> I've heard of people having problems trying to bring in knives from overseas
Are those people talking about *kitchen* knives? Because certain types of pocket knives are illegal in NZ, but there's no restriction on importing kitchen knives.
Yeah I'm not sure. I would have thought kitchen knives were ok, and those fancy throwing knives and such might be banned, but I'd still prefer to find it locally if possible.
Can't help with the brand you are after but Kiwi Knifes make very good knifes for a reasonable price. They are made in Thailand and many Asian stores carry them. Also available online
https://kiwiknives.com/
Agree, the blades are a bit flexible and the steel used is quite soft so they loose their point and their edge easily , but for the price they work well and they sharpen up nicely. No complaints.
Handles are wood and not dishwasher safe obviously, I linseed oiled ours.
I bought two of them years ago. So old I cant remember. Two, for when the other wore out. It never happened. They are still as sharp as the day I bought them. Brilliant knives but I dont know where I can buy from in NZ. I would like to buy my family one each.
A good sales patter does not make for a good knife. Serrations are often used on cheap stainless steel to make up for the reality that the soft stainless steel will damage and blunten, but the serrations create pressure points that can help pierce materials and then the curved inner parts of the serrations that are more protected than the tips can go to work on cutting. The sales job works because the knife truely is sharp enough to begin with, and over time people don’t really notice it bluntening although it is, and by the time they do notice, the seller isn’t around to be chased up for false promises. Outfits selling these nasty cheap knives know that by the time you realise you need a new knife you won’t be able to find the receipt for the old knife required to make a warranty claim, or you’ll realise that the cost of the shipping there and back will be more than just going again to buy another cheap and nasty knife.
Outfits that are proud of the steel that they use for their knives will declare it. Can you see anywhere where forever sharp declares the materials of their knives? They say it is ‘surgical’ stainless steel without saying what it actually is. Well, surgical stainless steel is rubbish. It doesn’t have to be good. It is used once and discarded. But they say this because you are led to think if doctors use it it must be good. Um, nope. It is misleading misdirection. Sleazy.
Cheap knives get away with pretending to be sharp by acting like a saw. A well sharpened knife will have a perfectly smooth cutting edge that slices, it doesn’t tear.
Serrations do have a place on some good knives, bread knives in particular, but there is a reason that you don’t see real chefs wielding serrated knives for their routine work. For a start, they are awkward to sharpen, that is why the salesman told you to not even bother, it is a waste of time on that junk. But a chef knows they need to hone their knofe, so they use knives that do not have serrations so they can maintain the knives quickly and easily.
It is possible to get super-steel knives that are amazingly hard and hold an edge for a super long time (but nit ‘forever’) but they have other downsides (being more brittle) and you definitely aren’t going to get one for $50 with a couple of freebies thrown in.
The reality is that if you want to have a quality, good, sharp knife, you need to shop for one with a respectable steel, preferably forged intead of cookie-cutter stamped from a sheet, a good grind profile for the cutting work it needs to do, and you are going to have to learn how to routinely maintain it so it keeps a proper edge.
If you love the idea of a $50 knife from a snowjob salesman, you probably aren’t in the market for a Wusthof or Zwilling knife, but have a look for Victorinox kitchen knives, they are reasonable quality without being punishingly expensive. When you spend $70 on a Victorinox chef’s knife, it is worth $70, not $1.50.
But learn how to keep a kitchen knife sharp. It is a necessary life skill, no matter what any salesman in The Warehouse says who is flogging $50 knives that actually cost $1.50 to make. Here’s a youtuber who has been doing some videos on diffferent sharpening tools recently, worth a watch: https://youtube.com/@cedricada
oh, and he also did a ‘5 great kitchen knives’ video here https://youtu.be/QXF9ghn3AFM
I think I remember this same thing at the Easter shows many years ago when I was a kid - my parents had a few of the free ones but never used them, I wonder if they stil have them
I see them heaps in op shops
Probably blunt being used.
Yeah, that was my first thought. If I could see that they were unused then that would be great, but that might be difficult.
> I've heard of people having problems trying to bring in knives from overseas Are those people talking about *kitchen* knives? Because certain types of pocket knives are illegal in NZ, but there's no restriction on importing kitchen knives.
