Simply exceptional, Dalstrong is my new kitchen favorite!
I was looking for a high quality paring knife when I came across the Dalstrong Shogun Series line. Seeing all the 5-star rave reviews of their other products and the detail provided on their website, I decided to pull the trigger.When the box arrived I was blown away by the packaging, you can tell the company really cares about the quality, craftsmanship and detail of its knives as illustrated by the presentation alone. Simply prenominal. These are PERFECT for gift giving and give the impression of something many many times more expensive. I especially liked the included items inside, such as the keychain and booklet.Ok, so the knife itself: As stated in the title, it is simply exceptional. It is unbelievably sharp out of the box, with a beautiful finish, engravings on the blade and on the rear of the handle. It’s forged with 66 layers surrounding the core with a beautiful pattern Dalstrong call’s “Tsunami Rose” that looks stunning. It is a real head turner in the kitchen.The handle is made of G10 which apparently is an incredibly tough material used by the military and designed for adverse conditions (aka me trying to cook in my kitchen). It provides a firm, solid grip. Full tang, triple riveted, highly polished and smooth, it just looks exceptionally well put together.The knife feels great to hold, solid, beautiful, and razor sharp. I’ve used it for a variety of tasks including peeling potatoes, cutting chives and tried my hand at some citrus garnishing (don’t ask how it looked though). I just love it, it is so dang sharp and effective. I only wish it had a sheath like the larger chef knife.Compared to other knives I’ve tried, including high end Shun’s and Henckels, the Dalstrong is a ‘cut above’ in terms of value, presentation and form. I don’t know how they do it but these other companies need to step up their game. Overall if you are in the market (or if looking for a gift) you CANNOT go wrong with this. It is exceptional in every way, and given how much a paring knife is used in the kitchen (all the time!), worth every penny (and then some!). Bravo Dalstrong, I can’t wait to use some of their other knives as well!I will update this as I use it over time and add some better in process pictures (hard to take pictures while cooking and being safe!)
✔ Verified Purchase
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Arick P. Sabin
September 08, 2016
good choice for a "buy it for life" knife
I purchased this knife as an anniversary gift for my wife. While hard to shop for, I got the idea that giving her a decent all-around kitchen knife would be a good move, since she does a considerable amount of cooking, and moreover does a tremendous amount of produce preparation for canning/pickling during the harvest season. Our former kitchen knives were of average quality, wedding gifts from Target, that did not have very good edge retention. Plus, after a decade of pounding they are beginning to rust, despite reasonable care.I’m not a fully-apprenticed French sous-chef or anything, so I neither demand nor expect premier quality in my kitchen tools; functionally average tools did the job for a decade. However, in conjuring a gift idea, I decided to make the move to “buy it for life” kitchen wares, as eating things will likely figure largely into the remainder of my lifespan, and I’m a sucker for well-made things that exude the fineness in craftsmanship missing from most mass-produced, discardable, latter-day wares.In researching kitchen knives, I quickly discovered that fetish and professional preference figure largely into one’s “choice” for brand. Moreover, the idiosyncrasies of blade geometry, steel composition, and intended use needed to be accounted for. Figuring this all out became somewhat time consuming, albeit interesting. Several videos on Japanese knife manufacture caught my attention, and I went from there. Through Amazon, I narrowed down a list of reasonable choices by brand. Major criteria were reputation, price, and edge retention.Admittedly, I didn’t buy 5 knives and return 4 once I had found “the one”. Based on an amalgam of Amazon reviews, and reviews culled form elsewhere on the internet, I felt very comfortable giving Dalstrong a try. I chose to go with the paring knife first, as I felt it would be the most useful based on my wife’s kitchen knifing habits.It was delivered quickly, packaged well, and contained many “bonus” goodies in the box, which was neat. As for the knife itself, I found it to appear well made, and was balanced well. I slaughtered some cucumbers with it, and spent some time chopping them in various ways to get a feel for it. No question, extremely sharp! The balance felt good. Overall aesthetic is appealing. Sitting on the counter, it looks like a well-made thing. Since most of my other kitchen stuff is crap, it was a stunning contrast.I was contacted by the company to write this review, and I am happy to do so. 99% of the other stuff I buy will likely not last a decade, especially with regular use. I anticipate this knife will, if well maintained, and sharpened occasionally.My intention is to continue with Dalstrong for “buy it for life” kitchen knives. I’m convinced of their quality, and I believe I got my money’s worth.
✔ Verified Purchase
