I like paring knives

[Paring Knight]

Hi all!
I'm Luca, a humble home cook from Italy who finally delved into knives after many years of being curious but not investing the time. Now I'm getting hung up, and in my quest for more knife content I'm finally registering to self-encourage me to eventually be active rather than read only.

Cheers!

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Welcome.

Please read for useful information: https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/forum-guidelines-and-membership-levels.74669/

 

[Qapla']

Paring Knight

Welcome. Which blades have you wielded in your knighthood so far?

 

[Paring Knight]

Welcome. Which blades have you wielded in your knighthood so far?

Not that many to be honest. I do like paring knives and in cheapskate spirit (but also from a limited safe storage point of view) I figured limiting the collection part of this cutty cut thing to paring knives would help.

I have had 2 straight Sanelli paring knives for a long time which I used so much. Then when I bought my first whetstone I also got a bird's beak Victorinox, which I absolutely adore, and later completed with 8cm straight and 10cm serrated Vics, all SwissClassic line.

All with a tip at mid heigh, say leaf tip or some like that. I don't understand the nuance between leaf point, drop point, and similar.

I'm eyeing (as in, have it in my cart on multiple sites) Robert Herder and Opinel at the moment. Considering making one of them my first non-stainless.

 

[Jovidah]

Robert Herder > Opinel in cutting performance. Not that Opinel is terrible, but they just don't grind them as thin behind the edge.

 

[Ericfg]

Welcome Luca. Paring knives are not discussed here much as they don't appear too often as they don't exist in the japan knife world(which this forum is evidently all about).

I'd be more than happy to discuss 4 inch or shorter knives with you.

 

[spaceconvoy]

Robert Herder > Opinel in cutting performance. Not that Opinel is terrible, but they just don't grind them as thin behind the edge.

true enough, but herder's handles are not good. not even talking about their tendency to swell and gap from the blade.. mainly they're too heavy for an in-hand pairing knife

i love my opinel parallele - the little hump below the heel is so key. if you're used to one of those classic black plastic handle victorinox, i think you'll find the feel and the balance to be just right

 

[Jovidah]

true enough, but herder's handles are not good. not even talking about their tendency to swell and gap from the blade.. mainly they're too heavy for an in-hand pairing knife

i love my opinel parallele - the little hump below the heel is so key. if you're used to one of those classic black plastic handle victorinox, i think you'll find the feel and the balance to be just right

View attachment 400062

I agree that RH's handles are not their strong suit... but even so it's never been all that problematic for me. If you properly saturate your handles with oil it's fine.
I will admit though that since I usually end up in abusive relationships with my paring knives, when I upgraded to the fancier K1M... I opted for the boring option: stainless with POM handle.

It's not that I actively dislike Opinels; they're fine... and I consider them on par with stuff like Wüsthof. But for me the cutting performance on all my Herders is a significant cut above the rest.

 

[Qapla']

Welcome Luca. Paring knives are not discussed here much as they don't appear too often as they don't exist in the japan knife world(which this forum is evidently all about).

They exist, but overwhelmingly they're either undersized (e.g. 70-80mm instead of the more common 3.5" which would be closer to 90mm) or are from makers that are disfavored by the forum.
https://seisukeknife.com/products/s...-90mm-brown-pakka-wood?variant=42323415924927
https://japanesechefsknife.com/products/hattori-forums-fh-series-parer-70mm-2-7-inch
https://japanesechefsknife.com/products/misono-sweden-steel-series-paring-knife

If you're looking to join one of the forum's cults with your first non-stainless paring-knife, maybe check out an Isamitsu?
https://isamitsu.com/products/petty?variant=42924388155558

If OP is looking for European-made knives, then I'd say it really depends on the budget. If he's open to the fancy stuff, he might contact any of various Europe-based bladesmiths on the forum.