VictorinoxFibrox Pro Chef's Knife, 5-Inch Chef's

This is Knife #1 for me in my kitchen. I have about a dozen kitchen knives. Paring knives up to large "chef" knives. 3 inch blades up to 10 inch. But most are niche knives except for this 5" Victorinox Chef knife, which is a true workhorse. The paring knives get a good amount of duty, also Victorinox, but the rest are just now an then. Yesterday I boned out a pork shoulder roast and cut it up in 2 inch pieces for grinding with this 5". Easy to sharpen and will take a hair on the back of the hand shaving sharp edge.

This is the knife I've been needing for years, I just didn't know it. It's replaced my paring knife and smaller santoku. I can do 99% of all kitchen work with this blade and a full size chef knife.It holds its edge about as well as other Victorinox knives, I'd call that "medium." I do wish the handle had a bit more heft, but the shape is perfect. I'm happy with it.

***About Victorinox Knives in General***For those who are completely new to the Victorinox (formerly Forschner) brand of knives, it's like this: These knives are NOT super high-end knives intended to impress cutlery snobs. They're workhorses that perform nearly as well as - and, depending on the knife - as well or better than high-end forged instruments costing three times as much. No joke.Q: Will they look as good as my super expensive Japanese or German knives?A: No. They will not. They're really simple-looking. Some might even say that they look crappy. Your high-end Japanese or German cutlery will absolutely shame Victorinox Forschner knives in terms of appearance.Q: Will they perform as well as my super expensive Japanese or German knives?A: Maybe. If not, it will be a very close race. Think 80%-100% of the performance at 30% of the cost. Additionally, the Victorinox knives - because they're not forged - are very light. (My mom has arthritis and I got her a bunch of Victorinox knives after trying them myself. She LOVES them, and experiences much less fatigue than she did with her previous knives, which were 15 year-old Henckels.)Q: Will they perform better than my KitchenAid, Cuisinart, or other knives that came in a set costing $30-$100?A: Those knives will run in terror from Victorinox Forschner knives. You will find yourself using far less muscle when slicing things with Victorinox Forschner knives, if you're used to a crappy $50 box set.Q: What's the deal with the handle? Fibrox? What's that?A: Fibrox is Victorinox' name for a specially-textured handle material, which I'm pretty sure is just a proprietary plastic compound. This is going to sound weird, but Fibrox kind of has the texture of a cat's tongue... meaning it's a little rough. The weird thing about Fibrox - and the one reason - aside from durability and cutting performance - that so many line cooks rely on these, is the fact that they do NOT become slippery when the knife or your hands are damp. (Again, my aging mom loves that about these knives. She routinely cuts with wet hands, so she feels that these are safer than her Henckels.)Q: So... what's the difference between the Victorinox Fibrox knives and the Victorinox Swiss Classic knives?A: The only difference is the handle; the blades are identical, from what I've seen. (I have Fibrox-handled knives, and we bought my mother-in-law Swiss Classics.) I recommend Fibrox, to be honest. The Swiss Classic handles are good, but they are not quite as grippy-when-wet as the Fibrox knives, so I like the Fibrox ones for the extra margin of safety. That said, you'll find that the Swiss Classic knives are more likely to come as a set, which can save you a little money over buying individually.Q: What about durability? Some people are saying they don't hold an edge.A: In my own experience, they hold an edge commendably well. Put it this way: My wife and I cook dinner 4-5 times per week, and on top of that, these knives also get the brunt of our general, daily use (cutting bread, etc.). We mainly spread this workload across just *three* Victorinox Fibrox knives, and we've had these knives for just under a year. During that time, I've had to run them over a honing steel (also a Victorinox item) just twice, and after honing, they are good as new. I'm sure that eventually, they'll need professional sharpening, but it's been almost a year, and I can imagine going another year before they really need professional work... and even then, they might be okay with just a honing steel.***About THIS Knife***Okay, so *this* knife is a bit odd. It has a full-sized handle (pretty much the same as the rest of the Fibrox line), but the blade is a chef's knife blade that looks like it got hit with a shrink ray. To be perfectly honest, I find that this knife gets WAY more use than our chef's knife; it seems like for 70% of kitchen tasks, this is *just enough* knife.Actually, I really like it's middle-of-the-road size, and I HIGHLY recommend it as a first Victorinox knife, for someone who just wants to "see what's so great about" them. In a sense, it's a "gateway" knife. You can get a feel for the brand, their handles, and their blades, and then make your future buying decisions with your experience in mind... and if you hate it... then it's not like you're out a ton of money.

Have only had it for a few days, but so far so good. Very sharp and a great size for me.

I was on a Victorinox knife bender, and bought a bunch of different Victorinox knives, including 10", 8", 6" and 5" chef's knives, boning, bucher, bar, paring, and other styles. Actually, out of all the sizes and styles I purchased, my favorite Victorinox is this 5" chef's knife. It's actually more like a slightly larger prep knife, or paring knife... which it works great as. However, my goto use for the 5" chef's knife is a steak knife. It is by far the best steak knife I use. Pros: It's has a bigger handle allowing for a solid grip, it's non-serrated so the meat has clean cuts, the knife blade is larger and very sharp so it can cut very thick steaks easily, and it keeps a sharp edge well. Also, being a bit larger blade, honing and sharpening is easier. The only con I can think of is that it's somewhat expensive for a steak knife. However, if you can catch it on sale for $15 or so, it's well worth it especially if you love steaks. That said, it's also a good size for a utility, prep, or large paring knife. At that price you should get a few since it does have multi-uses.

This knife is now my 8" chef's sole companion at work, perhaps even it's rival. It's perfect for chopping small, soft items. I can power through case after case of mushrooms with lightning speed and with no fatigue thanks to the light blade and handle, and the blade length seems just right for most slicing tasks. I've left my beloved tourning knife at home, as this peels fairly well after you get used to it. Now that I think about it, I'd say that this is in my hand more often than my 8". It does have it's downsides that keep a real Chef's knife right beside it though. One downside is that it's just not large enough to handle everything. The blade is much too short to butcher most meats or bone chicken. Also, the handle isn't big enough for my large hands to gain leverage for hard to cut items (butternut squash, I'm looking at you.) Also, it doesn't mince well at all; the blade simply isn't deep enough or doesn't have enough belly to rock well.When it came in the mail, it was plenty sharp. Tomato test with fresh garden tomatoes proved that; though it did feel like it needed a little love from a steel. After a few passes, it was shaving sharp with a mirror smooth edge. It takes an edge quickly with a standard steel and holds it well, just as the rest of their line. It stays sharp every bit as long as my tried and true Wusthoff.My wife loves it as she is 4' 10" and has smallish hands. As I said, the handle is a bit smaller then the most chefs knives and works for her quite well. She wishes I would leave this one at home all the time. Perhaps I'll get her the 6" version... It may be up to 95% of kitchen tasks for those with smaller hands.

Love this knife! Great for smaller hands. Very sharp!