Kershaw Shun VS. Al Mar kitchen knives?

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kgriggs8

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Which are better and why? I am looking for one medium sized chef's knife about 6-7" blade. They both look good but I am not up to speed on kitchen knives so anyone with experience of either would be great.

Thanks.
 
kgriggs*, I won't get into which one is better, but a search on Shun should bring forth some positive threads and real world evaluations that may be helpful for you.

FYI, I like the Shun's:D , the Elite series specifically, wow great stuff.
 
Griggs, Wish I had both knives to offer a relevant comparison, I can tell you my experience with one Kershaw Shun knife.


My Wife has particular taste in Kitchen knives and she was looking for "just the right" paring knife. First, I purchased an Old Hickory Carbon steel parer (hoping to get off cheap this time) :D but after cleaning that one daily and hearing that "the handle is uncomfortable" a few times I gave it away. I then moved along through a couple of Custom knives that I already owned that were in this size requirement range, but none of them were it. I then purchased the Shun Paring knife - she loved it right out of the box.

- The Box (Presentation) was very elegant.
- The Damascus blade appearence appealed to her eye.
- The Stainless Damascus steel appealed to my Maintenance requirements (I have to clean her Japanese Carbon steel knives just about every week).
- The Guard and Blade are integral (no where for bacteria to hide).
- The knife was extremely sharp right out of the box.
- The blade was thin but strong, sliced amazingly well.
- The handle is a "D" shaped handle, filling the Right hand palm better than a round design.

The only drawback I have found is that somehow she "ever so slightly" bent the very tip of the Blade. It is almost not noticeable but I am anal about "our" knives and so I felt (rather than saw the bend at first) one day while I was hand washing the blade,.. or was I oiling the handle, or was I steeling the edge...... or maybe..... ;) you get the idea.

My Wife has stated more than once she loves this knife and I concur.
 
As much as I respect the Al Mar name, I don't particularly like their chefs knife. I have not tried the Shuns but, they are on my list. I was not enamorerd with the weight (too light) and balance of the Al Mar knife. The blade was thinner than I like. I am sure it's a preference thing though, because the overall quality was excellent.
 
Thanks for the info guys. I think I am going to forget about the Al Mar even though I respect Al Mar knives.
 
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