Not to hijack the thread, but I am hijacking the thread. Everybody discuss serrations, and nobody gets hurt.

Why are combo blades (half straight, half serrations) so bad? You have a bit of curve on the front for delicate slicing, and you have serrations on the back for tougher jobs on fiberous material? This certainly seems like a compromise, but I would bet that I could cut through a seatbelt (or a tough vine, or leather) much faster with the average combo blade than I could with the average plain blade.

Note that by "average" I mean of average sharpness. Of course, you can make a blade razor-sharp, but how long will it stay that sharp once you start using it?