- Joined
- Jul 22, 2013
- Messages
- 2,693
- Reaction score
- 1,350
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Independent
In 2006, I was considering what Christmas presents to buy for my brother. I decided upon a kitchen knife set. There were middle of the road 5-8 piece sets for as little as $24. But instead, I decided to buy a 7 piece J. A. Henckels 'Twin Signature' knife set. It cost me $99. I assumed it would be significantly better than the $24 - $35 sets.
My brother insisted on knowing what I'd purchased for him, before arrogantly complaining about my gift..... He claimed that an electric knife would be more useful, so I bought one of them instead and I decided to keep the Henckels set myself.
After just a few months of light use, I started noticing corrosion in the flush mounted rivets that connected the handles to the blade, forming holes about 2mm diameter x 2-3mm deep. That, despite low usage and always being thoroughly dried off when cleaned! But I also noticed rust stains on the allegedly "stainless" blades, which didn't come off easily. The blades weren't particularly sharp from the get-go, and they were ALL very thin!
I've seen cheaper kitchen knives from the 60s and 70s that saw FAR more use, but without the unusual and unjustified pitting, rusting etc. This $99 knife set ended up being of lower quality than sets costing 1/4 as much!
Then, in 2011, I found a Kai Shun classic 6" chefs knife, that has a Damascus steel blade pattern, due to being dipped 24 times in decorative molten stainless steel, then sanded to reveal the individual layers. It listed for about $120, but on closeout sale for $65. I bought it, and It's been a joy to look at and to use, and it still hasn't lost much of its insane sharpness. It came with lifetime free professional sharpening warranty by Shun. I pay shipping to get it there, they sharpen and ship it back for free, for-ever!
Have you ever paid extra for products that ended up being terrible?
My brother insisted on knowing what I'd purchased for him, before arrogantly complaining about my gift..... He claimed that an electric knife would be more useful, so I bought one of them instead and I decided to keep the Henckels set myself.
After just a few months of light use, I started noticing corrosion in the flush mounted rivets that connected the handles to the blade, forming holes about 2mm diameter x 2-3mm deep. That, despite low usage and always being thoroughly dried off when cleaned! But I also noticed rust stains on the allegedly "stainless" blades, which didn't come off easily. The blades weren't particularly sharp from the get-go, and they were ALL very thin!
I've seen cheaper kitchen knives from the 60s and 70s that saw FAR more use, but without the unusual and unjustified pitting, rusting etc. This $99 knife set ended up being of lower quality than sets costing 1/4 as much!
Then, in 2011, I found a Kai Shun classic 6" chefs knife, that has a Damascus steel blade pattern, due to being dipped 24 times in decorative molten stainless steel, then sanded to reveal the individual layers. It listed for about $120, but on closeout sale for $65. I bought it, and It's been a joy to look at and to use, and it still hasn't lost much of its insane sharpness. It came with lifetime free professional sharpening warranty by Shun. I pay shipping to get it there, they sharpen and ship it back for free, for-ever!
Have you ever paid extra for products that ended up being terrible?
Last edited: