Knife of the Year: Insane Value Under $100

[00:00] the number one reason why it is my top

[00:02] pick in my home is because this knife is

[00:05] the perfect knife for my

[00:27] wife I am really tempted to tell you

[00:30] everything about this new Blackboard

[00:31] I've got here by dun board and then this

[00:34] really beautiful knife stand but I'll

[00:36] tell you about them at the end of the

[00:37] video so if you're going to hear about

[00:39] what I've got here just go to the end of

[00:41] the video or just watch till the end I'm

[00:43] going to make it really short and sweet

[00:44] for those who don't want to sit around

[00:45] forever if you're looking for the best

[00:48] value knife I would say for $100 or less

[00:51] it's the Naru this is the 165 mm knife

[00:55] that is incredible I'll give you the

[00:58] spec breakdown of this knife knife and

[01:00] then for those who want to sit around

[01:01] and hear my story of how this knife came

[01:03] to be I'll tell you all about that as

[01:05] well but core steel is blue number two

[01:07] or Alami 2 heat treated to about a 62 to

[01:11] a 63 on the Rockwell scale and the spine

[01:14] thickness is about a 2.6 to maybe a 2.8

[01:17] depending on what sample you've got

[01:20] height is 46

[01:22] mm and spine thickness at the center is

[01:26] about 1.8 it has a nice thickness at the

[01:28] spine above the heel and has a nice diso

[01:30] taper to the tip of the knife here we go

[01:33] one yeah 149 every time I talk about a

[01:36] knife I always get like a dozen comments

[01:38] asking me what is the weight of the

[01:40] knife so here you go 149 for the ebony

[01:42] handle now it's got a Cuchi finish or

[01:44] sometimes referred to as a KU finish now

[01:46] there's one Last Detail you need to know

[01:48] about this knife and this is probably

[01:49] the most important detail for those who

[01:52] are into Japanese knives or those who

[01:54] are getting into Japanese knives it is

[01:57] Hand Forged it is the only knife

[01:59] available at least on my store and for

[02:02] years of years of searching it's the

[02:04] only knife available for $100 or less

[02:06] that is Hand Forged made in Japan that

[02:08] is the short version of this video you

[02:10] can go to the link in the video

[02:12] description or the pin comment and

[02:13] you'll find a link to this knife and you

[02:15] can read all about it on our web page

[02:17] all right so there are a few other

[02:18] knives here that I do want to talk about

[02:20] and the next knife is the ski KET sugu

[02:23] this is the runner up to best knife of

[02:26] the year at least of the knives I've

[02:27] tested this year um I posted a video

[02:29] about this knife just about a week or a

[02:31] couple of weeks ago if you guys want to

[02:32] see the full review of this knife go to

[02:34] that video I'm not going to talk about

[02:35] all of the specs in this video but the

[02:38] reason it didn't win knife of the year

[02:40] is simply because at the price point

[02:42] that we're talking about at $100 or less

[02:44] being Hand Forged to me is a really big

[02:46] deal and that is really the main

[02:48] difference between the two knives here

[02:51] if you wanted a knife that is super

[02:53] clean and overall really good performing

[02:56] for $15 less or so the Ski kugu Pro m is

[03:02] a really great knife but for those who

[03:04] want the craftsmanship of knives being

[03:06] handmade in Japan the Naru is a knife

[03:09] that you should consider and the other

[03:11] knives we have here is this is the Naru

[03:13] with a stabilized wood handle and then

[03:16] it's essentially the same Blade with

[03:18] different handle and then we have a Mor

[03:20] tet here as reference because of fit and

[03:22] finish and I'll talk about that at at

[03:25] later time in the video now as far as

[03:27] shape goes this is a bunka which is a

[03:29] little bit different than a short kurit

[03:32] or a santoku or a niri this is just my

[03:36] way of understanding a bunka is that

[03:38] it's sort of a cross between a kurit and

[03:41] a nakuri The Cutting profile is great

[03:43] for vegetables because it has a nice

[03:45] taller profile it gives you a bit more

[03:46] cutting power but the tip you have this

[03:49] nice really fine tip that's great for

[03:51] tip work on meats and things of that

[03:53] sort and because of that aggressive

[03:55] cutting profile this knife really suits

[03:57] my cutting style more than what sent

[04:00] toku offers so now for those who are

[04:02] still here this is the long version of

[04:04] the video it may take me about 10

[04:05] minutes to explain everything about why

[04:07] this knife is the top pick in my home

[04:10] this year okay so I want to talk about

[04:12] the importance of toasta knives on my

[04:15] channel and in the broader scheme of

