(Regretfully) putting a new bag together

[Scrap]

Good news, I'm finally back in kitchens after a solid stint of floating around, this time in a place I could see myself staying at. Bad news, the knife bag that dissapeared just days prior to my leaving the last kitchen job hasn't turned up in any of the expected places (a shame since I had some old family relics and all of the stones knerd was kind enough to give me stowed away in it) Hopefully it turns up but until then I'm still out of a kit and stones. Id like some recommendations for a solid basic kit to get me by, starting with a decent gyuto or similar all purpose knife and picking up a few cheap knives for versatility's sake (I'm catering for a music pavilion so I've got something new going on daily) for the gyuto:

Carbon is strongly preferred, Wa handles are preferred, I use cleavers frequently so heavy knives good for push cuts are preferred. I'd like something around 240mm I think and edge retention is probably the most important thing since I'm working 16 hour shifts with heavy prep and little downtime for touchups. Id like to keep this as cheap as is reasonable, preferably not more than 200 but I can push this quite a bit and still keep the lights on if I need to. my Zakuri served me well and wouldn't mind something similar.

feel free to recommend anything else you feel the need to keep on hand (including actual bags or other tools unless I'd need to move that to another thread)

 

[Dardeau]

Watanabe KU 240mm, it's like a chuka with a tip. It's a little over your budget, but will fit what you are looking for pretty well. If you are doing meat fab the R. Murphy boning knife is good, carbon, and cheap but not wa. If Maxim has any of the Itinomonn 210mm sujis in stock they are like 100 bucks and can fill in where the Watanabe might be clunky.

 

[easy13]

240 Ichimonji nashiji blue #2 - decent wa handle, heavyish, carbon, can hold a good edge, around $125

If you are willing to use a 210 you can get a Tadafusa Nashiji blue # 2 which is pretty much the same knife but shorter and under $100

Itinomonn anything is amazing for the price

 

[Godslayer]

Tanaka blue #2 from james. It's a beast 3.5+ mm at the spine but still thin at the tip. Tadafusa is another good choice jck has a blue moon series that's extremely well priced.

 

[wbusby1]

+1

Watanabe KU 240mm

 

[skewed]

Itinomonn anything is amazing for the price

+1

I have been extremely impressed with both the stainLess (210 gyuto) and v2 (270 gyuto). Both have a great workhorse feel to them without being too heavy.

 

[DanHumphrey]

Tanaka blue #2 from james. It's a beast 3.5+ mm at the spine but still thin at the tip. Tadafusa is another good choice jck has a blue moon series that's extremely well priced.

I can second this - it goes through food almost as well as the gf's Takamura santoku, but better food release.

 

[Scrap]

Browsing through these the only one I can't get much info on is the blue moon. Can anyone vouch for the quality? I do like both the look and the price, but not if the knife doesn't hold up.

 

[easy13]

Browsing through these the only one I can't get much info on is the blue moon. Can anyone vouch for the quality? I do like both the look and the price, but not if the knife doesn't hold up.

Same knives as the Tadafusa Nashiji & Ichimonji I mentioned. Solid workhorse knives for the price, definitely have a bit of heft to them, decent grind and can hold an edge well. Ain't gonna find a better complete package for the price (sub $100) wa out there in my opinion. Those pettys arent bad either, good knuckle clearance on them, could break down birds, sturdy too.

 

[Godslayer]

As mentioned its tadafusa but a different handle. My first j knife the tanaka is better but if money is tight it's a great knife. Grab that and a cheap paring and youd have a good set. The cladding is also stainless which helps.

 

[Jordanp]

I think these are the same as tadafusa http://knifewear.com/collections/fujimoto-nashiji/products/fujimoto-nashiji-gyuto-240mm