Salmon knife ridge....why?

[Barry's Knives]

I saw this deba described as a salmon knife on the tsubaya website. It has a sort of.metal ridge at the top. Does anyone know what the purpose of this is? I can only guess it's for weight at the heel but am open to suggestions....

 

[Carl Kotte]

Interesting! Never seen that before.

 

[KenHash]

I've never seen one like that. I wonder if it's just a personal preference of the Sakai smith, or there is some science
behind it.

 

[Barry's Knives]

Quite tempted to pick one up to find out

 

[Carl Kotte]

Depending on how deep the ridge is one might think that this deba is lighter and thinner than many others. But as said: it depends

 

[daveb]

On Watanabe's site he describes his sakekiri (salmon knife) as a "boat knife" - used by fishermen as a work knife. Perhaps it's just part of the aesthetics?

Or from the pic it looks like it could facilitate a pinch grip.

 

[RonB]

Bottle opener??

 

[Carl Kotte]

Bottle opener??

Almost every knife is a potential bottle opener.

 

[Barry's Knives]

Does anyone know why salmon knives are wider and thinner than normal debas anyway?

 

[Dendrobatez]

So a hammer doesn't damage the spine? Every old deba I've bought from Japan looks like the spine was used as the hammer...

 

[Barry's Knives]

So a hammer doesn't damage the spine? Every old deba I've bought from Japan looks like the spine was used as the hammer...

So people literally use a hammer on the spine to get through tough bone?

 

[SilverSwarfer]

I use finesse. Salmon bones a rather easy to zip through.
I always have the tail on my left, don’t flip the fish while I’m removing the spine: heel to tip for the top filet and tip to heel for the bottom. During the 2nd cut (tip to heel, the knife is at such an angle ~40deg that a “ramp” near the spine would be helpful when approaching the anal fin area. There’s a bit of cartilage and bone there that can snag your edge and stop a smooth cut.

maybe it’s a shape feature near the spine to help spread the flesh from bone? I’ve never seen such a knife.

 

[minibatataman]

Almost every knife is a potential bottle opener.

That's what the spine is for, it's the only way I open beers

 

[M1k3]

The description of it being a boat knife, makes me think the fishing boats have slots for knives and the bump would help protect the handle? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[stringer]

So people literally use a hammer on the spine to get through tough bone?

This is extremely common with cleavers, both Chinese and Western. I have purchased many vintage ones over the years with significant mallet/hammer damage on the spine. I've also watched the guys behind the fish counters at Asian groceries do it to remove fish heads. I've never seen a deba like that but it wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Dendrobatez]

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/223734512575

You can see the spine folding over (especially on the left face) from being wacked, this seems fairly common in old debas - it's fun to buy them cheap and refinish them.

 

[Barry's Knives]

This is extremely common with cleavers, both Chinese and Western. I have purchased many vintage ones over the years with significant mallet/hammer damage on the spine. I've also watched the guys behind the fish counters at Asian groceries do it to remove fish heads. I've never seen a deba like that but it wouldn't surprise me.

Cool, thanks for the info!