We clearly have common roots, Greg
Hey, my knife has a great pedigree! Don’t hurt its feelings!
;0)
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I don’t care if I end up driving a Bentley. There will be a vice grips, tin snips and chainsaw wrench, with file, in the side pockets.
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One of the most memorable gifts received was a basic Leatherman. I’m not much of a survivalist but the usefulness of that Leatherman would have extended my misery for a few days at least.
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Leathermans/Leathermen? are well-made. So, here’s how it works in Greg’s world. Buy a nice Leatherman, then find two cheapos, lose Leatherman, still have cheapos years later. Pocket knives, anything like that, I lose the Buck and keep the Barlow.
I STILL HAVE that Chicago set from my wedding 30+ years ago. You know what? If you actually get them sharpened, they are perfectly fine knives. They’re decent steel, they don’t crack or chip under normal use. If they have one glaring fault, it’s that they have wooden handles, i.e. the REAL reason you don’t wanna put your knives in the dishwasher. The detergent and high heat drying will dry out and damage the wood. And unlike some fancy custom knife, it’s just not worth repairing.
Like most folks, for years I thought the honing steel was ‘sharpening’, and, like most folks, just got used to using dull knives. Then I took them to a place and they got new edges. And holy crap! And then I got a sharpener and use it from time to time. And those knives still cut things and are still comfortable and in use.
Do you need all of them? no. Chef’s knife, bread knife, paring/petit knife. IF you wanna extend and you’d use them, good kitchen shears and a filet/boning knife. IF you do enough of that sort of thing to use it.
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I had that set for years; or similar. Learn to sharpen, they’re ok. Once I tried a Kiwi, and realized they weren’t for the fruit. Holy hell! I flipped my script. That, and the cheap cleaver that came with the olde school wok set, which was a helluva deal I didn’t appreciate at the time. I went from Chicago to Asia quickly.
Looking back over this thread, I feel prompted to add a thought. Whatever knife you get, assuming you keep it sharpened, using it for a long time may be of more use than picking a specific knife in the first place. You will acclimate to any knife’s peculiarities and soon find yourself using that knife optimally, producing great and consistent results, whether it is a knock off you got at Target for $15 or a hallowed knife costing many multiples of that. Muscle memory is worth more than knife pedigree to me.
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Great point, and one that i feel keeps me coming back to the same kinds of knives.
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Funny story… back in my youth when I was a struggling college student, I would work odd jobs. One job was for a concession company spinning/selling cotton candy at carnivals (it was a horrible and messy job). One festival the barker in the next both was selling these “Ginsu” knock-off knives. At the end of the day, the knife guy hadn’t sold much inventory and needed gas money to get home. After bugging me for 10-15 minutes, I broke down and bought one of his knives for $5 (just so he could get some gas to get home). That cheap plastic handle knife has lasted me for 38 years. It’s not my everyday knife, just one I use for cutting frozen meats and other hard items. I’ve never sharpened it, but to this day… it still cuts.
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My folks had one of those.
