Serrated knives do wonderfully with tomatoes.
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I bought this Rada tomato slicer 4 years ago, on recommendation from the old Chowhound boards. The blade is about 5”. One of the best $10 purchases I ever made on kitchen stuff.
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Another American Made classic, Rada are made in Iowa. A mennonite store by me sells them. Impressive quality for the $.
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Yes to Rada. All of my little knives are now Radas. I love the shapes - they work perfectly for me. Other peoples’ mileage may vary, but I love mine. Great stocking stuffers (remember to wrap carefully 
they are sharp …)
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My mother-in-law has a few of their knives. They are very nice.
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And a bargain!
For regular horizontal slices, especially.
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Have you tried the DuoGlide from Dexter?
DUOGLIDE® – Dexter-Russell (dexter1818.com)
No. Too spendy, and I don’t think I’ll like the handle/blade juxtaposition. I just love their boring, but comfortable, white handle jobs. I still don’t have any of their basic chef’s knives, so I would get one of those next.
Takamura knives are a dream for the money.
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I’m definitely into knives and have about 40-50 kitchen knives in my portfolio so to speak.
To my surprise, I dislike the much beloved Wa handle design, it seems like an unfinished design to me.
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I agree to a certain point.
Western handles do seems more like a “tool” but wa handles do makes sense on very light knives where a western handle would make the knife too handle heavy.
Your grip also has a lot to say…using hammergrip on wa handle makes it feel really wrong. Use a pinch grip and they tend to shine.
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I use a pinch grip on all my larger knives, no matter the grip shape.
I’ve never used anything but the pinch grip since I started my knife journey 8-9 years ago.
You get a superior control with the pinch grip, no matter the knife or the balance of the knife.
Only reason I don’t use a pinch grip on my smaller sized knives is because my knuckles can’t clear the cutting board and will scrape on it as I cut with the knife.
The thing that makes Wa handles annoy me design wise is because I look at a Wa handle as I would do a golf club without a ferrule bwteen the shaft and the club head.
The point where the blade goes into the Wa handle looks unfinished to me, as a golf club shaft connected to a club head, but without the ferrule.
I have knives with very different balance points and it doesn’t bother me if this balance shifts from knife to knife, I simply just adapt to it.
Yeah, but if you get into a knife fight?
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I recently acquired a Zwilling chef knife about 50-60 years old with a 14” blade. The handle is proportionally larger than German chef knives of the same era with more common 9-10” blades. I can imagine a person with small or medium hands not liking the handle size of the 24” version; but it would matter less if the user doesn’t hold the entire length of handle while cutting.
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I do agree that wa handles is very simple. Almost on the edge of “underconstructed”
I also preferred western handles. But when knives went from tools to become a hobby. The selection of nice blades with western handles was simply too narrow. Especially carbon knives with western handles was hard to find(easier today)
Over time I leaned to enjoy using wa handles too. What i choose depends on the task the knife is used for.
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Underhand, diagonal across the palm, thumb on top. Keep it low and toward your hip.
Not a professional chef, but have worked happily in restaurant kitchens.
I’ve over the years really liked a fancy 10” carbon steel knife (too much maintenance required), a 10” restaurant supply chef knife, and others, purchased mostly because someone or other recommended them highly. At the moment, I’m really enjoying using this one:
https://store.177milkstreet.com/collections/knives/products/milk-street-nakiri
I find the main spokesperson for the company that sells the knife annoying, because he says repetitively that he is going to change the way I cook, which sounds arrogant and is irritating. Nevertheless, that Nakiri knife is a pleasure to use - quite the all-purpose knife.
I’ve never spent a huge sum on a knife - just look for a full tang solidly attached to the handle in a few places, if possible, check the balance and the blade qualities. I put them in the dishwasher if I want to, regardless of what anyone says, hand wash and dry most of the time, and store them on a magnetic bar out of reach of small children.
… and keep your hands in.
How many of these 40-50 knives have been used? I think I have closed to 40-50 knives too, but I would half of them have not been used.
“To my surprise, I dislike the much beloved Wa handle design, it seems like an unfinished design to me.” – I like the Wa handle. However, I am not surprised that many people do not like it. Afterall, it is still not the most dominant handle design.
On a different subtopic.
I have a tendancy liking wood handle. When I was shopping for a Watanabe knife, all he got in stock were the plastic handle knives, so I specifically ask if he can make a wood one for me.
Even for cookware, I prefer a metal handle or a wood handle.
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