In my opinion, serrated blades are great for things like rope, seat belts, fan belts, and those damned clamshell plastic things that they like to seal stuff in these days. But, for rope and such, I like a long section of serration, not an inch or so. I have never had a combo blade, but have a hard time imagining slicing thru a 3/4" manila rope with a short section of serration. They are also hard to sharpen without specialized tools...