# Brian Hanson Nakiri 2 week quick review



## Matt Jacobs (Jun 2, 2022)

Sharing my quick thoughts on my new Nakiri, I will post a full youtube review at some point.
Quick back story, I first saw Brian's knives at Epic Edge in Seattle, they stock a decent chunk of his Damascus knives. I looked into his website and was a fan of his story of being a chef turned knife maker.
I followed him on Instagram and he posted a really gorgeous hammered damascus nakiri. I reached out to see if he could do one in a monosteel for me and this is what we came up with.
165mm 52100 hammered mono steel at roughly 61hrc. I will start with the handle which is one of the things that drew me to his knives. This one is Olive wood with red and bronze spacers and buffalo horn ferule. 
The handle is different from anything else I have tried it tapers both towards the knife from the heal but also from the top to the bottom. In pictures it looks fairly large but it is narrower than it is tall and is a little smaller than I thought it would be. Brian said he did this to help with grip if your hands get wet or greasy and I agree. The fit and finish on the handle is fantastic with crisp lines but also nice rounding. the fit-up to the blade is perfect.
The blade itself is exactly what I wanted in a Nakiri, light and nimble. I have used 180mm Nakiri's in the past and love them but I dont reach for them on my board as I normally would grab a gyuto. At 165mm I find that I reach for it all the time for veggie prep. As you can see in the pictures this thing is thin behind the edge, nail flexing thin. It glides through food as good or better than any Nakiri I have tried. The hammered portion of the blade is great for food release and I I love the aesthetic. I have not used it on tall dense produce yet so I cant comment on wedging but I dont see it being an issue. The heat treat feels spot on for me, considering I havent sharpened it yet. I find 52100 can be all over the board with up to 65hrc like Steelport or into the high 50's which I find to be very lack luster. To me this feels like ShiHan, pretty bulletproof but very lively on the board. 
Overall this is an unbelievable knife, and it was a killer price point. Brian was fantastic to work with and very responsive. I have been really impressed with the fact that he wants feedback. He even invited to me take some of my other knives and spend the day with him at his shop to talk knives. I think its awesome that a knife maker wants so much input. I 100% recommend working with him and I will pick up something from him in Damascus in the future. 
Feel free to ask me any questions.


----------

