SAMCOOK Kiritsuke Chef Knife - 8 Inch Professional Sharp Damascus Knife - Japanese VG-10 High Carbon Stainless Steel Kitchen Gyuto knife - Ergonomic Black Sandalwood Handle with Gift Box

VERY SHARP. It's not just about appearance with this knife. I didn't expect it to slice straight through the Amazon packaging like that. That's good quality sharpness. Although, I'm aware that you can just buy a knife sharpener for knives, this knife itself boasts very precise sharpness right out of the package! No need to pre-sharpen the knife itself for the next week or two. So it's ready to chop at a much more accurate precision and degree without needing a pre-sharpen first.I am very impressed with the construction of the handle itself, it has a nice smooth feel and weight to it as you hold it. I can feel comfortability while slicing vegetables or meats with this knife.I don't know how long this will last but I'm hoping that it can outlast quite a while. It looks like it's a high grade knife for a reasonable price.

Pros:1. Great blade shape, length, and height2. Authentic eastern style handle with authentic blade weight balance (Black Sandalwood handle)3. Great value for the priceCons:1. It came somewhat dull, which required some after market sharpening (easy to fix)2. I'm not a huge fan of the mirror finish (cosmetic)3. The damascus etching seems a bit fake (cosmetic)With a tiny bit of sharpening this knife performs extremely well.Even though it's made in China, I would recommend this knife to anyone looking to get into using Japanese style knives and learning how to sharpen their own knives. It's insane (good) value for the price you pay. It's a good knife for anyone to learn on or use for everyday cooking and it's very affordable to replace if it was ever somehow stolen or broken beyond repair.---I don't know if it's actually VG-10, it doesn't have the same feel as my other VG-10 knives exactly but this knife does perform very well.This knife is extremely good at this price point. I bought one with an octagonal handle (Black Sandalwood) since it's the only one that seemed like a half-tang knife.The knife is balanced very well.The one I bought is blade-weighted meaning that the fulcrum is slightly more to the blade end. This is very good for when you use a pinch-grip with your thumb and finger on the sides of the blade and this is exactly the type of balance I would expect from a blade of this design.In comparison, most of the "Japanese" budget knives I've seen on amazon that look nice don't have the same balance as this one.The profile and shape of the knife is great. It's got a good height to it which I like a lot since my fingers are a bit long and have trouble fitting comfortably on more shallow knives.SharpnessThe blade was not very sharp out of the box, to my standards. To be clear I like my knives to be hair shaving razor sharp. Out of the box this knife bounced off of tomato skin, meaning that it wasn't able to cut through tomatoes super easily.To fix this I gave it a few passes on my 1,000 and 5,000 grit whetstones and a leather strop. It's now hair shaving razor sharp and performs extremely well, even when compared to my higher end knives in the $100-300 price range.

Very similar profile as the Bob Kramer knives made by Zwilling. The steel claims to be VG10 but mine is developing small pit marks that never happen on my Shun, Henkels or Zwilling knives so I the alloy is not a+ material. HOWEVER, it holds an edge pretty well and the balance feels great - and it's $40 vs $300-$400. At this price, I am not disappointed. Also, other "no name" knife brands have obnoxious/embarrassing looking logos stamped on them. This Samcook logo isn't awful and it's already half worn off from normal cleaning the knife with a nylon scrubbing sponge

The SAMCOOK 8 inch knife arrived quite sharp. The distance between the top of the bolster and the heel measures 2 7/16", which is greater than on many chef knives. Therefore, my knuckles don't knock against the cutting board when I'm chopping vegetables. I can't be certain that the blade is damascus VG-10 or just etching onto a less expensive stainless steel. Regardless, the knife handles well.My only complaints are that the rivets protrude very slightly, and there's a millimeter gap between the handle and the bolster. These don't affect the knife's handling, as the imperfect fittings are only noticeable when i rub my finger across the handle. If I use a pinch grip, I don't notice the imperfections at all.As another reviewer commented, the shape of this knife is similar to that of a Kramer Zwilling, which can cost many times as much. Reviewers have noted that there are occasional fit issues with that knife, too, so this knife is a great value.

It's a really beautiful knife. it was a gift for a Chef friend and I was impressed. The packaging was delicate and elegant.

I’ve used this knife for over a year now. Still has a sharp edge and build quality is great. I would definitely recommend. The metal seems high quality as well.

Great looking knife, razor sharp blade. I was worried that the handle would become slippery during use, but it has a great grip. The cost can’t be beat and allowed us to buy 36 of them for a company event.

Very pretty and sharp!