No idea about that one, but I like to plug these guys as much as I can. Made in the USA, high quality. It's my family's daily chef knife and has been flawless. https://virginiaboyskitchens.com/collections/chefs-knives/products/stainless-steel-chef-knife-8-inch-full-tang-wood-handle

I have a Miyabi with the birchwood handle. It's very nice, very sharp, but just know that you can't sharpen these on a pull through sharpener, you need to use a sharpening stone, of high enough quality not to ruin the knife, and there's a learning curve to using those, you need to practice on less good knives to get confident. Tbh I'm afraid to sharpen my Miyabi. It's also very brittle compared to European knives, so you have to take a good amount of care. I've never chipped mine but only because I'm very conscious about using it. They are brittle because the steel is much harder than European steel, meaning they can be sharpened finer and keep sharp longer, but they have less flex as a result. People often snap the very tip off, or worse, a chip along the length. I have a Victorinox chefs knife as a beater, and while I get pleasure from using the Miyabi, in terms of function, they aren't very different.

I always follow Bourdain’s recommendations in Kitchen Confidential. Bourdain’s knives #5-8

r/chefknives is a great place to find this out

Sur la table will sharpen for you too in case you are too nervous to use a stone yourself. Although a good skill to have

Agreed on the victorinix. Both knives will last a lifetime if maintained properly

I have a paring knife by them and it’s amazing. But I’ll admit I’m always worried about it. It’s beautiful and sharp but needs to be sharpened very carefully.

I received the Henkel 8 inch chef knife for Xmas, it’s really nice too!

I’ve had the Miyabi Artisan Chef’s knife for about 10 years, and probably use it daily/every other day. We love it!

I bought myself a Wüsthof chefs knife and pairing knife for around that price and they’re much easier to take care of than a knife like the one you’re looking at. They have a pretty classic look and they hold an edge well.

Global 8” knife that Bourdian recommended has been awesome for the ~12 years I’ve had it.

Holy shit why are they holding the food like that in their product photos?

Miyabis and shuns are extremely thin and have to be really taken care of otherwise they will chip. The steel they use to make these are more brittle than German steel knives. The brittler steel is useful since it can get much sharper and hold it's edge longer than a softer steel. But the tradeoff is the chipping

Henckels, wusthof, and other German steel will be more suited to a non professional cook. As they are thicker and made with softer steel so they will be more inclined to bend than chip if you happen to cut wrong. Once bent they can easily be honed back to shape with a honing steel

I was in Japan and bought a santoku knife. It’s so sharp the last time I used it I barely touched my skin with it and I got a terrible cut. So I’m too scared to use it now! So I use my dull old knife!!!!

Don’t own this but I’ve used it and it’s very nice! If you want one that can do a traditional pull through, we have a wusthof set and really like it.

Not sure if this is important to you but: Miyabi knives are made by the company that makes Henckels.

a sharp knife is a safe knife

What kind if a chef is your father? The overwhelming majority of even enthusiast chefs do not need anything but a victorinox fibrox 8" chefs knife. It is high quality, stays sharp, and is easy to keep sharp and care for. Anything else is really overkill.

Second the brittleness point. I dropped a chefs knife of similar make from counter-height and it snapped like 2 inches down from the tip.

I'm not sure any knives of this style can be BIFL. Just because they are designed to be thin and light.

Something like a cleaver can be because it's a hefty hunk of metal.

I think they are pretty nice for sure, but for that money you can get a better steel from another Japanese knife. I would suggest going to Carbon Knife Company's site or Japanny or Japanese Knife Imports, Knifewear and looking at anything in Blue #2/#1 Aogami Super or White that is in the same price range and trust me, any will objectively out perform FC61.

These are pretty decent knives, don't get me wrong. However, blue #2 is so much better. These Miyabi knives are mass produced in a factory and are a likeness of a fine quality hand forged Japanese knife.

