The Great 2019 New knife shoot out!

[DicedZombies]

OK guys,

I received my new knives from Mark yesterday and promptly bought vegetables and such to try them compared to my existing knives to decide which ones I'm going to keep and which ones I'm going to sell.

Existing knives:

Makoto White #2 Santoku 170mm
Takeda Stanless Clad NAS Funayuki 180mm
Takeda Stainless Clad NAS Sasanoha 240mm
Shibata Kotetsu R-w Bunka 175mm
Shibata Kashima R-2 Gyuto 250mm

New Knives:

Makoto AS Ryusei Gyuto 240mm
Sakai White #2 Yanagiba 270mm

I compared them back-to back with the Gyuto's in one round, and everything else in another (the yanagiba being in a class by its own).

For the non-gwuto's, my favorite by far was the Makoto coming into this. It still is. But comparing the Takeda to the Shibata put the Shibata in third place. Although it was the sharpest, I liked the feel and communication of the the other two knives better.

When it came to the gyuto's, the new Makoto was everything I had hoped it would be. It was a rock star. If I could be in love with one knife, it would be the Makoto Gyuto in first and the Makoto Santoku in second. They just feel magical to me. The Shibata came in third place again. The Shibata is a great knife, it just doesn't have the personality that the Makoto and Takeda's do and that is important to me.

So, I'll probably be selling the Shibata's and each one has only been used 2 maybe 3 times. They just sit on my knife rack unused. For me, I will be adding more Makoto's to my collection!

[Bensbites]

Interesting! I keep wanting to add a makoto AS to my collection.

[DicedZombies]

Interesting! I keep wanting to add a makoto AS to my collection.

Honestly, if you took away all my other knives and only left me with my two Makoto's, I'd be totally fine with that.

They may not be the sharpest, the lightest, or other, but there is something special about them that I just love. Although I will say the AS does seem to be sharper than the white #2.

[Bensbites]

Interesting! I keep wanting to add a makoto AS to my collection.

Honestly, if you took away all my other knives and only left me with my two Makoto's, I'd be totally fine with that.

They may not be the sharpest, the lightest, or other, but there is something special about them that I just love. Although I will say the AS does seem to be sharper than the white #2.

I have a SG2 240, I love it, but I grab the Dao knives I have thinned more often.

[DicedZombies]

Interesting! I keep wanting to add a makoto AS to my collection.

Honestly, if you took away all my other knives and only left me with my two Makoto's, I'd be totally fine with that.

They may not be the sharpest, the lightest, or other, but there is something special about them that I just love. Although I will say the AS does seem to be sharper than the white #2.

I have a SG2 240, I love it, but I grab the Dao knives I have thinned more often.

I think that it's great that knives can have such a personal feel and synergy to them with the user that objectively there is no "best" knife. Again, objectively my Shibata was sharper than my Makoto Santoku. However I never reach for the Shibata and always choose the Makoto as to me and what I am looking for it is the more "preferable" knife (not better).

[Bensbites]

Honestly, if you took away all my other knives and only left me with my two Makoto's, I'd be totally fine with that.

They may not be the sharpest, the lightest, or other, but there is something special about them that I just love. Although I will say the AS does seem to be sharper than the white #2.

I have a SG2 240, I love it, but I grab the Dao knives I have thinned more often.

I think that it's great that knives can have such a personal feel and synergy to them with the user that objectively there is no "best" knife. Again, objectively my Shibata was sharper than my Makoto Santoku. However I never reach for the Shibata and always choose the Makoto as to me and what I am looking for it is the more "preferable" knife (not better).

I understand. I think at this level, so much is personal preference.

[Banzai_Burrito]

Which is the one at the very top with the round choil finger groove? That looks super cool

[DicedZombies]

Which is the one at the very top with the round choil finger groove? That looks super cool

The one at the very top left of the pic is the Makoto, the bottom left is the Shibata Bunka.

[Banzai_Burrito]

Cheers! They all look amazing

[Robstreperous]

Certainly great problems to have. I find myself moving back and forth among my Takedas, Shibata (soon to be plural), and Tsourkan. The driving factor for me tends to be profile lately i.e, how do I feel like cutting that particular day.

- The Tsourkan''s definitely the workhorse in my crew.
- The Shibata's the most fun. wave it in front of the food and watch it dice itself.
- The Takedas are hands down best at food release and at least with my medium bunka and sassanoha next knife up from the Shibata working in "laser like" capability --- which I really dig.

These are the ones I seem to reach for most frequently at the moment. I have others.

So I guess, if there' a point I'm trying to make here it's that for me, my preferred knife frequently depends on ... what day it is... as much as what I'm looking to cut.

[jbart65]

Shibata's the most fun. wave it in front of the food and watch it dice itself.

Hah! Made me laugh, Rob. My erstwhile Shibata AS is the best cutter I’ve used. period. Like the Borg. Resistance is, literally, futile.

[Banzai_Burrito]

Shibata's the most fun. wave it in front of the food and watch it dice itself.

Hah! Made me laugh, Rob. My erstwhile Shibata AS is the best cutter I’ve used. period. Like the Borg. Resistance is, literally, futile.