Which knife has surprised you most?

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Neofolis

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To maintain positivity we'll keep it to good surprises. So this could be in terms of performance to price ratio, great F&F, looking much better than it did in pictures, a knife that you were expecting to use occasionally, but find yourself reaching for all the time. It could be something that has changed the way you feel about knives like you enjoy a knife that's much heavier or lighter than you would usually prefer. Anything that has exceeded your expectations. Maybe a knife from a maker that you previously didn't rate too highly, a knife that holds it's edge longer than you expected, a knife that was surprisingly sharp OOTB. Anyway, you get the idea.

Sorry, if this has been done before.
 
1st knife I experienced that "holy **** that's sharp" moment was a Gesshin Ginga 150 mm stainless petty. Made a lot of Pico that day lol.

The Gesshin Uraku white #2 gyuto was my 1st carbon steel knife. It didnt exactly click when I 1st got it. Over time as I learned how to care for it and improved my sharpening its really come into its own.
 
On the cheaper end. The entry level Robert Herder paring knives. At the time I bought them they were still cheaper than now... <10 euros, and would cut better than anything 4 or 5 times the price. Handles are mundane and simple at best, but they're thin as hell, especially behind the edge, so it was my first ever 'laser' experience. They're still quite affordable, and are also available in a carbon option (all of mine are). Not the fanciest steel, and certainly not the fanciest handles, but they are very hard to beat.

https://media.knivesandtools.com/Ex...robert-herder-schilmes-rh1788325010002-01.jpg
More recently, the Robert Herder K6M surprised me. It's marketed as either a slicer, or a ham/filleting knife. Bought it on a really good sale for really cheap expecting it to just be a suji surrogate (at 230mm long), but due to its narrow profile (about 20mm) and light weight (about 100 gr) I found it far more useful than I expected it to be. Works surprisingly well for trimming larger cuts of meats, trimming silverskin and that sort of stuff. It's basically a do-all raw boneless meat expert. While not being perfect (I would LOVE a slightly shorter little brother to this guy), it did largely replaced the crappy fillet knives that I used to use in this role.
Bought it mostly because it was a really good deal for a carbon K-series Herder and because I was just curious about the somewhat odd profile - I can't really think of any knife with a similar profile in that length - but it's definitly here to stay.

https://media.knivesandtools.com/Exact1200x800/178671/rh9735198904$01-robert-herder.jpg
 
Wahnamhong said:
+1. The reason I didn't mention the Herders is because I wasn't surprised by them! My mom has been using Herders for decades so I grew up using them.
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Lucky you. I grew up with garbage knives in the house, so I basically had to waste like a hundred bucks buying a whole bunch of different paring knives to find one that didn't suck, and in the end found out that the cheapest option was the best. :D Still not 100% satisfied with the Herders. The handles are a bit anemic and in that regard something like a Wüsthof is better IMO, but the Herders just cut so much better... Can't be arsed spending another load of money to scratch that itch though, considering I'm not a big user of paring knives; if I peel stuff I normally use a speed peeler.
 
It's a nice and tempting suggestion - I love the looks - but I think it's too close to the K6 in length. Those 195 Kaeru slicers that JNS added recently (and that sold out in about 37 minutes) are probably what I'm going to end up with... or something like a proper thin 180 laser petty. It's just never very high on the priority list since I use something like that regularly, but not exactly daily.
 
I like the Hattori FH a lot. It was one of the first good knives I got and even now it's still one of my favourites. VG10 steel isn't the most popular but I've had a few different ones and this one seems different, it's easier to sharpen and seems to hold an edge for much longer than any other VG10 I've had. I know it ain't all that cheap but they seem to have been forgotten about
 
My biggest positive surprise was a 30€ Chinese Chefknife from Amazon
https://www.amazon.de/Deik-Damastme...=1&keywords=deik+messer&qid=1609331536&sr=8-5I bought it since my stationchef couldn't be trusted with knives other than German ones, so I bought it as a beater. Now I'm higher in the hierarchy and he learned not to touch my stuff I also use more expensive knives unless during evening service.
The knife came quite sharp ootb, is reasonably robust and cuts quite well. Also gets sreaming sharp with a honing steel and holds its edge reasonably long. I wouldn't use the knife for longer prep sessions though since although I eased the spine, it's not the most comfortable to work with for hours.
Now I just give it to trainees and apprentices.
 
Hitohira Kikuchiyo x Yohei 200mm ginsan gyuto, impulse buy that ended up showing me the practicality Of a smaller gyuto, a nicely done convex grind and ginsan steel, which I surely will buy more of.
It was also nice to jump off taller Gyutos and try one shorter, this one being 42mm tall.
 
Caidao / Sangdao / Kaukong.

Have a few different smarter knives, but don't use them anything like as much as my Chinese cleavers. My wife's the opposite though, so the posh ones certainly see a fair bit of action :)
 
+1 for Herder paring knives. We have a sheepsfoot one which tbh gets used for every utility task in the kitchen (and the rest of the house).

It's known as "the very useful knife". I will buy some more at some point.
 
for me it was my Doghouse Forge Banno Bunka. At first I didn't really love it. Stainless is hard to keep clean in that every little fingerprint shows. They rounded the tip when they sharpened it so it didn't match the website picture and overall it was just ok. The more I used it though I was impressed with the edge and then once I sharpened it I was blown away. It is my first AEB-L knife so I don't know if that is normal for this steel but it sharpened so fast and effortlessly that it completely changed my mind about the knife.
 
alterwisser said:
Uwe aka Suntravel, hands down best combination of FR and ease of cutting.

when Are we talking about the negative surprises? 😈😈😈
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Uwe's knives are great. Really enjoyed den Griechen but Kamons Prototype Hook-S-Grind is also great. Both great knives but in different directions.
 
Munetoshi Honyaki. F&F was much better than I expected, given the pretty low relative price for a Honyaki and the maker’s rep for a lower level of F&F. Very easy to keep sharp and very enjoyable to use.

Have 2 of those pallares solsona on the way so nice to hear the above comment.
 
Kaeru Kasumi Stainless Gyuto in 240. It is sharp as heck, holds an edge nicely and is of excellent fit and finish (albeit the spine isn't eased much if at all). The profile of the knife makes it a joy to use at every part of the blade.
 
Dalman 220 western honyaki. (Sorry, @Gregmega.)

When I first got it, I didn't know what to make of it. Weirdest OOTB experience ever. Wasn't sure I liked it at all. It's really thick and hefty feeling, with not much distal taper, except a bit at the tip. Profile was different than my usual. Bit flatter through most of the knife, but still with a bit of a curve. Very slight S grind. I was kind of annoyed when I got it that it didn't do stuff like horizontal onion cuts very well, because of the thicker tip.

But now that I've gotten used to it, it's really quite excellent. The weight distribution is perfect: I feel totally in control of the knife at all times. The profile's pretty great too. Maximizes the potential of the shorter edge length. And food release and separation are both quite good. With a little bit of technique and speed, even horizontal onion cuts are totally smooth and perfect.
 
Barry's Knives said:
pallares solsona paring knife - beautiful, sharp as hell carbon knife that you don't have to baby
munetoshi in general is excellent
surprised also, however, about the mediocre heat treat of kato blue 2
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I got a Pallares Solsana knife for Christmas (carbon, 160mm I think) and has very pleasantly surprised me so far :) Find myself going to it for all sorts of things.
 
Masakage Koishi nakiri - I'd wanted one of these for a while to round out my kit, but I never thought slicing onions would be so enjoyable. Definitely one of the more fun knives I have, and one that I reach for above others for veg prep at home.
 
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