Dropping any knife from counter height will potentially ruin it, whether the most expensive Yoshihiro Custom Kiritsuki, a KitchenAid WalMart Special, or a Benchmade pigsticker. Dropping ruins knives. Absolutely these Miyabi knives can be BIFL if properly cared for and maintained.

I have the Miyabi Birchwood handle knife as well - the 8" SG2 Chef's Knife. I've also had a few Shun and some high end Henkel. For me the Miyabi is the best knife I have ever owned in terms of holding an edge, lightweight, and usability. I know a few have remarked about them being brittle or hard to sharpen - They probably know what they are talking about, but I can simply say this. I've used this knife daily for the past five years and its still as sharp as a razor with only a few swipes of the Henkel sharping rod before each use.

Lol those are definitely some “only three easy payment of $19.95,” late night infomercial knives!

Not for people who don’t know how to protect their fingers and hold food down correctly

I have a couple of them and I love em, but they definitely don't wear like a German knife. It's noticably sharper than our sharpest German knife, but over time they've developed a series of small nicks along the blade. These are still our go-to knives, but when we're cutting something particularly tough where we want to put one hand on top of the blade, we pull out the German knives. The blade is thicker so you can comfortably put a hand on the back... so these knives are not a do-anything knife and you need to be ok with the inevitable chips.

Any knife will cut. Any car will transport. Whether a more expensive knife or a more expensive car is worth it is down to personal preference. You know your dad better than anyone here.

It's a handsome knife and is sure to do its job.

I have this knife, they go on sale like this around this time of the year. One year we’ve had it and so far a few small chips in the knife. I bought mine from a store and they sharpen it for free.

Damascus steel is a fucking nightmare.

It looks cool. No argument there.

However, it doesn't hold an edge as well as carbon or stainless steel, dulls and rusts very easily and requires a lot of babysitting to remain pristine.

My personal suggestion is a Victorinox chef knife. Bought one like 2 years ago and it's a great workhorse. A simple, heavy, sharp chef knife that gets the job done, resistant to everything, that requires hand washing and that's that.

>I have a Victorinox chefs knife as a beater, and while I get pleasure from using the Miyabi, in terms of function, they aren't very different.

Victorinox enjoyer here as well. It's big, it's heavy, it's sharp and goes thru stuff like it's hot butter.

Damascus steel has nothing to do with edge retention. You can have fully stainless, or fully reactive (carbon steel) Damascus. Vg10 (this knife) is a stainless with pretty good edge retention, but not my favorite steel.

Damascus is just a way of folding the steel and then using acid to etch out the various layers though, has nothing to do with what type of steel it is or how the knife performs, purely cosmetic.

Honestly, I would go to a website like carbonknifeco.com or chefknifestogo.com (not affiliated with either, just trust them both, though I prefer carbonknifeco's selections) and look at their knifes. You can get a lot more bang for your buck with Japanese none brand name knifes. A great knife line for the price is the masakage mizu line, excellent bang for buck, plus the knifes are made by one of the best smiths in the world and sharpened by arguably the best knife sharpener in the world.

I bought a Shun paring blonde a few months ago and its amazing however, as soon as I'm done using it I clean it off with warm water and throw it back in the block. I use it exclusively for breaking down vegetables and trimming meat on a bamboo board.

I will say that the Victorinox 8" Chef's Knife is my go to for most prep and I sharpen it roughly every two weeks or more frequently depending on the meals.

Thank you for the link. I miss Tony, read his quotes hearing his voice in my head. 🙏

I prefer a 'classic ' handle for most tasks. Wustöf, Henkel (easy pick) are great. My Global is rad, but the taper makes me use it less.

My former neighbor was a chef and he convinced me to buy a Mac chefs knife. It holds its edge beautifully and has been a workhorse for me. Highly recommend it

would never buy a Zwilling Myabi "japanese" knive, buy an authentic one, maybe head to japanesechefsknive and get you one. They have authentic brands that have some authentic family craftsmenship/blacksmiths

• speaking from experience, girlfriend had the zwilling myabi collection, worst shit ever moneywise

What, you don't like cramp in your pinky?