[04:19] Japanese knives in general I was

[04:21] shopping on Amazon and most of my

[04:22] shopping back in the old days when I

[04:24] first launched the channel was on Amazon

[04:26] not long after I launched Perfection I

[04:29] got a hold of a few toaster knives and

[04:31] every once in a while I would see this

[04:32] knife pop up in Amazon and I would post

[04:35] a quick Community post and it would sell

[04:37] out within 15 20 minutes and then it

[04:40] would not come back on stock or in stock

[04:43] for four to 6 months after the pandemic

[04:45] that knife was not posted on Amazon

[04:48] anymore I couldn't find it anywhere and

[04:50] it took me uh really 3 years to after

[04:53] the pandemic before I was able to return

[04:55] back to Japan when I went back to Japan

[04:58] I made a huge effort to go find knife

[05:01] makers in tosa to offer that knife

[05:03] because I thought it was such a good

[05:05] knife and a year ago I was able to

[05:07] return back to Japan and I found a

[05:09] seller in tosa that was able to supply

[05:12] me with knives um the very first tosa

[05:14] knives that I was exposed to on Amazon

[05:17] The Edge was not very good and the fit

[05:20] finish definitely was not very good we

[05:22] went through a series of I want to say

[05:24] about a year of trial and era to find

[05:26] the perfect fit and finish and to retain

[05:29] the price that we really wanted and this

[05:31] is the result of that year worth of work

[05:35] so that is my timeline for this knife

[05:37] here and my relationship with knife

[05:38] makers and tosa but there's also

[05:40] something else that I think you guys

[05:42] should understand as knife Enthusiast at

[05:45] this point now because of the labor

[05:47] shortage in all of Japan and really how

[05:52] difficult it is for me to get any knife

[05:54] that's made in Japan especially hand

[05:56] forg knives tosa right now is one of the

[05:58] few regions where where 90% of the

[06:01] knives are coming out of tosa are Hand

[06:03] Forged now with my insistence when it

[06:05] comes to fit and finish and Edge quality

[06:08] and me nagging The Artisans that we're

[06:10] working with in tosa I believe that the

[06:13] knives with Naru are the best quality

[06:16] that you can possibly get at this point

[06:18] from tosa as far as a knife maker that I

[06:21] think people would relate to or would

[06:23] understand would be moritaka now morias

[06:26] have always held a special place in my

[06:27] heart they were affordable they were one

[06:30] of the very few hand Forge knives that

[06:32] you can get for an agent's knife for

[06:33] under

[06:34] $200 but the fit and finish was never

[06:37] great it was a good fit finish with a

[06:39] kuchi finish and the edges on their

[06:42] knives were a bit thicker than ideal and

[06:45] the sharpness of the knives were like a

[06:47] six out of 10 so they were never great

[06:50] when it comes to fit and finish

[06:51] sharpness and blade thickness that was

[06:54] one of the things that we were very

[06:57] careful about when making the Naru

[06:58] knives I wanted the knives to have a

[07:00] nice thin Edge but a thick spine when

[07:03] you have a knife with thick spine and a

[07:05] thin Edge you have that wedge effect

[07:08] when it comes to cutting harder

[07:09] ingredients like spaghetti squash and

[07:11] squash and pumpkins so here is a summary

[07:13] of the Naru bunka blue number two it is

[07:16] made of blue number two or aami 2 core

[07:18] steel with a kuchi finish and it's got a

[07:22] 46 mm height hand Forge in Japan for

[07:26] $100 or less so hands down it is the

[07:29] best value you can find in a knife

[07:31] that's Hand Forged in Japan today now I

[07:33] work with about four to five dozen knife

[07:36] makers in Japan and very quickly we're

[07:39] seeing a lot of knife makers transition

[07:41] from hand Forge knives to stock removal

[07:44] knives I don't have anything against

[07:46] stock removable knives but there is

[07:48] something very special to be able to use

[07:51] a knife that is Hand Forged um that to

[07:53] me is the most significant reason and

[07:56] why I'm working with so many knife

[07:57] makers in tosa is because I'm still able

[08:00] to support the craft of handcraft made

[08:02] knives in Japan that to me is a

[08:05] wonderful feeling and a worthy goal to

[08:08] attain is that I'm able to support a

[08:10] whole generation of knife makers that

[08:12] are still making knives by hand and I

[08:14] hope that you guys appreciate that um so

[08:16] head on over to Perfection store.com

[08:18] look to the bunka section or I'll leave

[08:20] a link in the video description or the

[08:22] pin comment you can see where you can

[08:23] find this knife the video review is over

[08:26] and I want to talk about this stand here

[08:29] and my new cutting board now this is a

