Confronting the cult of Cutco.

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Lens Pirate

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There was a thread on another forum. This nice lady, emerging home chef / foodie and very helpful.
She posts how the cutco rep is coming to Costco and she is going to really splurge. Buy the biggest set.

What followed was utterly insane. The post after post of the most naked confirmation bias, absurd claims about special
cutco edges, that only Cutco could sharpen. Life-time warranties, Ect. It was a Cutco divinity cult.

I lost my mind. I fully engaged called them on the BS with reasoned information about the Cutco knives. I gave options, lots of options.
If she really wanted a "set " of knives I suggested the 17 piece Nexus knife and block set over on Cutlery and Mores web site., BDNI 63 RH steel and great shaped G10 handles. 299 dollars shipped. Thats the cost of 1 or two Cutcos and they are Much better knives,.

NO PROGRESS Not one single person changed thier opinion. Its like Cutco knives have risen to a core belief and people are doomed.

May I never be so sure of anything, may I never refuse the alter my opinion based on new and better evidence. It was scary to watch.

OMG! https://www.cutco.com/products/product.jsp?item=ultimate-set-with-steak-knives 3260 dollars
 
I don't own or never did own a Cutco knife but one of my daughter's has one. I was not able to sharpen it the way I sharpen my knives with my Worksharp. The steel is very hard.

I made it better but not sharp. I told her to send it in.
 
As a foreginer I tried to google Cutco.

First hit, their own web page has locked out us outside of the US:

cutco.jpg


The second hit said it was an MLM / Pyramid Scheme.

I feel pretty good to be locked out. :)
 
My brother in-law had cutco’s. When he wanted them sharpened he called cutco and they sent a rep over to his house. They whipped out a pull thru sharpener, gave each knife a few swipes and done, as good as new. When I hear people reference the “lifetime sharpening” as a reason to buy cutco I laugh. Maybe their system has changed but this is what it was back in the day
 
Isn’t that just a fancy term for plastic?
No, no, no. See, they have engineers working in a dark secret ultra underground lab engineering the same formulation over and over.*

*Really just a Hamster on its wheel in some janitors closet.
 
Here’s the real question - would you rather have a set of cutco’s or 1 CM rasp knife (assuming their equal in value)?
 
That MLM claim about Vector (Cutco salesarm) made for entertaining read.

It’s almost like some twilight zone. One of the biggest american cutlery company, and a somewhat shady way to distribute.

Right out in the open. Claiming 200 millions annual sales and basically deceiving young people into a « legit pyramid ». Couple of lawsuits they settled with cash here and there. It’s all good old american business.
 
First off, I don’t think anyone ever pays full price for Cutco. They use over the top pricing to give “now how much would you pay” discounts on sets.

They do have a good warranty. I’ve had a set for about twenty years that I paid $450 for and one of the handles got melted on a burner. When my wife sent them in for sharpening they replaced the melted one, no questions asked.

Their shears are the best that I or anyone I know has ever used.

Their sharpening program is a send in service. They will offer to send a rep to your house and examine your knives (they used a ceramic rod set, not a pull thru device, last I observe) and try to sell you more, so just say no to that. However, the actual sharpening program is one in which you send your knives in and they regrind to like new specs.

BD1N isn’t the wonder steel that equal and over the top marketing would have you believe. On the very first use, my wife chipped a BD1N knife. I’m glad she likes her Cutco knives, because she doesn’t want to change the way she cuts and if she ever wrecks a Cutco knife she can just send it in for a new one.

If you never want to learn to sharpen, don’t mind sending your knives in once in a while, just want something of reasonable quality that the manufacturer will stand behind for the rest of your life, and can buy them from your neighbor’s college kid for a steep discount, then they might fit the bill for you.

Obviously, Cutco knives aren’t for people in this forum, otherwise you wouldn’t be here. That doesn’t mean that they are to be compared to a garbage can, @Bico Doce , or that people who buy them are stupid. Their customers have generations of loyalty. My mother still uses two that belonged to my grandmother.

