Dalstrong Tourne Peeling Paring Knife - 3 inch Bird's Beak - Shogun Series ELITE - Damascus - Japanese Super Steel - Vacuum Treated - Sheath Included

Great quality. The knife is pretty, to say the least. I love it and so does my choosy wife. We find all the positives mentioned in other reviews true. But being a spoiled son-in-law of a Japanese lifetime knife dealer, I cannot resist pointing out some deficiencies. To be clear, those are minor and do not change my five-star rating.(1) The handle, though meticulously finished and made of a first-class material, may prove small in a larger hand. This would be a nonissue if the handle’s butt was round. Instead, it is (undeniably stylishly) cut flat at an angle. If you use the knife for prolonged periods of time, the pinky side of your palm may become sore due to the somewhat sharp profiled upper edge of the handle’s butt.(2) If you have ever used a scalpel, you will know that despite its advertised super steep cutting angle and polished , the blade in no way has a “ruthlessly sharp scalpel like edge.” Surprisingly, the blade is relatively thick, definitely thicker than that of a significantly less expensive, yet decent, paring knife, such as Good Cook 3.5-Inch Paring Knife. By comparison, you will feel a smooth, but added, resistance when cutting, say, an orange with the Dalstrong. While the blade thickness is there to stay, you can improve its sharpness by stropping it with or without additional compounds. (A strop can be replaced with a 20K or 30K grit sharpening stone, $350+ apiece, eek. But the inner side of your old leather belt will do.) I do not recommend using honing steel for this ultra-hard blade, accidental scratches on which will also be ultra-hard to remove. If you are inexperienced with waterstones--use 1K grit and 6K grit (or better)--practice first on cheaper blades.(3) The knife comes in a nice, but oversize cardboard box whose dimensions match the size of the boxes for larger Dalstrong knives like this bestseller: Dalstrong 9.5" Chef Knife. It is filled with trinkets and mini-brochures you most probably will never use, but paid for. Certainly, this makes for a classy gift. If the knife is a gift to yourself, though, and your kitchen real estate is limited, some of your money will end up in a trash can.(4) You will find in the box a plastic “saya”, a blade protector that has a small, but annoying, flaw. The peg which fixes the sheath in place when on the blade is tied to the protector with a cord. This is to prevent the peg from being misplaced. Do not cut it by any chance! Sooner rather than later, the silky cord will untie or slip off the peg. Bond the two together with a tiny drop of superglue right away and thank me later. Tip: Use the provided sheath when storing the knife! The blade is worth it. Conversely, keep in mind that owing to its superior hardness, the naked Dalstrong blade is likely to scratch any items, including most other blades, that come in contact with it.Be forewarned, but not discouraged—overall, this is a superb knife.Last but not least, I had a number of opportunities to test the responsiveness, patience, understanding, professionalism and even generosity (yes) of Dalstrong Customer Support. To say that the service passed with flying colors would be an understatement. Way to go, Dalstrong!

Our dear neighbor invited us to dine with her for Thanksgiving. I have been fixing her knives with a wood putty and she has been very happy with the repairs.Then I saw the Dalstrong Paring Knife and ordered one for her for Christmas. When I received it, I examined it carefully and decided that this would make her life much easier. I also decided that one would be mine as well--since it is such a wonderful piece of cutlery. Good times for all small-handed cooks! Thanks!

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.