Even sorta chef approved!
My daughter was over a little after I bought this set. I was washing the chefs knife and about to start prepping some veggies. My daughter who is a chef at a fine restaurant was sitting across from me. She noticed a "schwing" type sound as I was wiping the chefs knife. "Did you finally get some good knives? I noticed the knife block." She is a bit of a knife snob. (My Chicago knife set she called Walmart junk). I told her about the Cangshan knives I found at Amazon as her gaze locked on to the chefs knife, and she perked up as she walked around the counter. She owns a super expensive set of knives ranging from Henkels to Wilhelms that she totes in a leather case for work. I handed her the chefs knife. I told her how much we love them already, although we have only used them once or twice so far. My daughter asked to help prep and I glanced at her as she julianed and diced away. Watching her in the kitchen is like watching a world class ballerina. "Nice knives huh?" She remained silent as she put the knife through its paces. I watched her bend the tip of the chefs knife against the cutting board to see if it would give. I watched her dry off the knife and inspect the seam where the blade meets the handle. She walked over to the knife block and pulled out the other knifes and examined them. "These can never see a dishwasher you know.. you paid $150 for all 5???" "Yeah I got them on Amazon". "Where did you hear about these... Cangshan is it?" She squinted her eyes to see the insignia on the knife block. "I just read a lot of reviews" I said matter of factly. She studied the chefs knife again. I couldn't help but notice she looked rather perplexed... the wheels were turning in her head but she wasn't going to give me too much...she never did. "I could actually use that chefs knife for work. It's really sharp and feels good...If it holds an edge...I doubt it will." I knew the knives had impressed her as much as it did my wife and I. "You should get those for home." She just kinda shrugged her shoulders. A couple of days later she called with me on speakerphone "Hey I'm here with a couple of the sous chefs... What's the name of those knives?" I was confused "What, the ones I got on Amazon?" "Yeah, hey can you send me the Amazon link of the ones you bought...Can you get them without the block or buy them separate? Did the come in a sheeth or box?"Although she never directly said I made a good purchase I can read between the lines... papa stumbled on to something magnificent. We still love and I mean LOVE these knives and my chef daughter may be impressed... sort of... she hasn't bought any for her home yet.Just an FYI- I have owned Chicago Cutlery knives but in my opinion I have never owned real knives until these. These things are so sharp they are scary. I have already cut myself from a half second of carelessness. I am programming myself to think of these as razor blades so I can be extra cautious. I have seen people dice things by rolling the knife but never could get it. I thought it was the motion but now I know...I didn't have a real knife. My daughter tried telling me that but now I get it. I can dice by rolling the chefs knife no problem. I cut an orange...effortless...halfed a sandwich- it was perfect and didn't smash the sandwich. These knives are just a joy to use and they are absolutely flawless to look at.7 yr update- The pictures are after 7+ years of use. Not on an ounce of rust, no wear to handles, no chips to blades, and blades hold an edge. They just show general wear as you would expect. The knife block is still holding up too.(Just don't put a wet knife in a knife block because you are basically trying to crack the block and make rust).These are extraordinary compared to old knife sets I have used but have never owned a thousand dollar set either. I try to take care of them, dry them well and never use dishwasher though. The only couple of "draw backs" I can think of is these knifes have drawn blood many times now. The other draw back is I want to buy some more but can't because they keep lasting. My daughter and I have recommended these to soooo many people. Cannot believe they haven't doubled in price in 7+ years. Still highly recommend.