Review on GRANDSHARP Pro 6-Inch Utility Paring Knife: Damascus VG10 Blade for Precise Fruit Cutting, Kitchen Cutlery with Ergonomic G10 Black Handle - High Carbon Stainless Steel 67-Layer Chef Knife in Gift Box by Angie Cole

This is about my 40th kitchen knife and I bought it mainly as a joke to see if this new generation of Chinese made VG10/AUS-8 knives at low prices is worth anywhere is. That. Look, it's not terrible, it's cheap, and it's a beautiful form of Kiritsuke. Two immediately obvious signs of poor quality really bothered me: (1) "Damascus" is the worst of the most blatantly screened faux damasks I've ever seen. It's very faint live - on the male strip you see the light reflecting off you and you don't see the damask steel pattern at all. The photos here are misleading. You can even see the vertical line on the face of the blade just before the bolster where the shielding process stops - the damascus just artificially stops at the perfect vertical line. And, (2), just as noticeable as shielded damascus is the large number of horizontal scratches or end marks throughout the blade. If you look at the knife from a certain angle you will see this pattern of small scratches in the reflection/surface, not the damascus. Both give the knife a very cheap and cheap look. Another issue I had (3) was that upon closer inspection it turned out to be thicker than one would normally expect from a Japanese VG-10 knife (a style made in China). If you know the world of kitchen knives made in Japan, then this knife is slightly tapered and not very sharp. It sharpens super well if you know how to sharpen yourself, but stays pretty thick behind the edge. It will be strong, but it won't cut particularly well. What if you are unfamiliar with the world of quality kitchen knives? Well, I really think it's better than the Cuisinart, Kitchenaid, Chicago Cutlery knives that you can get for $10-20 at Target or Walmart, or the cheaper stuff at the department store. If you've used that, it's a definite step up and only $49. The problem is that you can buy Misono Molybdenum, Fujiwara FKM or Tojiro DP for around $70-80 and I know from experience that they all perform much better and are made to a higher quality. They don't stand out, but they are still the starting point for high-quality kitchen knives. If you want quality and great looks at the best price available, look for something from Miyabi, Shun, or Yaxell and you can get something in the $100-$150 range that fits both of those criteria. are a big step in the right direction and usually a good move to bring down the price of quality steels and interesting designs. Unfortunately the quality is not there yet. Even at $50 I would highly recommend someone to spend $70 on something better. Some of these new knives at Revain are in the $100-$120 range, cheating people just/far from what they cost. I hope the quality keeps moving in the right direction and maybe in 5-10 years you can buy a real quality knife for $50. But not yet.