Serrated or Plain?

[MNJON]

That's the question! For an EDC, which would you buy if you only would carry one? I really like the Caly 3, plain edge. I wonder though, would I be better off for any reason with a Caly 3 SE?

[SimpleIsGood229]

I think you need both, you know, for different specific things. If you could carry only one, generally speaking, I would go straight edge.

[Agent Starling]

I voted serrated but I carry and use both.

Agent Starling

[The Deacon]

I'm lazy, I carry a PE blade, and avoid even any of those that cannot be easily sharpened on a flat stone. So there are no hawkbill, recurve, or reverse S blades in my EDC rotation. However I do keep a SE :spyder: in my car, in case a seat belt needs to be cut.

[AUXCOM]

For me it's no question at all - Serrated. I've said it before - I am "Old School" Spyderco to me means serrated, stainless, and a hole! :)

[Chucula]

I'm lazy, I carry a PE blade, and avoid even any of those that cannot be easily sharpened on a flat stone. So there are no hawkbill, recurve, or reverse S blades in my EDC rotation. However I do keep a SE :spyder: in my car, in case a seat belt needs to be cut.

Me too. I take maintenance into account when buying a knife, so I buy knives that are easily sharpened.

[Lostification]

ditto

[dete]

serrated is very useful when what you cut is a variety of
random things.

also if you dont have time to sharpen the blade so oftenly.

[Brad S.]

I have never seen the usefulness of Serrated. Even when it comes to cutting seat belts and rope type things. I just keep my plain super sharp, and have never found anything I would have rather used a SE for.

Yes I own both.

Brad

[cobrajoe]

I have never seen the usefulness of Serrated. Even when it comes to cutting seat belts and rope type things. I just keep my plain super sharp, and have never found anything I would have rather used a SE for.

Yes I own both.

Brad

I guess you answered my question before I asked, so I'm sure you've heard all the benefits before, but I thought I'd point out one virtue of a SE blade that some do not know.

You do not need to use a SE blade like a saw. I actually think that SE is better at straight push cutting (no slicing). But if you do slice, a SE blade will be much more aggressive and last a lot longer than a PE blade made out of a similar steel (I don't like to take sharpening breaks when cutting up boxes :p )

I voted SE, because there have been many, many times I wish I had a SE blade, but not very many times I wish I had a PE blade instead. I usualy carry both though :D

[eastr]

i voted plain but i carry and use both almost everyday there super can't go wrong with a caly3

[Piet.S]

I like them both so I didn't vote.

[spydutch]

Well................... :D :D

[vampyrewolf]

Properly sharpened a PE will go through just about anything. To get the same performance out of a SE you have to polish every single scallop.

Just sharpened one tonight for a buddy working in home construction. Highly polished 30deg bevel off a progression of 500grit, 800grit, spydie brown, spydie white, 2micron strop, 0.5micron strop... and a few strokes of spydie grey corners at 40deg on the edge. Won't shave but will go through just about anything he'll come across at work... only improvement I can make (with the steel in his knife) is knocking the 40deg edge down to 800grit.
We'll see in a week how it holds up to his use.

That polished 30deg with a rougher 40deg edge bevel will do 99% of the cutting I need. Even goes through seatbelt webbing like paper.

[bh49]

I'm lazy, I carry a PE blade, and avoid even any of those that cannot be easily sharpened on a flat stone. So there are no hawkbill, recurve, or reverse S blades in my EDC rotation. However I do keep a SE :spyder: in my car, in case a seat belt needs to be cut.

Exactly the same. PE in my pockets, SE in my car.

[Bolster]

I do a fair amount of woodworking with my knives, so SE is not really an option. Or I should say, we use saws when we need SEs.

[Left Hand Path]

If I could only carry one - serrated edge. However, I like both, and I carry and use both just about every day.

[Mr Blonde]

I carry both, if forced I'd pick the PE. But only because I can make it either really coarse or smooth and polished. '

Wouter

[malice4you]

Well for 8+ years, i've carried combo edge knives to have the best of both worlds. I like the more aggressive cutting edge of the SE and I like the generally finer control of the PE, and when mixed, you get both on most reasonably sized blades. On a smaller knife, a CE is less useful since you don't get enough of either edge to really do anything useful with either.

If I were forced to carry only one knife, and I couldn't carry a CE, I'd probably go with a SE, because I've only recently gotten a few decent fully SE blades to play with, and they are more useful than I thought. However, since I do have that choice, I'd still prefer a CE. Or a Dyad

My EDC is a rescue 93 C14SBL, which has about a 3/4" PE section and then the rest is large, aggressive SE. IMO, this type of edge would be ideal for the most amount of cutting power and control in most blades (though I'd prefer a normal-sized spyderedge over the rescue's enlarged type).

In a perfect world where I wouldn't need to worry about being arrested, I'd carry 2 or 3 militarys, one SE, one PE, and one CE (plus probably a police, civilian, dyad, and a small knife or two to use around sheeple)

[TK]

I prefer plain for its versatility and ease of sharpening. A few weeks ago I sold my Military/SE, because a serrated edge is not my piece of cake. It tends to rip more than to cut, though it is better on fibered materials. I do like the look of serrations better than plain, but once it is sharpend it lost its appearance.

Plain for me all the way.