coarse pe for rope cutting.

To late now, this is going to be my new sig.

[tvenuto]

The reason that a Hawkbill or similar tends to "work" for rope cutting is that the rope is sliding on the knife due to lack of sharpness and cutting ability and it is trapped by the shape which allows the cut even though the lack of inherent cutting ability would normally prevent it. Most people have never experience how a knife can cut rope well and so think that is an example of it. However a simple blade like an Opinel or Douk Douk, properly sharpened, with cut 1/2" natural ropes on a 2" draw with ~ 5 lbs of force. Properly sharpened, even a simple steel can do ~1000 cuts and still readily slice paper. Larger ropes and modern synthetics are no issue either, though you have to likely change the angle/grit finish to optimize for them.

Wouldn't an interior curve still be helpful, all other things being equal?

[Cliff Stamp]

Wouldn't an interior curve still be helpful, all other things being equal?

If you are going to use the blade when it is really dull and/or you are going to use a high polish and/or you are willing to exert extreme amounts of force then yes, but otherwise not really. Just think about what happens with you do a common cut with a hawkbill :

-make a loop
-put the knife inside and make a hard pull

This ends up as a push cut and the hawkbill traps the rope and prevents it from sliding. The failure point then is the strength of your wrist which is the only way even a dull hawkbill won't cut. However typical drop point (or whatever) when dull will start to slip and eventually just slide off and not cut.

Imagine that you take an Opinel and make a recurve out of it, or even a more dramatic shape and you are going to use it until it is dull. Then the cuts will start to slide, they will start to be trapped and isolated and turned into a push cuts and you will want a higher polish then and not a lower grit edge and hence you are going to compromise high sharpness edge retention.

Thus all things being equal is kind of hard to say because you really can't make all things equal and optimize performance with and without the curvature.

However the hawkbill won't ever stop cutting until you physically can't pull the knife through it, it can't slip out of the rope. And if you do it with a jerk vs a slow pull the amount of force that can be applied in a very short time is very high even for people without very high strength. If you make them serrated you can get a knife which can continue to cut with very high forces for basically forever.

Practically though, if you have any amount of cutting to do then the simplest method is the one Boye demonstrates all the time where he just cuts the rope on a hard wooden block and uses moderate force push/pull slices. That he how he designed his Boat knives to cut with with his custom serration pattern and they will do that for basically forever and be very easy to sharpen on even simple stones.

Now an Opinel still does that better but the reality is that with working knives you don't cut clean materials and you may not always cut what you intend to. A large straight edge on an Opinel can be completely blunting with just one hard contact off of a nail but a deep curvature or better yet a serrated blade tends to stop that and concentrate the damage.

Plus the serrations can even cut right on very damaging subjects and just lightly blunt the tips.

A lot of trade/working guys are not that particular about knives. I sharpen knives for them all the time and they will commonly do something like cut a piece of rope with concrete or metal right under it. They are not likely to stop working and search for an idea backing, they just cut the rope immediately and keep working.

[Surfingringo]

I am in complete agreement with the above post when it comes to hawkbills. See Cliff, that happens sometimes!