Hey TW! Let's see your knives!

They are very nice knives but to me, that's a knife you need to take excellent care of. If it were me, I'd get a few good restaurant quality knives, a sharpening steel, and a block to keep them in.

 

Love me some Gerber knives. Got my LMF ASEK II while I was working at sports authority for around $50. Best knife I own. I keep the strap cutter on the bottom of my driver's seatbelt and the LMF in my med kit or go-bag depending on the situation.

 

I thought the same thing until I got my Ka-Bar BK2. I put the Gerber strap cutter in my center console and put the Gerber in the junk drawer.

 

Definitely do your research. If you have a sur la table near you go see them. They have a kitchen knife handling class as well. Put your hands on a few different blade styles and see what feels good in your hand.


My personal favorite are the kitchen knives from Mora. When I bought mine, about four years ago you couldn't buy them in the states, but it looks like that's changed now.

Mora Cook's Knife (10" Chef Knife)

You can buy them on amazon.

They're incredibly sharp out of the box and hold a good edge. I've never had to sharpen them, just hone the blade on a knife steel before or after use.

They're not the prettiest, as they're meant to be in a working kitchen, but they sure do the job well.



Good luck

 

I'm a big fan of Mac kitchen knives.

 

You could also get the Ethan Becker designed Becker lithe. Knives by kabar, I've heard they are nice

 

You found that at a crime scene...didn't you?

 

I use a $6 sharpener that sits on the counter, similar to a Smith's. Electric sharpeners remove a lot of material and can make your edge look like aficionado's if you aren't experienced. Honestly, every knife I've had sharpened has come back with a chewed up cutting edge. I know Sur La Table does sharpening, but a retail sales associate does the sharpening. They could be good, or they could be bad, they use electric sharpeners so the likelihood of bad is higher than it being good. Our local market does free knife sharpening, but they're even worse. My mom took her knives there and they aren't expensive, and the blades came back with deep Knicks and edge chips that took me over an hour to remove enough to work okay.

A proper honing, with all knives, should really limit the need to sharpen. The only time sharpening is needed is after you've ruined the edge through use. But, if you strop or hone that edge and maintain it then you should rarely need anything more done to the knife for it to be a razor. I haven't sharpened my F1 in 2 years, and that's my main EDC.

Stainless blades hold an edge longer (generally) and require a little more effort to keep the edge at its best than carbon steel. Carbon gives razor sharp performance and is easy to keep at its peak, but needs to be kept oiled to prevent rust. Both materials are inexpensive, a piece of 1/8-1/10 inch thick x 1.5 inch wide and 24 inch long steel stock is under $20. Making it a pretty knife that cuts well is what you pay for in a store.

Forschner is my favorite kitchen knife at any.price point. Shun is a great knife, as are others. My biggest suggestion is not to spend beyond your skill level. Maintenance of the steel and the edge will yield far better performance and value than any expensive knife will on its own.

 

In all seriousness, as long as it meets the need, it's all good. But the big ticket item is its history and attachment. I have a couple of items that are like that too.

 

High quality carbon steel is never out of style. Better steel than what we see today, I'd bet. Nice piece.

 

Just ordered a Kershaw blur to replace my older Kershaw another member lost

 

I carried the serrated version of that knife for well over a year before losing it. It was a great knife, super light and insanely sharp

 

i cant stand the handles on Shun knives. they get too slippery when wet.

Tiger..no markings at all on that mystery blade?

 

That's a pretty standard tip profile for that era, Old Hickory makes a similar knife to this day and they're excellent utility kitchen knives, no frills. Wood and carbon steel.

Green River patterns are similar as well and is more likely that's what you have there Jeff, with a handle that's been painted at some point. Green Rivers are still produced also. Both are great knives, and super inexpensive.

 

Yeah I initially bought another one but it had some quality issues so I returned it and bought a mini barage. Its a little fatter but also a fantastic knife

 

New knives are fun, hopefully she doesn't stab you with it one day.