What knives have you gone back to and fallen in love with all over again?

I recently left my Ittosai Kotetsu 210mm gyuto at my girlfriend's place so I'd have a knife to use while I'm there, and after giving it a week long workout, I realized that I had forgotten what a great knife it was. Beautiful grind (imo), profile is just right, thin behind the edge, comfortable handle, and just a very comfortable and attractive knife to use. It even outperforms my TKC.

I guess that with all of the forum browsing, ogling great knives, and trying to find a perfect knife, I forgot about a great one. I'm glad I picked it up again and after using it, I better understand what I want in a knife (geometry, profile, and handle wise).

So, what knives have you guys picked up again and fallen in love with all over again?

Here's a gratuitous choil shot of the aforementioned knife.

Suisin Inox Honyaki for me....it was my 2nd jKnife....and every time I fall in love with something new and come back to it, I think, "damn, maybe this is still the best one."Honestly, my Masamoto VG continues to hold up well too...esp for the $$.

Every time I get a new knife I fall I love then go back to my misono dragon and think this is the best knife for me. It was my first jknife and I actually just bought a new "old" one I found.

Ditto on masa vg.

My work kit consists of the likes of Konosukes, Carters, Yoshikane, etc...in my home block I have my OG Mac set. I'm not home too often, and when I bust out the big board and a few Macs, I remember why I loved them, and what got me hooked on Japanese cutlery to begin with.

Not that I would want to, but if I had to give up my kit, I would be quite contempt with my Macs.

Fujiwara FKM 270 suji. I have Hattori, Massamoto, and so on but this little $80 suji is by far my favorite. Its sharp, light, nimble, f&f is great, and the shape is perfect.

I haven't had any of these that long, but with gyuto I have a G.Hide, Shig and Kato which I can never decide between. Does that qualify?

Mr Zwiefel - how long have you had that Suishin?

about 18 months. 4 years for the masamoto.

I'm on my third Tadatsuna in as many years. They may have lost favor around here recently, but they are very well made knives with a character all their own, IMO.

WiscoNole said:

I'm on my third Tadatsuna in as many years. They may have lost favor around here recently, but they are very well made knives with a character all their own, IMO.

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I had one of those years ago, didnt have it very long, b/c the first time I used it, the tip just fell right of. Literally just disappeared in the middle of a pile of prep. the break showed no deformation , and looked more like a broken piece of glass. Couldnt find the the tip, and had to toss a pile of food. Knife went back (awesome service by a-frames btw), but I still think about it from time to time as it was just a really cool and unique knife and as you said, certainly had character. The knife I had was white #3 (less pure, lower grade white steel), so I often think about revisiting the brand, but with a better steel.

Probably my most fondly re-visited knife is one of my first: an old Shun Elite Santoku in SG2. There are 3 things in the name that are far from popular in these parts, but it really is a great knife. It was the knife that taught me how to REALLY sharpen and how to find an edge that matches the strengths and weaknesses of the steel. FF was always good, but it's also the first knife that I thinned and mirror polished. I also accentuated what was already a good handle design. I always thought that it was an easy knife to use well, but after hundreds of hours of muscle memory, picking it up just feels like settling into and old easy chair and slipping on a pair of 3-times-resoled boots.

Justin0505 said:

I had one of those years ago, didnt have it very long, b/c the first time I used it, the tip just fell right of. Literally just disappeared in the middle of a pile of prep. the break showed no deformation , and looked more like a broken piece of glass. Couldnt find the the tip, and had to toss a pile of food. Knife went back (awesome service by a-frames btw), but I still think about it from time to time as it was just a really cool and unique knife and as you said, certainly had character. The knife I had was white #3 (less pure, lower grade white steel), so I often think about revisiting the brand, but with a better steel.

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I think you're confusing Tadatsuna with Sadayasu? - still love the profile on the old Tad inox.

Sugimoto cheapo wa-gyuto for me.

I keep coming back to my Blazen 240 gyuto, even though some here would probably call it clunky - I never thinned it out and still like it, how about that?

Stefan

Oh, Stefan...

This thread's great! I just had a "holy crap moment" with my 240ish Carter KU suji. I decided to use it to prepare dinner, last night. While using it, I kept thinking about how amazing it feels in hand, and how I don't have another knife that falls through onions quite like it. I seriously think, between it, my Misono Dragon, my Rodrigue pettysuki and a parer, I'd be all set....

