Pure Komachi

This is not an expensive knife. You wouldn't confuse this with a $100 knife, but this knife surprised me with its quality. It is beautiful, functional, well designed, well made, and it 'feels right.' It is a Kai 'Pure Komachi' knife and Kai knives are reported to be very popular in Japan. Kai knives are usually manufactured in Japan, but this knife was manufactured by Kai, in China. Kai makes both Stamped knives and Forged knives and they also make a whole range of very expensive but very well respected professional knives.A quick test that I perform on my knives, is to see how well they shave the hair on my arms. Some blades are never sharp enough. Some will shave, but only with extra pressure. This shaved extremely easily and smoothly. Very nice. Then, later, in using it, it quickly became clear that this is not only the sharpest knife I own, it is possibly the sharpest knife I have EVER owned. And I own a lot of knives!Being a Japanese style, the blade is thin and strong and high quality. It is a stamped blade, but that helps it to be thin enough to slide easily through vegetables. The edge is sharpened to a 16 degree angle, which is a traditional Japanese angle, and this might explain the difficulty that some people have when they have tried to sharpen this. Most 'mechanical sharpeners' are set at a 22 or 24 degree angle, which is not right for these. And most instruction videos for using a sharpening steel will also teach you to use a 22 to 23 degree angle, and that is not going to be efficient for this knife. You are going to sharpen them best by learning Japanese sharpening techniques and using a whetstone. Learning how to use a good quality honing rod (sharpening steel) at the proper angle will help keep them sharp, too. If you learn to use a sharpening rod and can train yourself to use it at the 16 degree angle, then, to keep it super sharp, you only need a few passes of the blade on the sharpening steel every week or so. Learning to use a honing rod is something I highly recommend. You can buy them inexpensively, but once you learn to use it correctly, you can keep ALL your knives sharp and it is very easy to use. (I do have to admit that I had to practice for several months before I got very good at it. I bought jeweler's loupe's to look at the edge, and other things. Family made fun of me for having knives on my lap and a honing rod in my hand to sharpen them while we watched TV. I don't think the instruction videos online do a good job teaching honing rod use. First, there are probably at least 8 different ways you can hold the rod and move the knife, and different people all use different techniques. Second, you need to figure out how to hold the knife at various angles on the rod, and then learn what it feels like when you finally start hitting the proper edge angle. That is the key.)I have read in 2 or 3 places that the steel in this knife is 420J2, though I am unable to verify this from the manufacturer. 420J2 is very durable and is reported to have excellent hardening characteristics and to sharpen very well. Wikipedia says 420J2 reaches a Rockwell Hardness of approximately 57. In addition, 420J2 is also one of the most corrosion resistant steels, especially in salt water, and it is also commonly used in high end razor blades and in surgical scalpels.Someone commented that they prefer their ceramic knives. Well, I have half a dozen ceramic kitchen knives, including chef's knives in this size, and I like them a lot. But this knife surpasses all of them. If you ever get a ceramic knife, you will notice that, even with the most careful use, the edge soon starts to break and develops scallops and divots, since the ceramic knife is hard, but quite brittle, and also not very strong. That is okay. I got a diamond electric knife sharpener and then a ceramic honing steel and a diamond honing steel and I keep them very sharp. But I am convinced that this is a significantly better overall blade.You would have difficulty beating this knife at this price, especially if you want a double beveled Japanese knife. If you are interested then don't hesitate to buy it. And keep the information on hand. I think you will be wanting more. They make great gifts for anyone you know who likes to cook. At this price I couldn't resist and I already bought a half dozen more to give as gifts.

I’ve purchased several different Kai knives and they’ve all been great ! They’re easy to handle and keep a nice sharp edge.

Fantastic knives!!!

I love this knife, great price, lovely dark navy blue, super sharp and quite strong. I bought this to replace a ceramic knife that cracked on the first use, and this lovely piece of sharpened metal is a fitting replacement for many a dull blade. It's been washed many times, used to chop meat, veggies hard and soft, and even slice though bones... it's good. Color is still unscathed and the blade is nice and strong and easy to touch up with a quick pass over a sharpener. The shape and length are great for chopping most anything, and I love the way it slices through ripe tomatoes and frozen sweet potatoes with equal ease.

Sharp, east to clean. I plan to purchase more of these

Apparently I've had this knife for three years, but honestly I feel like I've had this knife my whole life. It's the perfect size, shape, and weight. I dream about this knife, it has a hold on me. I've touched many knives, and still no others can satisfy me. This knife gives me hope for the future, and I am just a simp for its power. I swear to gourd it has changed my life and it will change yours, too.

Had one for a long time and replaced it with this one.

Sharp and cool