Practicality of Dragonfly H1 SE?

[rml]

Hi, new to the forums.

Thinking of purchasing a Dragonfly H1 SE. I've read somewhere that H1 steel is relatively "softer" than others. And since they say SEs are a pain to sharpen, does it make sense to buy an H1 blade in SE?

[rml]

Would it be better to buy an H1 in PE, or simply a SE Spyderco that isn't H1?

[The Deacon]

Just the opposite. H-1 is an odd steel, the sides of the blade scratch easily, and the PE version is relatively low on the edge holding scale, but when serrated it holds an edge extremely well. Buying a knife with a plain edged H-1 blade only makes sense if your main requirement is a PE blade that won't corrode unless you drop it in something that you would not want to get on your skin, but if you're in the market for a serrated blade, you can't beat H-1.

[Surfingringo]

Hi rml, and welcome to the forums. I am one of the biggest proponents of the salt knives and use them daily in my work and play on the ocean. My first Spyderco ever was a dragonfly salt pe. I fell in love with the knife instantly for its form and ergos and General usefulness. I was blown away by its corrosion resistance. Eventually though I got tired of how it dulled so quickly in my work. My next salt was a serrated pacific salt and man, what a difference. There is a difference in how h1 steel in PE and SE are heat treated and the result is a MUCH harder knife in se. Since then it has been serrated only for my now large collection of salt knives.

So I'd say if corrosion resistance is key then go with the se salt. If not then maybe look at the regular model in pe. You have several options there. Vg10, zdp-189 and you can probably still even find one in superblue. Wonderful knife in any configuration!

Edit: and like Deacon said, not only does serrated h1 outperform its pe counterpart, it outperforms most any serrated steel. If you are in the market for serrations its an easy call.

[rml]

Thanks for your comments, appreciate it!