Hattori FH. I broke my thumb a while ago so my sharpening sucked for a while and I used this because it was still pretty sharp and it impressed the hell out of me. It was the first good knife I bought so I thought my memories of it performing well were because I had nothing to compare it to, but I was wrong, it stacked up with all my other knives. I am considering getting a 270 now

my aritsugu kyoto santoku, i bought for $40 used from some dude selling a buncha used stuff from japan. i keep coming back to it. my first good knife.

Hattori FH

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lus1:
But I ended up selling mine last week , I will remember it for long time though

I still keep going back and loving my 210mm fujiwara FKH gyuto. It was my first foray into the realm of Japanese cutlery and I continue to improve my sharpening skills on it to this day. I don't think there is a better value out there.

I've got a Takeda 180mm santoku in Aogami #1 (instead of his normal AS) that I picked up for my wife, and whenever I take an opportunity to use it I *really* enjoy it -- I feel bad having parted with my old Takeda gyuto!

Lignum 3 by Robert Herder, Solingen. My first carbon. Technically probably not my best knife, but we share a long time together. I'm always amazed when I return to it. Is this what people call love?

Hattori FH here too. I sold mine, regrettably, just a month or so ago. I've gone through probably a dozen gyutos in the last year and a half, and I've finally come to the conclusion that its the best knife for me. The blazen I'm currently using is quite good, but I've decided that I value that initial keenness and easy touch-ups over ultimate edge retention.
Ill be selling the Blazen and Kagero gyutos and buying another FH very soon.

I started out with a Takeda Gyoto in AS.
Then I kept reading on here and, equally important, watching all the pictures.
I then bought 3 more Gyotos.
At the time I found all three of them to be improvements over the Takeda, and of each other, successively.

After a few months of idle time for that Takeda, I decided to let others use it for a while.
One of those times it came back pretty abused.
That got to me somehow, and I decided to give it a nice clean-up.
After all, I couldn't let it look like that.

Well, now my passion for this simple and quite inexpensive knife has been revamped.

For one, it is a good knife, and secondly, my honing attempts at first where less than adequate.
There's still tons to learn in that department, so I have high hopes that my newfound passion for this knife will continue to be a part of my journey in the future as well.
One thing is for sure:
My first will never leave this house

Timthebeaver said:

I think you're confusing Tadatsuna with Sadayasu?

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YEP, Total name-fart on my part... derp. Nice catch, I didn't give you much to go on, but I guess that w#3 was a clue.

Justin0505 said:

YEP, Total name-fart on my part... derp. Nice catch, I didn't give you much to go on, but I guess that w#3 was a clue.

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A-Frames, Shirogami #3 and hard like glass gave it away.


... and that I remember you telling that story before

pumbaa said:

Fujiwara FKM 270 suji. I have Hattori, Massamoto, and so on but this little $80 suji is by far my favorite. Its sharp, light, nimble, f&f is great, and the shape is perfect.

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I agree -- 270 FKM was the first suji I ever purchased, and it is the blade the started me on my suji for an all-around knife...so I stopped looking at gyutos for a while. Still own it today and use it as my travel knife if I go to family or friends houses.

Love my cheapo Watanabe nakiri...use it quite often for little things, and don't think I'll ever get rid of it.

Global G-2.

It was my first Japanese knife. As I've gotten better at sharpening, and now thinning, especially the tip, it's a better cutter than a number of other knives that I've used. I haven't found it to be as difficult to deburr as people make it out to be, and, frankly, I actually enjoy sharpening it.

Because it's nearly indestructible and is about the most stainless knife I've ever owned, it's pretty much maintenance free. So, I use it on anything and everything without thinking.

Suisin Inox Honyaki 270mm wa-gyuto. Its just fun to use.

WiscoNole said:

I'm on my third Tadatsuna in as many years. They may have lost favor around here recently, but they are very well made knives with a character all their own, IMO.

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I still love my first real J-knife, a tadatsuna mizu honyaki yanagi, that I pretty much carry everywhere I go. ^^
It is like the first love that you don't want to let go forever.

240 TKC - A Classic

Carbonext (a la 240TKC) - another cheaper classic. I'm so fond of that knife which was passed to my gf. Of course, she's scared to use it.

Sabatier 10 inch stainless steel Chet's knife. Finally had the bolster ground away a bit so it could be sharpened all the way back.