[08:33] 2x4 cutting board that I had custom made

[08:35] by dun board I recently got number of

[08:39] their boards back like a month ago and I

[08:40] post a video about them which I still

[08:42] use my home and they have been

[08:44] absolutely fantastic and then I reached

[08:46] out to the owner of dun board and I said

[08:48] hey I want a new board for my Island uh

[08:53] for my house and he made me a board when

[08:57] I brought that board home which I was so

[08:59] proud of I was so excited to use that

[09:02] board on my Island as a new cutting

[09:04] board but my wife decided that she

[09:06] wanted to use that cutting board as a

[09:07] centerpiece in my home on the island so

[09:11] I had to have another one cut so I reach

[09:13] out to Jesse over at dun board I had him

[09:16] cut me another 2x4 that I can use here

[09:19] in my studio and that's what we're

[09:21] looking at here now the 10 X2 is what I

[09:23] use in my home in the kitchen and then

[09:25] the 12x 24 is what I use to carry

[09:27] brisket and Smoked Meats for from my

[09:29] kitchen to the backyard to my smoker and

[09:33] it's really great because they don't

[09:34] flex even though they're only a/4 inch

[09:36] thick and that material is what I use

[09:39] for this board here um I don't think you

[09:41] can find a better performing cutting

[09:42] board than dun boards 10x 20 board

[09:45] that's a quarter inch thick for $60 um

[09:48] now all of the done boards I've shown on

[09:50] my channel I have paid for so just so

[09:52] you guys are clear I don't get anything

[09:54] for free this here is a prototype that I

[09:58] am being lent by dun board it is a a

[10:03] really cool knife stand now this is a

[10:06] prototype this is the very first

[10:07] prototype um I believe and I'm going to

[10:11] offer something to Jesse for this

[10:13] prototype because one I love prototypes

[10:17] and two if it never gets made I have the

[10:20] only knife stand that's ever made by dun

[10:23] board but it's a really cool product let

[10:25] me just take these these knives down and

[10:28] show you

[10:30] um this is the/ in material that you

[10:32] would normally find on the/ in cutting

[10:34] boards that they make and this is the/

[10:36] qu inch material and It just fits

[10:42] nicely it fits just

[10:45] perfectly into the slot here and it's

[10:49] strong I don't see this breaking at all

[10:52] and when you sit the knife on it it sits

[10:54] at a perfect angle that the knife

[10:55] doesn't fall over it just sits nicely

[10:58] just

[11:00] just like that and it's just it's really

[11:03] nice it only holds four four knives but

[11:05] the knives are spaced out nicely so

[11:08] here's a 240 mm uh knife you can see it

[11:11] sits nicely here yeah so I've been using

[11:14] this knife stand in my studio for the

[11:17] last well 6 months since I've moved to

[11:19] this new house and everyone always

[11:22] comments on it and this always sells out

[11:24] but it sells for like $180 but it's

[11:26] constantly selling out for a person with

[11:28] a small collection if you only have four

[11:31] knives or less this is just perfect it's

[11:34] really nice my suggestion and I'll tell

[11:37] this to Jesse in this video is that

[11:39] Jesse if you can make this that can fit

[11:41] six

[11:42] knives and that's it uh now Jesse may

[11:46] not be convinced at my words alone but

[11:49] if you're watching this video and you

[11:50] like this product and you are

[11:51] considering buying one go to Jesse's

[11:54] website let him know in the comments

[11:56] that you are willing to pick one up and

[11:58] it will give him a rough idea of of

[12:00] people's interest and how many to make I

[12:03] think it's a really cool product being

[12:05] able to buy a cutting board that's made

[12:06] right in my city and then having a

[12:09] prototype sent

[12:10] me um it's really cool and this is

[12:14] something that I really want to do more

[12:15] of I want to work with Artisans all over

[12:17] the world but as of right now it's much

[12:19] easier for me to start small work with

[12:22] artisans in California and in the US and

[12:25] then slowly I'll expand globally but if

[12:28] you want to reach out to me and you want

[12:30] to potentially make something with me

[12:32] and let's at least get the conversation

[12:34] going so if you make anything that is

[12:36] related to Cutlery and knives anything

[12:39] please reach out to me let me know who

[12:41] you are I'd love to hear from you who

[12:43] knows what can happen maybe I can help

[12:45] you improve a design that you've been

[12:46] working on or I help you execute and

[12:48] bring to Market an idea that you've been

[12:50] working on forever so let me know in the

[12:52] comments and I would love to hear from

[12:54] you and I'll catch you in the next video