Originally Posted By: harrkev
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?


Many people think of it this way: A combo blade is really one tiny plain edge and one tiny serrated edge put together. I own a few combos, so I can testify to this. I don't carry them too often, anymore.

Knife - Total cutting edge - Serrated edge - Plain edge
Native - 2 1/2" - 1 7/8" - 5/8"
Mini Grip 556 - 2 3/4" - 7/8" - 1 7/8"
Griptillian 550 - 3 1/4" - 1 1/4" - 2"

I don't know about you, but I find cutting edges under 1" to be pretty useless. Even as big as the Griptillian is, the two sections are relatively short. If I think I'm going to need a serrated blade, I carry a fully serrated blade. In that case, I usually carry a plain edge, also.

Frankly, I'm not sure why they call the Native a "Combo". For all intents and purpuses it's fully serrated.

Kevin B.