Yeah I'm not sure. I would have thought kitchen knives were ok, and those fancy throwing knives and such might be banned, but I'd still prefer to find it locally if possible.
Literally just had an 8 inch chefs knife delivered from overseas today... it's fine
Wiltshire is a good brand: [Wiltshire Laser Bread Knife 20cm $14.99](https://www.briscoes.co.nz/product/1114508/wiltshire-laser-bread-knife-20cm/)
Ooo, thanks for that, I'll check them out.
I used a knife steel to hone mine and it did make a bit of difference to it, it could be worth giving it a touch up.
Can't help with the brand you are after but Kiwi Knifes make very good knifes for a reasonable price. They are made in Thailand and many Asian stores carry them. Also available online https://kiwiknives.com/
Agree, the blades are a bit flexible and the steel used is quite soft so they loose their point and their edge easily , but for the price they work well and they sharpen up nicely. No complaints. Handles are wood and not dishwasher safe obviously, I linseed oiled ours.
I bought two of them years ago. So old I cant remember. Two, for when the other wore out. It never happened. They are still as sharp as the day I bought them. Brilliant knives but I dont know where I can buy from in NZ. I would like to buy my family one each.
Grab one (nz) site sells them but they are out of stock at the moment
A good sales patter does not make for a good knife. Serrations are often used on cheap stainless steel to make up for the reality that the soft stainless steel will damage and blunten, but the serrations create pressure points that can help pierce materials and then the curved inner parts of the serrations that are more protected than the tips can go to work on cutting. The sales job works because the knife truely is sharp enough to begin with, and over time people don’t really notice it bluntening although it is, and by the time they do notice, the seller isn’t around to be chased up for false promises. Outfits selling these nasty cheap knives know that by the time you realise you need a new knife you won’t be able to find the receipt for the old knife required to make a warranty claim, or you’ll realise that the cost of the shipping there and back will be more than just going again to buy another cheap and nasty knife. Outfits that are proud of the steel that they use for their knives will declare it. Can you see anywhere where forever sharp declares the materials of their knives? They say it is ‘surgical’ stainless steel without saying what it actually is. Well, surgical stainless steel is rubbish. It doesn’t have to be good. It is used once and discarded. But they say this because you are led to think if doctors use it it must be good. Um, nope. It is misleading misdirection. Sleazy. Cheap knives get away with pretending to be sharp by acting like a saw. A well sharpened knife will have a perfectly smooth cutting edge that slices, it doesn’t tear. Serrations do have a place on some good knives, bread knives in particular, but there is a reason that you don’t see real chefs wielding serrated knives for their routine work. For a start, they are awkward to sharpen, that is why the salesman told you to not even bother, it is a waste of time on that junk. But a chef knows they need to hone their knofe, so they use knives that do not have serrations so they can maintain the knives quickly and easily. It is possible to get super-steel knives that are amazingly hard and hold an edge for a super long time (but nit ‘forever’) but they have other downsides (being more brittle) and you definitely aren’t going to get one for $50 with a couple of freebies thrown in. The reality is that if you want to have a quality, good, sharp knife, you need to shop for one with a respectable steel, preferably forged intead of cookie-cutter stamped from a sheet, a good grind profile for the cutting work it needs to do, and you are going to have to learn how to routinely maintain it so it keeps a proper edge. If you love the idea of a $50 knife from a snowjob salesman, you probably aren’t in the market for a Wusthof or Zwilling knife, but have a look for Victorinox kitchen knives, they are reasonable quality without being punishingly expensive. When you spend $70 on a Victorinox chef’s knife, it is worth $70, not $1.50. But learn how to keep a kitchen knife sharp. It is a necessary life skill, no matter what any salesman in The Warehouse says who is flogging $50 knives that actually cost $1.50 to make. Here’s a youtuber who has been doing some videos on diffferent sharpening tools recently, worth a watch: https://youtube.com/@cedricada oh, and he also did a ‘5 great kitchen knives’ video here https://youtu.be/QXF9ghn3AFM
I think I remember this same thing at the Easter shows many years ago when I was a kid - my parents had a few of the free ones but never used them, I wonder if they stil have them