Posted By:
John -
verified customer1 people found this review helpful
Here are my impressions after about a month of use:
Profile: I primarily use rock cuts and push/pull cuts and my Ryusei has a great profile for those techniques. I like the forward swept choil. It allows a lot of flexibility in where I can comfortably do a pinch grip. I can pinch by the neck for longer cuts or choke up the spine a couple of inches if I want to work with the tip, or anything in between without my fingers getting in the way. Yet despite how far forward the choil is, the blade still comes to a nice gliding stop at the end of a cut. Mine doesn't have much of a flat area in the back but this isn't an issue for me since I don't do much chopping.
Fit and Finish: Excellent fit and finish on my knife. The spine and choil are polished and comfortable on my fingers. The hairline finish cleanly highlights the grind of the blade and the chiseled kanji are nice touch. The grind gets pretty thin at the edge so a good amount of the AS core steel is exposed and it looks really cool once it has developed a patina. The edge is smokey dark, the grind is matte gray and the hairline blade flats are shiny white, for a 3-layered look. The handle is looks good and the junction with the red pakka ferrule is seamless. The maple in my handle is darker than it appears in the photos.
Performance: The ootb edge on mine was good, not great, but the AS sharpened up very easily to a razor edge. As mentioned above, the grind gets thin towards the edge so for short ingredients like garlic or green onions the performance is laser-like. Less so for ingredients tall enough to reach the top of the grind which is just thick enough to make the blade feel sturdy and to make the food release on those taller ingredients better. It feels nimble and balanced in my hand. I can cut softer ingredients with just the weight of the knife. I'm not even close to having to sharpen again, so edge retention is good.
It's a great all-around performing, cool looking, nicely finished knife. I feel like I got good value for my money with this one.Was this rating helpful to you?
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