Holiday knife

I am currently on holidays in Sardinia. the local markets are very nice, with fresh fish, veggies and fruit fruit.
I packed a petty (15 cm moritaka) as the knives one typically encounters in apartments annoy the hell out of me, but I figured I might need a different knife for trips. I am not the only one using it, hence stainless would be nice. Additionally, the moritaka chipped quite a bit on some lovely crusty bread that we found (though it isn't that thin behind the edge). finally, not expensive would be nice, to not be upset in case the knife gets lost. The perfect knife would also have a bit of knuckle clearance.

I am curious what you bring along, and any recommendations for a fitting knife?

Perhaps a bit of a softer knife like a FUJIWARA FKM would fit the bill, though I don't really connect with those (Don't know why), or perhaps a thicker one like a Tanana ginsan?

I use this bunka bocho: http://www.tosa-hocho.de/favorite.htm

That would be a very useful profile indeed! How does it handle abuse? Does it chip easily?

It's not chippy at all and it's actually a really nice knife. Fairly rustic, though and a bit of the roll of the dice regarding grind. Mine required a fair bit of thinning towards the front of the knife. But it's super-cheap and quite fun and good for Holidays and I don't really mind if somebody gives it a hard time.

I have given a lot of though to this too.

I would recommend to have a look at guyto-ish knife with some 165 mm blade. I have used with success Carter Muteki and right now (4 weeks in Norway) use Yoshikane SKD Hakata (perfect for vegetables, less perfect for meat - the blade has too little belly for that. I use it with micro bevel and plastic blade protector for storage). I also carry a Blazen R2 paring knife (looks so ordinary but is really great for small work or in-hand cutting, very lightweight too). I plan to keep using these two and add one more knife with some 150 - 165 mm blade with more belly to work on hard cheese, salami and meat. I am thinking to have one made by Andy Billipp (not decided yet - a bit too expensive for the road).

You may also want to check out the Zwilling Kramer in 52100 or the stainless one with 160 mm blade.

Also a 165 Zakuri Funayuki could be a good and very reasonably priced choice (the link is already available above). I have briefly used the 135 mm one (bought it for a friend to learn sharpening and she loves it) and it is a very nice and practical knife.

Or as already mentioned a bunka shaped knife. Masakage has bunka in several of their lines in 170mm size.

I would go for a relatively inexpensive 180 blade - Bunka, Gyuto or Funayuki. Check Murata and Wakui for well priced and well forged knives.

Just like Matus I take my Hakata SKD 180 when I travel, if someone else than me is likely to cook I also pack my Global G2 (then I establish a no touching rule for the Yoshikane! Nobody is allowed to touch my Hakata...)

JCK has again the Hiromoto AS 190mm santoku.

For me, the point of a Holiday knife is precisely that you don't mind it getting a bit of abuse. But horses for courses, I suppose. I imagine it's also nice to have a deluxe holiday knife, like the Citroën DS you only get out of the garage at weekends.

And if you want to spend a bit more Money (as matus and others have suggested), then on the website I linked to they also have slightly more expensive Zakuri bunka bochos.

I hope you find something nice.

Thanks for all the pointers! I really appreciate it. I wasn't online for a bit, enjoying the holidays:






Even managed to score a new "paring knife"


(traditional Sardinian pocket knife from pattada)

I see you are all recommending something with more knuckle clearance, I think that that is a very good idea.
I'd like to keep the knife at most 16cm (otherwise I could just bring a 19cm gyuto that I have) and (just like Rayuela) I'd like to keep it cheap (though I really like all the recommendations). I will have a look at a Zakuri bunka /funyaki for the next holidays Thanks a lot for all the suggestions!

Fujiwara FKM 270 suji has been, and will remain my travel knife for a long time. Great to have a slicer if needed (like on Thanksgiving, roasts, etc.), and is also a great all-round tool for all other work...sujis are my favorite personally.

I own and used to own six Fujiwaras: 4 FKMs & 2 FKHs...just thought the SK-carbon steel the FKH uses, was a little too reactive and would have an odor and slight taste on the food (yes, even with a deep natural patina that I had on it).

