Gesshin Ginga wa or yo?

Hi all,

I'm seriously considering to get a Gesshin Ginga gyuto (stainless). Now I don't have a general preference for wa or yo handles, but I do have a preference for rounder handles.

For example, the octagonal handle on a Konosuke petty I have is slightly to blocky for me. However, many yo handles are blocky as well.

It is hard to judge the shape of particularly the Western handle on the Gesshin Ginga from pictures only. Is it comfortable?

And are there any other differences between the Western and Japanese versions?

Which one do you prefer?

i dont know which knife in the ginga line youre looking at specifically, but im close to buying the 270mm gyuto. the wa handle 270mm gyuto is 162 grams versus the western handle 270mm gyuto that is 235 grams. the weight youre more comfortable with should probably have alot to do with your decision. the wa handle gesshin gingas are all extremely light.

Thanks. That is quite a bit of a difference. Is that also because the western knive is full tang?

And I assume the wa version is pretty blade-heavy then?

have you watched the video jon made for the gesshin gingas? you should get a better idea of the shape of the western handles. the balance point is definitely more forward on the wa handle ones, maybe close to the kanji. the balance on the westerns are probably right at the choil.

mark76 said:

Thanks. That is quite a bit of a difference. Is that also because the western knive is full tang?

And I assume the wa version is pretty blade-heavy then?

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Not at all. The Gingas are lasers - they're very light knives.

The westerns, AFAIK, are full tang, but bolsterless. They are very nice knives as well. I don't recall the handles being blocky at all.

Call Jon and run your questions by him. I would also ask him if there are any differences otherwise between the knives, but from what I recall, there aren't.

I used to prefer Western handles. Now, I almost exclusively use wa handled knives. To me, they're much more comfortable when using different grips for different cuts, and the less weight contributes to ease of use.

The westerns have bolsters

Here's Jon's vid on this line. As always, his videos are very helpful when trying to understand whatever the subject at hand is:

[video=youtube;jGiNcDEsk8M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGiNcDEsk8M[/video]

JBroida said:

The westerns have bolsters

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My bad. Of course they have bolsters. :beatinghead:

I meant to say, that they don't have a finger guard that goes all the way to the edge that you have to grind down, but, then again, that's obvious. :beatinghead:

It's been a hectic morning.

lol... no worries... i can totally understand hectic