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sac36555

sac36555

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I'm looking for a good all-around paring knife. I'm looking to stay in the $50 or less range and want something low maintenance that won't rust or stain. There are a couple that I was looking at, but I'm open to your opinions:

Wustoff Ikon $50
Tojiro flash $48
Ken Onion #32 (clearance)
Victorinox fibrox $18
Mercer Renaissance forged $17

Anyways, let me know what you think or if you have other recommendations. I currently have a Tojiro DP chefs knife that I'm looking to upgrade from, but I know very little about Japanese knives, especially paring knives.
 
For cheapy parers, I gift Kyocera. Ceramic isn't the most loved blade material around these parts, but they make awesome peelers and mandolines for good reason. The parer is no exception. The handle and blade profile are excellent for true in-hand paring tasks. Plus they are completely corrosion resistant. I have several in my home block, as they can sit in a wet sink with little negative affect. I like the black blade, as it's slightly harder than the white ceramic.
 
Anyone else? I want as many opinions as possible as I’m still new to quality knives. I don’t know if this exists in paring knives like chefs/gyuto knives, but I also would add that I’m looking for a paring knife with 50/50 grind since I’m a lefty and my wife is a righty. I’m willing to stretch the budget if necessary, but I’d like a little feedback on he knives I talked about.
 
For knives costing only a few dollars, just buy one and try it. Form your own opinion.
 
Not all of us can afford to buy knife after knife, regardless if they are $50 or $500. It’s frustrating when people on here ask legitimate questions and we get knife snobs telling us, “just buy one.” Apparently if I’m not spending a ton of money on a knife I’m not worthy of a response.
 
sac36555 said:
Not all of us can afford to buy knife after knife, regardless if they are $50 or $500. It’s frustrating when people on here ask legitimate questions and we get knife snobs telling us, “just buy one.” Apparently if I’m not spending a ton of money on a knife I’m not worthy of a response.
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I understand your frustration, but I feel it is misplaced. Asking knife enthusiasts for advice and calling them knife snobs after not getting the answer you wanted in 14 hours is probably uncalled for.

The type of advice you get here is usually aimed at getting you the best value for money. Sometimes that means paying slightly more to get a lot more. You may not find a lot of people here who have experience with some of those knives. knife snobs are wise to avoid brands that generally give little value for money. Also, many people here would pass over a paring knife for an alternative with more versatility like a small petty.

But you are in luck because I’m not knowledgeable enough to have avoided some of those brands, and can provide you some feedback. I will not buy a Mercer or a Ken Onion branded product again, and I am not impressed with Tojiro. Mercer’s X50V15 is the crappiest steel I’ve ever handled. Zero wear resistance. Mercer f&f is crap. Terrible value. Ken Onion will put his name on anything, and you aren’t paying for the product. I have a KO bread knife that was discounted from $170 to $40 and it was still a bad buy. I’m not impressed with my western handle Tojiro petty, terrible handle and clumsy balance, and will not buy another Tojiro unless I can use it first.

If you want a cheap parking knife, why not consider a $10 Opinel?
 
The Shin Classic, 3" parer, does not suck. Might be the best parer on the market from the big names. Would be surprised if you could not find one near 50 with all the Black Fri crap coming up.

Definitely lose the Onion from any list yr considering. What a POS.
 
Interapid101 thanks for the response. When referring to “knife snob” I was referring to Adrian telling me to “just buy them.” I don’t have the money to go out and buy a bunch of knives. I’ve got a mortgage, car payment, wife, kids, etc. it really wasn’t helpful at all. As for your response about Petty’s, I’m open to them as long as it’s nible enough to do paring with. I have zero experience of knowledge about Petty’s, so I’d definitely need some advise on what to get. I’m looking for something that is low maintenance, non reactive, and that has a 50/50 grind as I’m a lefty and my wife is a righty. I’d be willing to stretch the budget for a good petty
 
The Mac Professional paring knife usually sells for around $59. I bet you could find one cheaper on Black Friday/Cyber Monday.

[video=youtube;FBOiFHkD8Bc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBOiFHkD8Bc[/video]
 
I use the Robert Herder with a 2" birds beak blade and I love it.. For 26$ I don't think you find anything else that handy, light and yes it looks cheap, but never mind that:thumbsup:
 
Opinel Carbone parer can be had for real cheap and is a very fun little knife. Also, I have had great luck finding vintage carbon parers from thrift stores and flea markets. Ontario, Forgecraft, etc... Sometimes for fifty cents.
 
The advice to try a few and see what you like is because with a parer a lot of it is personal preference. If you don't know what you are going to use it for and what you like, it's better to try cheap options of few different styles and then upgrade to something nicer if you're so inclined.

I personally like a flat profile with a sturdy tip and my wife likes curved profile with a thin raised tip, so we have one of each type. The ones we have are about as high end as you can reasonably go with paring knives, but I'm sure that if we were to replace them with much cheaper knives (with the same profile and with equally thin blades) that the difference in efficiency (if any) would be very slight.
 
Get the bolstered l'economie from Epicurean Edge. 38$, full carbon, super sharp, and very pretty. The no bolster is only 28$.
 
Benuser said:
MACs I've seen all were quite right-biased. The OP requires an ambidextrous blade, I'm afraid.
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That Shun Classic mentioned above is also right-biased with a "D" handle.

My next knife purchase will be a petty, because the two old Wusthof paring knives I have are getting to the point where they've been sharpened so often that the profiles aren't so great any more (due to full bolster). I'm trying to stick to the $50 or a little more range, because paring knives get abused in my house for things like opening packages. They don't get babied like my other cooking knives.

A few I've considered, that also need to be ambidextrous because my wife is a lefty:

Gesshin 120mm paring knife - $35 at Japanese Knife Imports
Wusthof Classic Wide paring knife - around $65, would probably look for a Black Friday deal on this one
Tojiro DP Paring 90mm - $47, but the comment above about Tojiro makes me think it might not be a good one

I'll probably go for the Wusthof, since the softer steel will handle more daily knife abuse, and be quick to sharpen.
 
Soft stainless like Wüsthof's Krupp 4116 will indeed take some abuse, but sharpening it is no fun. Highly abrasion resistant.
 
Benuser said:
Soft stainless like Wüsthof's Krupp 4116 will indeed take some abuse, but sharpening it is no fun. Highly abrasion resistant.
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True, but I'm used to sharpening my two older Wusthof parers, which I guess is the same steel? I just use low grit to make it go faster, and don't aim for the kind of refined edge I'd want on other knives.
 
Paraffin said:
True, but I'm used to sharpening my two older Wusthof parers, which I guess is the same steel? I just use low grit to make it go faster, and don't aim for the kind of refined edge I'd want on other knives.
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All the same steel, indeed. I basically use a 400 Chosera with them.
 
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