Dalstrong Kiritsuke Chef Knife - 8.5 inch - Gladiator Series Elite - Forged German High Carbon German Steel - Full Tang Kitchen Knife - Black G10 Handle - w/Sheath - Chef's Knife - NSF Certified

This is my second Dalstrong Gladiator series knife, and man do I really love this set.- First, these are just absolutely beautiful knives.- Very nice finish on the knife. Polished High Carbon Steel- Beautiful handle and tang- Very comfortable to handle and use- Craftsmanship is very good, arguably some of the best knives I have ever owned, and the prices weren't nearly as insane as some of the others I have looked at.12" Slicing Knife - this was my first Dalstrong Gladiator blade. I specifically picked up this slicer for use on Brisket and it works amazingly well for that purposes. However, it was too long for some of my other needs like slicing Tri-tip.10.5" Yanagiba Knife - this was my second Dalstrong Gladiator blade, and I love it just as much as I did the first one. It's much easier to use on smaller cuts of meat like the Tri-tip. The slices are always smooth and even. There's a lot of heft to this blade so it cuts very easily, and is every bit as beautiful as the 12" slicer.I prefer the nice clean look of the gladiator series over some of the other Dalstrong knives which seem to distract from the craftsmanship with lots of fancy trappings like Damascus. While Damascus looks pretty its much easier to hide imperfections in the Damascus blades. But a flat polished steel blade will show absolutely everything and is one of the reasons I prefer the Gladiator series over some of the others (though admittedly they're all beautiful blades).If you are interested in one of the Dalstrong knives/series I highly recommend them. I generally try to find good quality kinves that are affordable. Previously one of my top picks were Chicago Cutlery, but I find that the Dalstrong knives are just simply better quality and they also generally have a much better selection of knife styles as well. You may be able to find a better quality knife, but I suspect in order to do so you will end up paying 2-3x as much before you find anything that might even be considered better and it will likely only be slightly better even then. Anyways... if you're considering these knives by all means jump right in and pick one up. You absolutely will not be disappointed.

So, I have used this knife for a few weeks now. A few pointers, this is German steel at RH of around 55. It means it will not hold edge as well as Dalstrongs Phantom or Shogun series blades that use harder Japanese steel (RC 58 and 62 respectively) but this is easier to maintain on a rod if you prefer that to wetstone sharpening. a few passes on a rod and its back to like new sharpness for your next escapade in the kitchen. speaking of sharpness, Dalstrong overhypes their out of box sharpness. I wouldn't call it incredibly razor sharp, its sharp enough to pass the paper test, but not quite shave hairs off your arm. A few passes on a wetstone or strop will fix that right up though. Otherwise the fit and finish of this knife is very good, and the steel quality seems right up there with the big boys in german steel. I especially like the shape and size of this blade, I its a very fun knife profile to use. I especially enjoy using this knife on proteins like chicken and steak. Dalstrong cutomer service is also top notch, so you are protected for the life of the blade. I heartily Recommend this series if you prefer German steel knives. I'm more of a Japanese steel guy, I like sharpening to scary sharp edges on wetstones, so I will more likely be getting phantom or shogun going forward.

I was very impressed. It sliced like butter!!! Good weight, balanced, and SHARP!

The knife was really good to be honest, some people might not like the weight since it's kinda heavy and because of the size its like you are holding a hunting knif, for now i can see that the edge can hold quite well. Now, from my own preference, the knife is really thick so it makes cutting things finely thin a bit hard if you are not skillful enough. The flat belly is, for the most part, is good for push cut and tap chop but what i dont like is that it is now fully flat all the way to the bolster, near the bolster of my knife i can see a section that looks like it'd been sharpenned a liitle bit too much and made a strange tiny curve that ruined the flat profile and when i try cutting bell pepper i find that the edge did not catch on the skin of the bell pepper easily but it slides through the flesh part like gliding through air. Also, not very ideal for splitting tough plant roots, not because of the sharpness but because the edge is thick, harder to cut thru and might slam on the cutting board when you try to force it through the root. Overall, good knife, worth your money, has some minor flaws but not that severe.P/s: Dalstrong, guys, for such a good knife and sheath you guys make the worst pin ever, the needle falls right off when i try to pin it to my bag. At least it has collectible value.

Overall this is a excellent knife for the price. I work in a kitchen and have handled and own some top of the line knives. While those knives are incredible, they are likely out of the price range of most home cooks. The handle on this knife is very nice, it came sharp enough to shave out of box and the sheath was good for easy storage. The biggest downside for this knife was the steel. The knife felt a tad heavy in the hand and the hardness of 56 Rockwell on this knife would probably fall in the good not great range. Lower hardness basically means the knife will dull faster. This definitely came to fruition as after moderate use the knife had dulled considerably. However the knife was very easy to sharpen and quickly returned to out of box sharpness if not sharper. Overall I would definitely recommend this knife if you willing to sharpen it once or twice a year. If you are unwilling to sharpen your knives then I would probably recommend you pay for a knife in the 60+ Rockwell range as it will be able to hold its sharpness for a few years under home kitchen use and then pay a professional to sharpen it every few years.