Basically 3 ways to go about it.

Find a local place that can keep it sharp for you.

Buy some sharpening stones and get good at sharpening freehand.

Buy a sharpening system. Guided stones are the best, but a belt system can work too if you’re good with your hands. (Still going to be around $100 at least for either type, but a good option if you want to consistently and quickly sharpen a bunch of knives)

Pretty much any knife of a reasonable quality, even pretty cheap knives, as long as they aren't made of cheese, will last a lifetime if maintained properly.

The key is maintaining it. Most people replace knives precisely because they don't have the time or are willing to put the effort it to maintain it.

There are also many people who find old, rusted knives and are able to restore them with a little patience.

As a cook, i use Misono UX10 knife every day for years and are amazing.

Seems like a waste of money unless your dad is a really good cook, and would actually appreciate the quality and take proper care of it.

E.g. you still have to sharpen it occasionaly, and if you don't know how you will ruin it...

I have chipped mine sadly, but at least it’s near the handle. Be careful with the blade. I am meticulous with care, but it happened nonetheless.

I love my Shun chef knife in a collection of Wusthof, but it chips because I clearly don’t take perfect care of it. It’s an amazing knife but I can only handle one, because it requires 10x the attention of the others.

Check and see if you can buy straight from the manufacturer. Third party retailers rarely sell it cheaper in my experience.

Do you have to have a sur la table knife for them to sharpen it?

No, just $5 per knife per their site.

They just dont do damaged or ceramic knives or shears

Miyabi artisan is a great pick! You’ll thank yourself after getting your dad one bcus he’ll probably chef up more meals! It really does make a difference in how easy it is to cook

I agree but with a caveat. Metal does fatigue over time so while a cheaper knife can last with proper maintenance it wont be able to hold up to better grade steel in a marathon. I have lower, mid, and high tier and you easily can tell with them where the quality is in how they keep an edge. I use the same level of care for each.

Hey OP, you chose a really nice knife there and I'm sure your dad would love it. But keep in mind that it'll need more/different maintenance vs other knives. If I could make a recommendation, check out Tojiro knives. They use a cobalt alloy steel split and while they get fantastically sharp you can also beat on them when you need to without worry. They make them in both western and Japanese style handles.

The rat tail tang scares me as much using a Forshner

I am loving the down-home, made locally in the South, red white and blue everywhere marketing of a company founded by an American born to Dutch & Iranian parents who studied abroad in Rotterdam and got married on the French Riviera.

I also don't see a knife factory in their hometown, believe it or not Virginia Boys LLC, Virginia Boys Kitchens, Corporate Expansion Organizers International, Influxion Point, and Arousing Appetites are all simply registered to a $7million dollar house in Virginia.

Support local amirite?

How do you sharpen your victorinox?

damn that sucks, you might be right. I see zero production photos or anything of the sort.

A little bit of superstition: a knife presented as a gift will sever the friendship between the giver and the recipient. The only way around this is to attach a penny (or a coin of symbolic value) to the knife. The coin must be promptly removed and returned to the giver as a form of symbolic payment.

You can't ask worth on the internet ever. Worth speaks to how much you make vs. how much an item is and a relative knowledge of the amount one should spend on an item. We know none of that. If you like and can afford the knife and dad wants it and can use it, get it. I can list 30 knives that are cheaper and the same quality and 300 that are more expensive and the same quality.

Stay away from anything damascus. It looks great at the cost of steel quality.

Yes that's absolutely true. Then there is the trade-off with how easy they are to sharpen as well. Some of the higher quality steels may keep an edge fantastically well but sharpening them correctly may well need more skill or experience. Also I have found, sometimes cost and quality are not the same thing.

For something like this, I would ask him about it first, or at least make sure the knife can be returned or exchanged. Or take him with you to the store so he can try out the feel of it. Possibly the most important element of a knife is the handle. It doesn't matter how good the steel is or how sharp it is if the knife just isn't comfortable to hold in your hand and you don't want to just it as a result.