# Gesshin Hide Special Order 300mm Blue #1 Kensaki Yanagiba



## JBroida (Feb 11, 2012)

This was a special order for one of our customers... i thought it might be nice for you guys to see what kinds of things are possible from Gesshin Hide.











(the marks you see here are not in the metal but in the protective coating to keep the knife safe in shipping)


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## mhlee (Feb 11, 2012)

I love the pattern on the backs of the Hide knives. Nice knife!


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## Cadillac J (Feb 11, 2012)

mhlee said:


> I love the pattern on the backs of the Hide knives. Nice knife!



Me too, I like the contrast in colors.

Jon, I've always wondered...if you don't mind commenting, what % of your sales would you estimate are from forum members? The reason I ask is that when I see a knife like the $2500 Karin-handled Gesshin Ino yanagi get sold, I just assume that it has to be someone within the community...but then I never see any post or pictures show up, so I wonder if it was to a 'casual' customer--but then I can't believe there would be a demand for something like that to a 'casual' customer...but then I remember you are in a wealthy area in which some people can afford anything.


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## JBroida (Feb 11, 2012)

sometimes i cant tell who is from the community and who is not... maybe around 1/4 or so (maybe less)

i sell to A LOT of chefs


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## Johnny.B.Good (Feb 11, 2012)

Nice knife Jon.

Question: do owners/users of these knives leave the "certification sticker" on the ferrule in place? Is it meant to stay there or is it just a cool thing to see upon taking delivery (knowing what it means).


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## slowtyper (Feb 11, 2012)

Depends if they take the stickers off their new era caps or not


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## Johnny.B.Good (Feb 11, 2012)

slowtyper said:


> Depends if they take the stickers off their new era caps or not



I wasn't sure if it was this (leaving a sticker on a baseball cap) or more like removing badges on a car (a little more involved and not something most people do).


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## JBroida (Feb 11, 2012)

haha... most leave it on


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## schanop (Feb 23, 2012)

After a long wait and almost the same amount of time from Oz custom to door step compared with the time it took from JKI to Oz custom, the knife was in my hands yesterday. Quite busy at the moment, so I could only give a brief first look impression, without having use it.

This Hide feels awesome. Ura is finished length way, usually a sign of a high quality finsih. Mirror finish is nicely done, although I think Suisin Densho of comparable price may be a touch more prettier. After a while they will eventually look the same after picking up scratches here and there during usage.

The real quality of it though, as Jon is selling this, the grind and the steel, I'll have to find time to put it on the stone and start cutting fish to find out.


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## schanop (Feb 26, 2012)

Finally had enough time to get around trying this Hide for the first time. Bought a 2kg Katsuo and a .8kg Tai for dinner. For the meal I had a chance to try skinning, hirazukuri, and sogizuki with this yanagiba. The knife feels good during cutting and it feels quite light in hand. The handle is on the smaller side too, I think; this suits me well, as I have small hands.

To give you guys a little better reference, I would compare this Hide kensaki yanagiba with Suisin Densyo yanagiba. Hide comes out to be 198g on the scale, compared with Densyo' 229g. No wonder, it felt light in hand as I have been using Densyo for a little while. Desyo also feels a little bit more stout and a little bit stiffer compared with this Hide.

Fit and Finish wise, Densyo wins by a small margin from out of the box condition. This Hide comes with mirror polish and a nicely finished overall, but mirror polish on Densyo was done better, more even, smoother, and those little details around coil, spine, tip, etc. Densyo is just a prettier knife.

Now the real deal for Hide knife, the grind. I thought that Densyo was easy to sharpen, was easy to follow the grind that Yamaguchi-san created. It is easier to follow Yamamoto-san's grind. May be from Jon's words too, but I feel that this Hide comes with even more even bevel. After a quick sharpening session, there are only a few shallow low spots left and it didn't take me too long to erase most the course grind marks and get an ok polish.


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