ZHEN Japanese VG-10 3-Layer forged High Carbon Stainless Steel 7-inch A4T

First, let me say that this knife is NOT a cleaver. If you bought it thinking it was a cleaver to chop bone, you didn't read or didn't know what you were buying. This is a Japanese vegetable/chopping knife. That being said this is a pretty good knife.From what I can tell, it has a full tang and the handle is very comfortable. I love the rubber handle. I have other that have wood and am constantly putting oil or a sealant on them to keep them from cracking when washed (I hand wash them by the way) Other similar knives that I have are a bit longer and I think I like that better. This one is a tad shorter and seem that it's not as quick on the rocking chop. You have to lift it a bit higher. No biggie though.This knife came VERY sharp and with DAILY use, has pretty much held it's edge. Some light honing with a white ceramic is all that is needed to remove the burr and bring it back. I suspect a stropping would do the trick too. I only use it on a plastic or wood cutting board and I keep the blade protector on it when in the drawer.On to the "frosted surface". Yeah, food still sticks to it. Potatoes, onions, celery and even tomatoes, they all stick. I think it's more of a gimmick. Not a deal-breaker but not really a selling point.My one big concern: The blade I received did NOT have VG-10 stamped on the blade. The logo was the same but the VG-10 mark was absent. I just about gave it 3 stars because of this, feeling like it was a bait and switch, but the blade is performing well. I hand wash and dry immediately to prevent any kind of staining that VG-10 steel could be prone to.Bottom Line: I'm not a professional chef but I use it almost every day. You won't be disappointed with this knife.

As a professional chef, I use this knife for my prep and on the line every day. I use this knife for just about everything. Do not let the "light slicer" name fool you, this knife handles meats just as well as fruits and veggies. The minute I took this knife out I knew I had myself a keeper. After 15 years as a chef and as a knife enthusiast, I've been through more knives than I care to admit and this Zhen knife comes on top of all my other ones by far. I've had the chance to use a lot of different brands of professional kitchen knives in my career anything from Shun, Henckels, Wusthof, Global, Zwilling, Porsche, etc. The quality to price ratio on this knife is simply unbeatable. It performs just as well, if not better than a comparable brand such as Shun for a fraction of the cost.As far as manufacturing details go for this knife, everything is simply perfect. The handle material held my grip through and through even after having just mixed a salad with it's oily dressing, the knife never once slipped out of my hand or moved. The knife is shaving sharp straight out of the box. Most knives, even the ones that advertise as professional knives need a quick hone before their first use, but nothing of the sort here. The thinner grinding angle on the blade provides a much sharper result which is, after all, what any cook is looking for in a knife.Generally, with cleaver type knives, food has a tendency to stick to the blade, due to the width. Zhen added a frost finish on a portion of the blade which allows food to slide right off the knife, saving a lot of time and making the knife much safer to use as you do not need to touch the blade after every single cut to remove food off of it. The finish on the knife is impeccable too, a lot of knives often have very sharp corners on the spine making it quite uncomfortable when holding the knife close to the blade but the grinding has been done all over meaning the surface is smooth as can be and I experienced absolutely no discomfort even after using it 8 to 10 hours in a row, every day.If you have any doubts about a cleaver type knife or with Zhen knives in particular, let me put these doubts to rest. Larger knives are actually safer to use. The width of the blade is around double the average width of classic chef knives, this means that when you make a cut, the entire blade rests on your fingers which allows for more control over the whole knife. This prevents the knife from wobbling towards the end of the cut. The manufacturing quality of Zhen is beyond good and I would recommend this knife or any Zhen knife any day. With practice you will soon be cutting as fast as lightning and safer than ever!

Amazingly sharp out of the box, a form factor I really like for cutting vegetables, and a comfortable handle. But I thought that the stripe on the blade was the shadow of a bezel, not a sandblasted section that feels "furry.". This is what they call "frost finish" and is supposed to help against sticking, which the current first two reviewers say is rubbish. It ruins what would otherwise be a beautiful knife. Plus it would make me not want to cut meat due to the pitted surface harboring bacteria. I think it is incredibly stupid by all measures. It is like getting a brand new car and sticking on some wood grain wallpaper on the side to improve aerodynamics. It offended me so much I returned the knife.I bought Zhen over the other brands with the same shape since it has a good fakespot rating, unlike any of the others which rank C or less (which means they have fake reviews and you should deduct two or more stars from the rating).I really wanted the full tang version of this with the rivets in the handle which said it was backordered before I did some research and figured out it was discontinued. I would have been just as disappointed and returned it since it had the same racing stripe, though..

INITIAL IMPRESSION pretty good . Amazingly sharp VG-10 out of box .THE GOOD - VG-10- if truly vg-10 awesome it is holding a wicked edge but time will tell . Handle butt is flat VERY good for smashing .THE BAD fit and finish should be better. Top edge is not rounded . Blade by fingers is not rounded either . GENERAL REVIEW i think the competitors in the $50-60 range are better looking but you cant touch VG10 for this price . Which is what matters . Initially purchased to use the broad knife to scoop. Very useful to me . The top and front are excellent at scraping the board also , the pommel is excellent , MOST other knives don't have a flat pommel . Handle is slightly softer and grippy which works great . time will tell how it lasts. KNIFE USE - if you haven't used a chinese kitchen knife or vegetable cleaver it is different and great . Weightier than a regular knife . Flys through food . Still discovering ...Only other thought is grey area on the knife . I have know idea why this is slightly rough . dont like that but i will see if this is will workout .