Aura chef Chakras

With all the "ugliest knife ever" threads I've seen around here I'm surprised I haven't seen these mentioned yet. I don't know much about these knives. Other than the fact that they are all over Instagram especially popular with the #truecooks crowd. (But they seem to know very little of knives) and I don't much mind their previous lines but this new one I just don't get.
Not only does it look silly (to me at least) but it looks like that big ball would just get in the way. It's right where you would pinch grip and just doesn't make sense to me. Keep in mind I have never held one. But the thing that really bothers me is the marketing idea that they've put some silly rubber coated tungsten ball in there that then rattles around and somehow improves cutting? I mean come on.
Clearly they have a good marketing campaign and everyone on Instagram sings their praises in the comments. And to be fair I should just unfollow them instead of getting frustrated. But to me it seems like one of the more ridiculous gimmicks around. And an expensive gaudy handle on what might be a decent blade marketed to culinary students. (I should know I bought a shun "ken onion" knife when I was a culinary student) anyways sorry for the rant they may be great knives. Just my two cents

I didn't want to be the first to say it...

Must watch....

[video=youtube;cQcLLojBrgk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQcLLojBrgk[/video]

More....

[video=youtube;rkV5otsp8mg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkV5otsp8mg[/video]

[video=youtube;TjpvSUxWGBs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjpvSUxWGBs[/video]

For 500+ you could have a Kato.
Just sayin...

OK I'm off to bed to have nightmares now. This is the reason why I'll never be a great success in this biz, I won't do this.....

'Brand Definition' was the objective for our Friday afternoon in San Francisco. Defining our approach and identifying our message was a few key items in which we spoke about. We are very pleased that we have teamed up with a high ranking Branding agency moving forward.

The agency has not only obtained a great belief in our company Aura Knifeworks, but has come to an understanding of what it will truly take in getting Aura's name into the mainstream of quality knives throughout the world.

Aura Knifeworks is proud to announce that we are systematically structuring a bold and aggressive company moving forward.

Click to expand...

A "branding agency"....you're freaking kidding me.

Meaning cheaper steel and handle materials mixed with sponsoring everything they can and making lots of gimmicks

"
aurachef
FOLLOW
The handle is important to performance. Burl has a mutated spiral grain rather than straight, so vibrations have more pathways to travel. This provides tactile feedback through your hand. #hollisticapproach #chefknife #auraknifeworks An extension of you.
288 likes"

ARGH!!!!!

San Francisco! Please stop the horror!
I studied there and worked there for a few years.
It's a shame to have this abomination of poor ergonomics and questionable taste associated with my city.

mlau said:

ARGH!!!!!

San Francisco! Please stop the horror!
I studied there and worked there for a few years.
It's a shame to have this abomination of poor ergonomics and questionable taste associated with my city.

Click to expand...

As fate would have it I'm about to move there. Despite its association with these knives.
.... Although maybe they have a position opening in marketing....

Coming soon: the aura SHOCKra!! Inside the handle is lithium battery that vigorously shocks vegetables while you cut. The electromagnetic waves produced cause the cellulose in the cell walls to disaperate and the vegetables simply fall into perfect brunoise. Perfect for today's busy line cook
Warning: do not use if you have a history of heart disease or epilepsy

Its a bit funny to me. They take what is from my understading a good steel and make a knife from it. And then only show how they make the handle for it. It really could be a great great knife (even though some of them have a strange profile) but i would never buy a knife from a guy who seems more concerned with the fabouless handle

oh my god did anyone catch the "heirloom patina" in the first vid dave posted... the founder of Aura seems a bit of a knob.

how presumptious lol it took them a whole four years to reinvent the kitchen knife as we know it! you don't say...

The knife itself is not that horrendous IMO...
If you look at the blade, good steel, good geometry, cuts well and with a regular wa or yo handle, could go for $200-300, maybe even a bit more, but with quirky marketing BS and this "ergonomic" handle they could sell it for much more.
Clever guys, but there are some people who cannot be fooled with this... Especially here.

Jesus Christ and all that good and holy... the whole homepage reads like someone attended a "marketing BS 101" class class before writing up all that stuff... hollow bolsters with tungsten balls that increase impact force, palm wood that helps to transfer force and burl wood for a better tactile feedback. Guys, we all have been doing it wrong the whole time...

Guess their target group are overpaid tech guys working at Apple, Google & Co and living in SF or other gentrified parts of California...

I follow them on instagram to get my daily dose of facepalming but it has come to the point that I need to wear soft mittens to not hurt myself while scrolling through the feed.

