How to Choose a Knife

It may be harder than you think...

My knives: Fillet knife, paring knife, chef’s knife, and two boning knives.

It’s one of the most common questions I get, and my answer almost always confounds people. Just as I wrote about my relationship with guns, my relationship with knives of any kind is purely utilitarian. My thrifty Scotsman ancestry may factor in there, too.

I’ll start with my first response to people asking me about buying a new knife: Why? Seriously, why? Just because you want one? Because you only own supermarket knives? Maybe you saw some fancy knifemaker’s work and just have to have one?

Stop yourself for a minute, take a deep breath and ask yourself: Do you really need this knife? And if so, how will you envision using it and, more importantly, how often?

Your answer matters.