Currently, the only Fujis that still remain in my stable are the 4 FKMs...they can all get an extremely sharp, they are relatively strong with ok edge retention(but so easy to retouch) - also, I didn't notice any significant differences between the edges of the stainless vs carbon, and only a minimal difference when sharpening.. So for me personally, I would go FKM every time now. Outside of the ones I own, have also sharpened about 15 other various FKMs (# of individual knives..some sharpened and touched up multiple times--as these are what I recommend for first-timers of friends/family/cowokers/etc).

Just love Fujiwara, especially my newest 2 that both have the red wine colored pakka wood scales...just too bad they don't offer this option on all their knife styles. I've said in on the forums years ago and I still believe it now...if they made an FKW version that uses white #2 or a higher end semi-stainless and I'd be all set. Get at least one at some point, easy to affrod.

riba said:

Thanks for all the pointers! I really appreciate it. I wasn't online for a bit, enjoying the holidays:






Even managed to score a new "paring knife"


(traditional Sardinian pocket knife from pattada)

I see you are all recommending something with more knuckle clearance, I think that that is a very good idea.
I'd like to keep the knife at most 16cm (otherwise I could just bring a 19cm gyuto that I have) and (just like Rayuela) I'd like to keep it cheap (though I really like all the recommendations). I will have a look at a Zakuri bunka /funyaki for the next holidays Thanks a lot for all the suggestions!

Click to expand...

GReat photos, thanks for sharing your adventures.

Finding a pocket knife capable of kitchen duty, I like that idea. Have many pocket knives, but none that could do this well. This gives another fine excuse for another search and purchase!
Watanabe and Takeda make some interesting pocket knives. I wonder how a fatter face than usual in about a 4" thin blade length, of course foldable and hopefully some type of locking mechanism would look like?
Hmmmm…. the story continues.

aaamax said:

GReat photos, thanks for sharing your adventures.

Finding a pocket knife capable of kitchen duty, I like that idea. Have many pocket knives, but none that could do this well. This gives another fine excuse for another search and purchase!
Watanabe and Takeda make some interesting pocket knives. I wonder how a fatter face than usual in about a 4" thin blade length, of course foldable and hopefully some type of locking mechanism would look like?
Hmmmm…. the story continues.

Click to expand...

Or a Del parer in pocket knife edition...

For now, this one seems to have a profile I can work with. I would like it a bit thinner though (a la Opinel or so but there the profile doesn't work for me).

riba said:

Or a Del parer in pocket knife edition...

For now, this one seems to have a profile I can work with. I would like it a bit thinner though (a la Opinel or so but there the profile doesn't work for me).

Click to expand...

I'm with ya on that.
Your knife in the pic with a taller blade would probably be optimal, hell, how about a karouchi finish as well?? lol. One day maybe.

I have just came across Wilkins knives (from Germany). He makes mostly folders and outdoor knives, but the following one could be interesting as a travel knife:
ryback series 2

I would not expect any extra good grind and the knife is rather heavy, but the profile looks interesting and might be worth additional work (thinning) for 120€

I have no connection to the seller/maker or any experience with his products.

I take an 8' Victorinox on holidays. Better than anything you'll find in an apartment and £15 to boot. Who cares if the Mother in Law uses it on crusty bread? Or there's a glass chopping board. It never chips, can handle a ride through a dishwasher (damn Mother in Law..) and can be touched up with a pocket stone if necessary. If I left it behind then I'd be happy I've passed future holiday makers a sharp blade and would hope they appreciate it.

Alright, it took a while, but I recently scored the Zakuri Bunka. I haven't booked any holidays yet, but in my kitchen it is a fun knife (more than expected). Thanks for all the advises.

Excellent - enjoy it! Since I have dropped the idea having a $600 custom made travel knife (it took me a while to get to that point) made I will be sooner or later eyeing a knife along the lines of Zakuri Funayuki 165 even if 150 would probably suffice.

Glad you liked it. It's a nice piece of steel for the price.

I don't have a holiday knife, but it's such a good idea. Really, really struggled to even dice onions last time we went away.

So next time, imma gonna just take one of the Globals that have been all but retired since I discovered real Japanese knives.