# Any Passarounds & Loaners for the USA / Midwest?



## Pensfan

Hey everyone

First off.. I am new to the site, so I understand if people might be hesitant to send a knife to a new guy. However I have been very active in fountain pen world for years (despite talking some time off for seminary and new counseling work) and participated in Passarounds & Loaners for several expensive pens ($300 - $1,200) there.

I mentioned in my into post that I've read here for awhile and just now registered because I had questions about chef knives. A basic tl:dr, I have been using German chef knives for decades and have wanted to try decent/good Japanese chef knives, but haven't been able to find any shops here that will let you demo a knife. The only ones I have tried were real cheap and I'm sure are not good representations of them haha. I also mentioned that I recently started some basic blacksmithing classes and want to make my own chef knives in a year or two once I've learned more.

So two things... would anyone be willing to loan me either of (hopefully get both from a couple people if one doesn't have both to loan) the knives below?

#1 - a moderate/good quality Japanese knife to try out before investing in a good one if I like it

#2 - a good quality German/western style chef knife to replace my current mediocre Calphalon Contemporary 8" chef. I want to buy a decent knife to use extensively until I'm able to make my own in the future

Thank you everyone!


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## Pensfan

Sorry about that! Looks like the link to the fountain pen network I posted was removed by the mods. If anyone wants references, just shoot me a msg and I can provide them

Thanks!


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## Jville

Wow, $1200 fountain pens. I can’t imagine trying to explain that to the wife.


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## BillHanna

Easier to hide than a 300mm suji though.


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## Pensfan

Jville said:


> Wow, $1200 fountain pens. I can’t imagine trying to explain that to the wife.



Luckily it is a hobby where I hunt down vintage pens in the wild, restore them, and sell the ones I don't want for myself. Overall I think I might have made a few bucks doing it. Mostly the hobby funds itself if you know what to look for and have fun restoring old ones.


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## Pensfan

BillHanna said:


> Easier to hide than a 300mm suji though.



Pistols, Pens... maybe Knives?

_This one? Oh it's been in the back of the [gun safe / pen box / knife storage] for a long time!_

lol


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## ExistentialHero

Jville said:


> Wow, $1200 fountain pens. I can’t imagine trying to explain that to the wife.



Wait until you meet the watch people. $1200 barely breaks "entry-level".


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## ian

Maybe it’s worth asking what you are trying to accomplish by getting a single passaround knife.

if your goal is to figure out what your knife preferences are, getting a single passaround will not suffice, since there’s so much variety out there. And it’s not clear that you can really figure out whether a given knife works for you in a week or two, if you don’t have experience with Japanese knives. I mean, if you can get someone to send you a good PA knife, great, but it might be a bit of an ask since you’re new here, and I’m not sure you’ll get that much out of it. I’d suggest just buying a new knife from a well vetted brand (start a thread if you want recs), learning over a couple months how to adapt your technique to it, picking up a sharpening stone, and learning how to sharpen if you don’t already know. Once you develop some relationships on the forum you’ll have more PA chances.

(Fwiw, once you’re an established member you might start using BST as your PA venue, in the sense that you’ll be able to recognize deals on there, buy the knife, and then sell it for not so much less quickly afterward. That’s mostly how I try new knives nowadays.)


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## tcmx3

ExistentialHero said:


> Wait until you meet the watch people. $1200 barely breaks "entry-level".



to be fair, you can get a pretty good watch for the price of a celluloid montblanc or certain other highly desirable pens.

but then you'd have to figure out which is less useful in the modern world lol (I say this as a person who has rather a lot of pens and has been through some nice watches over the years).


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## daveb

Pensfan said:


> Sorry about that! Looks like the link to the fountain pen network I posted was removed by the mods.
> 
> Thanks!



New members posting links drives the anti-spam software batshit. After 5 or 6 posts you're considered a regular.

This is explained in depth and in detail in the .1 nanosecond banner you see when registering. You're not the first and likely won't be the last.

BTW, where do Waterman rate among "good" pens? A former gf tried to class me up with a nice watch and pen. She had no idea what she was dealing with....


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## Pensfan

ian said:


> Maybe it’s worth asking what you are trying to accomplish by getting a single passaround knife.
> 
> if your goal is to figure out what your knife preferences are, getting a single passaround will not suffice, since there’s so much variety out there. And it’s not clear that you can really figure out whether a given knife works for you in a week or two, if you don’t have experience with Japanese knives. I mean, if you can get someone to send you a good PA knife, great, but it might be a bit of an ask since you’re new here, and I’m not sure you’ll get that much out of it. I’d suggest just buying a new knife from a well vetted brand (start a thread if you want recs), learning over a couple months how to adapt your technique to it, picking up a sharpening stone, and learning how to sharpen if you don’t already know. Once you develop some relationships on the forum you’ll have more PA chances.
> 
> (Fwiw, once you’re an established member you might start using BST as your PA venue, in the sense that you’ll be able to recognize deals on there, buy the knife, and then sell it for not so much less quickly afterward. That’s mostly how I try new knives nowadays.)


