Going by the hardness of chef knife you are using now, I'm guessing it's probably a
Victorinox Fibrox Pro Chef Knife? If not... It's what you should have been using as they are a great value for under $40. I use a
Victorinox 12" Straight Butcher Knife (as well as an 8" curved breaking knife that I hate) five days a week at work and the previously mentioned chef knife at home.
About the blades you linked...
The
8" Damascus Chef Knife doesn't list the steel, so for $35 I imagine you're just paying for the pretty Damascus look.
The 5" Damascus Boning Knide would be excellent for $30 if it actually uses VG10. I kind of have a hard time believing it uses that steel considering the price and the fact that it's coming from China (it was my understanding that VG10 is only made in Japan).
The 8" Chef Knife for $65 would also be excellent if it actually uses VG10. Again, for that price, and coming from China, I have my doubts. I really think you're just paying for the Damascus looks. Maybe someone more learned on kitchen cutlery can chime in though.
In my experience, the Victorinox Chef Knife is ridiculously hard to top in the $40 and under price range, and you'll find many professional chefs agree. Personally, if I was going to upgrade my Chef knife and wanted to keep it under $100, I would be going with a
Wusthof Classic 8" Chef Knife because I haven't held anything more comfortable in my decade of restaurant/kitchen experience. They regularly go on sale for around $80 but the steel isn't much better or harder (58 HRC) than the steel used in the Victorinox. Just keep in mind that comfort is just as important as the steel when it comes to a Chef knife. Comfort equals confidence which ends up increasing your speed and safety.
As far as boning knives go... You're on your own as I'm still hunting for one that I REALLY like. My little brother is an avid hunter and angler and swears by his cheap
Dexter Russell Boning Knife... I don't like them though. Until I find a boning knife I like, I've actually just been using a
KAI Pure Komachi 6". I don't imagine you want to go too hard with the boning knife (if you're going to use it for it's intended purpose) because you need it to be a bit flexible... And you don't want it chipping all to hell when you inevitably end up hitting the bone. I also wouldn't spend too much on a boning knife for that very reason. In fact, the only reason I own a boning knife at all, is so that I don't damage my knives that I like, lol.
Ok, I'm going to stop typing now. I'm high as hell off my post operative meds and I just wrote a wall of text. Sorry about that!
