What is honshu steel?

[singularity35]

Pricey knife and a big price drop. The shape looks good but what is honshu steel?

 

[NJBillK]

It's a location, it says in the description "high-quality steel from Honshu 本州, Japan".

I understand this doesn't tell you much about the alloy, as it would be like buying a Ka Bar because it was Steel from Olean, New York. That bend said, for the uneducated, locale means something. What, I have no idea, but something nonetheless.

 

[jc57]

Looks like a hype/scam site.

Fakespot gives the company an F. Steer clear.

http://fakespot.com/company/kamikoto

 

[singularity35]

It's a location, it says in the description "high-quality steel from Honshu 本州, Japan".

I understand this doesn't tell you much about the alloy, as it would be like buying a Ka Bar because it was Steel from Olean, New York. That bend said, for the uneducated, locale means something. What, I have no idea, but something nonetheless.

Thanks. It seems to be stainless so it can't be a traditional steel.

 

[singularity35]

Looks like a hype/scam site.

Fakespot gives the company an F. Steer clear.

Oohh.. there you go. Thanks. The unspecific description did raise a red flag with me. I can probably do as well with my $3 Chinese kitchen knives.

Mods please close.

 

[jc57]

According to the legit reviews on a big web reseller, it is a complete scam. The knife is made in China, and the "pre-order" that gets you this discount is flagged by credit card companies as fraudulent.

Here is the text from a 1-star review:

"I tried to buy this knife on Facebook @ $115 (!)-the add was accompanied by a slick video of a Japanese chef using the knife-the seller appeared to be the manufacturer and delivery was put forward until June of 2017. The credit card transaction was flagged by my vigilant bank as fraudulent and I decided against proceeding with the purchase. Beware!"

 

[NJBillK]

Thanks. It seems to be stainless so it can't be a traditional steel.

To be fair about "traditional" steels, I believe the earlier Stainless steels were first introduced back around 1913. I thunk that makes it fairly traditional by now...

 

[DeadboxHero]

What's funny is that when they came out with these knives they advertised nigata steel which is also just a location in Japan.

Vague as hell.
They have some impressive advertising targeted towards non knife people.

Might be some type of AUS steel like the cheaper AUS 6, especially since they don't want share. But just speculation.

What's troubling is the advertising is giving the impression of hand made quality when it's clearly just a mass production stainless kitchen knife but they are charging a premium all based off of advertising.
Yuck.

 

[jc57]

Yes. Definitely a ripoff. There are some decent Japanese made kitchen knives from legit companies in their price range. And they all tell you exactly what steel they are made from. Tojiro DP is a good example (VG-10 steel).