this post was submitted on 23 Dec 2024
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As our resident knife expert, I was going to write a whole thing where I piss all over the quality and usability of this knife, but you know what? Given some of the dumb shit I own I don't think I have room to say anything.
(Seriously, though, don't buy this expecting to actually use it as a kitchen knife.)
Now I’m curious though, I know pretty much nothing about knives but considering the price and the fact that the company actually sells food I kind of expected this to be at least as good as an average kitchen knife (even though I’m sure most people are just buying it for collection purposes), what are the issues?
For a start, this costs even more than a Wusthof of equivalent size. So that's very silly. Buy a knife for using to use; buy a show-off decorative piece for showing off.
The hooks on the spine are going to make a bugger to clean and crud will get caught in the gaps constantly. The pointy ends on them will also be a mild hazard to the user at all times, especially if you're ever going to handle the knife by its spine.
The elephant in the room, though, is that unless my eyes are mistaken the surfaces of the blade are not flat. There's a visible stairstep in it at the composite joint between the edge and the body of the blade, which appears to be raised by a couple of mm. There's a reason kitchen knives have never been designed with fjords in them -- In addition to crap getting stuck in there it will also seriously impact the slicing performance of the knife. You're going to bonk this stairstep against whatever you cut with it, and the little nubbins on it will humpity-bump over things as you draw the knife down against the work, as well.
If it is designed how it appears, that is incredibly dumb. How awful this will be to use is kind of hard to put into words.
Judging from the promotional video the blade is flat, the step looks more like an optical illusion of the "damascus". Nothing to object on the price, if it could seem justified for a high-quality knife, I find it excessive for a wooden cutting board.
Just to dispel the illusion re: price for good, see my other comment here. Similar knives to this without the branding frippery (but still with the decorative pattern welded blade made of the same material) are worth about $70, retail.
This is undoubtedly a novelty piece, and not a high quality knife.
That's not to say "low quality" knives are necessarily useless. Many millions of people successfully cut food in their kitchens every day with dollar store level cutlery that would make any professional chef eat his toque before touching any of them. But that doesn't excuse this one costing $280, or having dumb design decisions baked right into it...
Oh but I agree that the price isn't right, even factoring in the 'specially made for Cover merchandise' can't justify a 4X increase.
On top of what was already said, the high rating on the hardness scale will make the edge prone to chipping. There's also the fancy pattern on the blade. It's alright if you want to buy a showpiece. If you want to buy an expensive knife, you're better off with a $200 Wusthof.
Wait, is being high on the hardness scale not a good thing?
(About the price sure, of course it's mainly meant to be a showpiece, I was just curious about the specifics in the remote scenario someone actually wanted to use it)
It's about balance. Not hard enough and the edge of the blade will bend and will need to be honned often. Too hard and the edge of the blade will chip and will need to be resharpened (or you straight up need a new knife if it's bad enough). Even just dropping the knife could result in a chipped edge if its too hard. However, some people prefer it since it won't lose its edge as fast.
Taken to the extreme, isn't this going to be the case for all merch? Even in cases where the product itself is good (and in this case it sounds like the council of knife experts is dubious), you're adding an extra party into the mix and they need their cut.
It'd usually be more "functionally" efficient for everyone but the merch manufacturers if we just bought a good hoodie / knife / etc and then gave some money directly to whoever we wanted to support. The biggest roadblock to achieving that goal seems to be a human psychology problem, where it's easier to justify wrapping that "donation" into the cost of a good than it is to separate the two.
There's a bit more to it than just that, of course - a random good quality tshirt isn't a direct replacement for one with, say, membership branding on it, but still.
Pattern welded VG-10 from China is not an expensive material, and altogether this is about a $50-70 knife prancing around with a $280 price tag on it. That's fine as far as a collectible goes, but from the standpoint of actual functionality it's pretty absurd in this case. Otherwise, you're looking at a 400% markup just for the branding.
For example, here's a similar VG-10 pattern welded chef's knife for $70. It's probably about the same quality as this one, minus a large part of the questionable design. (The pattern welded and acid etched finish is of course purely decorative even on the above, and serves no functional purpose.)
That was my point. This is obviously not meant to be used as an actual working kitchen knife, so purchasing it with that aim in mind is pretty silly. If you want to buy it as an objet d' art, that's different.
Sure, merch in itself is always going to be something more parties need to benefit from, the thing I always assumed is that stuff this pricey was going to be high-quality too, since that would be an excuse to inflate the price (and the profit margin too).