Oh, and talk about confirmation bias, it seems like the whole point of this thread is to confirm in your mind that you are smarter than people who buy Cutco.

I’m not a Cutco fanboy, I just know what they are from lots of experience. I also know there are much worse products out there.

Finally, why would you cast perils to swine? (that’s actually from the Bible so I can’t take credit for it). If that’s the way someone wants to spend their money, what does it matter to you? It’s not like they came here, asked a lot of questions, got good advice, and then went off bragging about buying a Cutco knife set.

Edit: fixed minor typo sent/send
 
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So in know way am I going to defend Cutco but compositionally speaking, 440A isn't far off of Silver 3/Ginsan and AEB-L:
http://www.zknives.com/knives/steels/steelgraph.php?nm=440a,silver 3,AEB-L&ni=,,878&hrn=1&gm=0
However, I suspect Cutco runs their 440A at something around 55RC.
Here’s an article by Larrin on how aeb-l and 440a differ drastically. Increasing the hardness is not going to make this steel a high performer

https://web.archive.org/web/20060213062223/http://www.devinthomas.com/pages/faq.html
 
That doesn’t mean that they are to be compared to a garbage can, @Bico Doce , or that people who buy them are stupid.
I didn’t imply people buying cutco are stupid. What I said was 440A is not an optimal steel for kitchen knives.

Are there any top makers out there using this steel?

Outside of having generations of loyal fans, could you please state why you think these knives perform well and are worth the money? Could you compare their chefs knife against say a Tojiro DP and say that it outperforms the Tojiro in any aspect?

I have used cutco’s and I found them to be poorly made.
 
Here’s an article by Larrin on how aeb-l and 440a differ drastically. Increasing the hardness is not going to make this steel a high performer

https://web.archive.org/web/20060213062223/http://www.devinthomas.com/pages/faq.html

Not sure you dropped the link you wanted but at any rate, I'm aware and fair enough however for the average consumer, it isn't a terrible steel and offers a lot of toughness which would be what they are after. I just think all too often we can get up on a steel name and not realize what the steel is all about. The EDC world is really guilty of this so perhaps I'm still harboring some of those sensitivities. ;)
 
Not sure you dropped the link you wanted but at any rate, I'm aware and fair enough however for the average consumer, it isn't a terrible steel and offers a lot of toughness which would be what they are after. I just think all too often we can get up on a steel name and not realize what the steel is all about. The EDC world is really guilty of this so perhaps I'm still harboring some of those sensitivities. ;)
Here’s the link that I intended to add

https://web.archive.org/web/20060213062223/http://www.devinthomas.com/pages/faq.html
It seems the argument being made is that cutco is a good option for those that would like to destroy their knives and have them replaced indefinitely by the manufacturer. If that’s the case then I surrender. Cutco for all!

Edit: the section I’m referring to is in the FAQ section
 
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Here’s the link that I intended to add

https://web.archive.org/web/20060213062223/http://www.devinthomas.com/pages/faq.html
It seems the argument being made is that cutco is a good option for those that would like to destroy their knives and have them replaced indefinitely by the manufacturer. If that’s the case then I surrender. Cutco for all!

Edit: the section I’m referring to is in the FAQ section

Relax. I was quite clear that I'm not defending Cutco.
 
I didn’t imply people buying cutco are stupid. What I said was 440A is not an optimal steel for kitchen knives.

Are there any top makers out there using this steel?

Outside of having generations of loyal fans, could you please state why you think these knives perform well and are worth the money? Could you compare their chefs knife against say a Tojiro DP and say that it outperforms the Tojiro in any aspect?

I have used cutco’s and I found them to be poorly made.
I only tagged you for the garbage can reference. I understand your appreciation for superior steel.

I have done a side by side comparison and on cutting performance there is no comparison, nearly any average J-knife would out cut a Cutco knife (and that’s why I prefer them for myself). However, on a durability and abuse scale, Cutco wins all day long, hands down (and that’s why I prefer them for my wife).
 
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