That marketing-bs around the handle really sets the bar on how bad and ugly the design is all across the board...

Holy ****. This Old Boys' Club BS is getting old, guys. Talk to Noah for a minute and you'll learn he truly believes in and loves what he does. Is it for everyone? Of course not, but if he started here, and talked about spine thickness and choil shots with us for a few months leading up to this, and paid to be a vendor, I bet we'd all be singing his praises.

This is really getting frustrating. KKF used to be a fun place.

Lefty said:

Holy ****. This Old Boys' Club BS is getting old, guys. Talk to Noah for a minute and you'll learn he truly believes in and loves what he does. Is it for everyone? Of course not, but if he started here, and talked about spine thickness and choil shots with us for a few months leading up to this, and paid to be a vendor, I bet we'd all be singing his praises.

This is really getting frustrating. KKF used to be a fun place.

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Live and let live!

WIth those handles they'll never get lost in the dishwasher:whistling:

+1 Tom

Just because an Artist/Craftsman/Musician/Chef, etc. Is passionate and truly believes in what they do means that everyone is going to sing their praises; different strokes for different folks. Pop musicians can be as passionate about their craft (even more so!) than Prog or blues, or jazz, but fans of each are probably saying "I don't understand how someone would like that'.

Lefty said:

Holy ****. This Old Boys' Club BS is getting old, guys. Talk to Noah for a minute and you'll learn he truly believes in and loves what he does. Is it for everyone? Of course not, but if he started here, and talked about spine thickness and choil shots with us for a few months leading up to this, and paid to be a vendor, I bet we'd all be singing his praises.

This is really getting frustrating. KKF used to be a fun place.

Click to expand...

I think we are reaching a critical mass of hipster infused kitchen knives reinvents in the last few months. Misen, the butt plug, the new "Forgecrafts" and this in less than a month. All with marketing campaigns that can overload the bovine excrements detector of a normal person. And people react accordingly - not to the (sometimes dubious) qualities of the products, but to the crap in the polished campaigns.

With different presentation all of those products would have been accepted differently.

I don't understand how people can **** all over something before they even try it.

Cheeks1989 said:

I don't understand how people can **** all over something before they even try it.

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I guess you're going to be the man? As for me, I'm good...I can even skip the passaround and be good. Too much marketing BS involved for my tastes either way.

Yeah Sam, I hear you...I'm not so much shitting on their work (though I find it highly suspect), it's really just the marketing BS approach that gets me. Notice no real mention of grind--just some hoodoo-voodoo about perfect balance which is such a small part of what makes a great knife.

Its not my cup of tea. Just like I said to the forgecraft guy, but I think its crazy to **** on someones work before you try it.

Exactly my point. I'm not into that type of marketing either, but they started off just letting guys use their knives and showing them on social media, which I fully support. I think maybe they got some "business advice" from people who know how to sell a lot of something, but don't care about people like us who appreciate real quality. However, that's not to say that these aren't quality products because based on my discussions with Noah, I'd say they very well could be. In fact, very likely are.

These guys are making knives themselves so I give them big props for that. They also get bonus points for using a carbon steel and I like the burl components of their handles. Everything else about these knives, and the marketing especially, rubs my senses wrong.

I like the handle contour (not the one with the bell looking thingy on it), it looks like they put a lot of work in it. I suspect it feels pretty good in the hand.
As for the ball on the ferrule knife, I imagine that might work in pinch grip for some. But every time I look at it I think about the little bell on the handle bar of a kid's bicycle (which also worked very well for its intended purpose). I like the profile of this blade though. Good for these guys, I say. May not be for everyone, but it would seem many are quite happy with it. And I also suspect that if you find yourself not pleased with the knife, they'll be more than happy to take a return or exchange. Always a hallmark of a good maker/ business man.

I had the chance to handle one of these at Town Cutler in SF quickly and I remember personally finding the handle not very comfortable. Next time I'm over there I'll take a more detailed look at choil/weight, but personally the style of the handle wasn't for me so I didn't pay the rest of the blade much attention.

There's plenty of design consideration that's important to them that I'm not willing to pay for, but I at least think their thoughts into design and materials/craftsmanship all look quality.

Whoa, go easy guys. You are all better than this and you know it!
:danke::danke::danke::danke::helicop::helicop::helicop::helicop::feedkids::feedkids::feedkids::thebbq::thebbq::thebbq::film::film::angry3::word::flush::flush::shy:

What Knerd said. It's great folly for one to assume the intent of another. More so to assume the worst. Pls resolve any issues off line.

Hugs.