Thank you for the detailed reply. After talking to some others and reading more, I'm thinking the Japanese knives are enough of a different breed of blade that they would make for a lengthy learning curve. For the time being I'm going to stick with German knives until I can get my hands on a few Japanese knives and really run them through their paces.

As for what I AM looking for, I had a really nice Henkel's years ago. However we lost everything in a house fire in Nov 2011, including that & several knives, not to mention about 20 vintage pre-1950s German fountain pens that are irreplaceable of course. Since then I have just been using a Calphalon block set that someone donated to us after the fire and I haven't really changed anything other than adding the Victorinox for a thin blade. I would lie to get a good knife again, at least one that will be solid and serviceable for a few years until I can finally start making good ones for myself


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## Pensfan

daveb said:


> New members posting links drives the anti-spam software batshit. After 5 or 6 posts you're considered a regular.


Good to know, thanks 



daveb said:


> BTW, where do Waterman rate among "good" pens? A former gf tried to class me up with a nice watch and pen. She had no idea what she was dealing with....


Pretty sure this is going to sound familiar... depends on the pen! haha Honestly though, they are serviceable pens and can be great writers after a little bit of tuning the nibs. Most of the modern pens are cartridge fillers which I personally am not very fond of. Some of the vintage pens are really cool. I love the lever fillers from the 1930s -1960s and the desk pens are awesome. I still love the "fancy banker" look of a long pen sticking out of a base on your desk haha


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## Jovidah

The gateway knives thread that's been popping around lately might be a decent starting point to look at.


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## Pensfan

Jovidah said:


> The gateway knives thread that's been popping around lately might be a decent starting point to look at.


Thank you! I will definitely check that out


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## Jovidah

For what it's worth, I do actually see your point. It's not a bad idea to want to experience a 'higher end knife' just to get an idea of what you're missing. Part of the problem is taht 'high end' still has an immense variety. It's almost like saying 'I want to try italian food', and then trying to judge it based on 1 meal from 1 restaurant. 
IMO that's the hardest part about the whole knife 'journey'. Figuring out what your actual preferences are. It's fairly easy to figure out what to buy once you know what your preferences are, the problem is figuring those out when you have a very limited frame of reference and basis of experience. In the end it's hard to do that without buying - or at least trying - multiple knives.


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## Jville

ExistentialHero said:


> Wait until you meet the watch people. $1200 barely breaks "entry-level".


Yeah, but at least that’s a watch.


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## Todd762

You might have to wait and watch the forum for awhile for the next pass around. I haven’t participated in one, just took the plunge. I agree with the above post on narrowing down what you might be looking for, petty, gyuto, etc. 

There will be a lot of personal preference involved as with your other hobbies. Personally I could tell a huge difference with a 120mm TF petty I purchased after talking to the guys at District Cutlery. I have added several since then and waiting on a custom. 

If you ever get to a large metro area that has a store that carries Japanese kitchen knives, I’d go in and check it out. It will give you a lot of exposure to different knives.


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## TM001

Jovidah said:


> It's fairly easy to figure out what to buy once you know what your preferences are, the problem is figuring those out when you have a very limited frame of reference and basis of experience. In the end it's hard to do that without buying - or at least trying - multiple knives.



This.

I lurked on the forums for several months before purchasing first knife. Even with all the reading and research I did, it wasn't until knife three and four that I figured out what length/style etc. that suited me was. You also have to be willing to really try the knives, I almost gave up on my Toyama 240 because I was not used to the size. It is now my most used.

I don't have any stores anywhere near me so could not try before buying so can empathize. I can loan a Sukenari 210 Ginsan Gyuto from Knives and Stones (my first J knife purchase) if you want to try it. It was a good starter knife for me although it is on short side for a 210 at around 200 and has the KS ebony handle which are a little smaller and heavier than some Wa handles. But it is nice to use and easy to maintain.

Message me if you are intersested and we can arrange shipping and return. I can sharpen it before sending if you wish but I am still only a passable sharpener.


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## Pensfan

TM001 said:


> I don't have any stores anywhere near me so could not try before buying so can empathize. I can loan a Sukenari 210 Ginsan Gyuto from Knives and Stones (my first J knife purchase) if you want to try it. It was a good starter knife for me although it is on short side for a 210 at around 200 and has the KS ebony handle which are a little smaller and heavier than some Wa handles. But it is nice to use and easy to maintain.
> 
> Message me if you are intersested and we can arrange shipping and return. I can sharpen it before sending if you wish but I am still only a passable sharpener.


That would be awesome, I would love to try that out, thank you!


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## dafox

Maybe fill out the "what knife to by" form asking for a loaner, I'll help you out if I have a knife like your looking for.


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## TM001

I got your PM and will sharpen it this week and try and get it sent out by the weekend. Don't blame me if you buy too many knives after trying it though.


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## Pensfan

TM001 said:


> I got your PM and will sharpen it this week and try and get it sent out by the weekend. Don't blame me if you buy too many knives after trying it though.



Thank you so much! I will give my wallet to my wife for safe keeping haha


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