[TekDragon]

Originally Posted by PuYang

Normal Shun knives are awesome. especially for sashimi. globals are good too, but not as good as shun (the price difference kinda hints that already though).

if you're hardcore, you can get Shun Elite, which is supposed to have a "perfect" blade. (as in, guaranteed to not have any imperfections and weak spots in the blade, due to the way its made). which leaves a nice powder coat look ;]

normal shuns are 33 layered (16 layers on each side, if i recall correctly) blades. which leaves that sexy "damascus" design ;D

i used to work at house of knives, so i have played with all the major brands, and i find that normal shuns are probably the best way to go. (the overpriced elite isnt worth it ;p)

just keep in mind that japanese brands like shun and global have thinner blades, and require a different knife sharpener than the german knives. unless you bought a sharpener that has 2 angle settings, its probably not a good idea to buy german and jap together. (unless you dont mind paying others to sharpen your knives).

@mrgoodbar: those knives are scams. 99% of the time, when they show a knife cutting through a tin can or anything else, they are using a serrated knife. in which case, it makes no difference if the knife was good or not. serrated knives are made to "saw" things, and make it easier to cut through hard surfaces.

the tomato trick is also a scam. tomatos are fricken easy to cut. i can throw a tomato (with a certain amount of force) on a butter knife and have it cut through.

When you say knife sharpener, do you mean a sharpening steel, or something else?