- Joined
- Jan 14, 2006
- Location
- At home...
Called a "BBQ Competition-Chef Series Knife" in my email last week which contained an offer that sounded too good to be true. The details were: List price $40, Every day price $27, and SpitJack Club Member (one time) price of $20 with free returns. So I pulled the trigger.
I'm not a flavor-of-the month kind of guy, I do have a collection of knives, both sporting and kitchen styles, and I shoot from the hip when it comes to likes and dis-likes of any product. Clearly it's too soon for a full review.... but here are my "First Look" observations.
1. $20 - That's hard to ignore, but will it be worth the regular price which seems reasonable.
2. The box is really nice, it has a padded cut-out that swallows the knife, it's heavy duty, and has a magnetic closure on the front flap.
3. The design and lines are sharp it has a full tang, there is good fit and finish work on the triple rivets, handle and pommel. Other than a reverse pommel angle, the SpitJack kinda sorta resembles some Dalstrong models of carving knives.
4. The grip fits my hand well, the knife feels hefty, yet amazingly balanced to me.
5. The blade is very sharp out of the box and passes the paper test all the way to the rounded point with no problem at all. I'm guessing it has a blade angle between 14° and 17°.
6. I would call the blade semi-flexible, meaning flexible enough to follow contours of something like a bone-in ham, but stout enough for very straight cuts on something deep like a prime rib.
Technically a Granton edge slicing/carving knife here is how it compares to my current favorite carving knife which is a 14" Victorinox brand:
7. The SpitJack is 29 grams heavier than the Victorinox.
8. The Victorinox has a textured Fibrox handle which is more generous in width and it curls at the butt to reduce slippage. It too is very well balanced. It's cost was around $45.
9. The SpitJack has wider grooves and they are farther up on the cheek.
10. The Victorinox has a higher blade height for more cutting board clearance which may seem trivial.... but it comes into play if you are wearing a hot glove under a Nitrile glove.
11. I have not seen a county of origin or detailed description of the steel on the SpitJack. My Victorinox is Swss made.
12. The sheer size of the Victorinox is great for showing off, and I can get a true one-stroke cut everytime.... but I have to store mine on a magnetic knife holder and it's a pain to wrap up when transporting to an event.
Bottom line, I'm stoked to field test my new SpitJack slicer. I'm very particular about lightly honing all my knives regularly so I'm not the best when it comes to commenting on the life of an edge. Biggest take-away: With the free return option, I should have tried to order 3 or 4 on my special offer, these may have been nice for Christmas presents.... BUT it's only March, so if I like it $27 is not out of the question.
I'm not a flavor-of-the month kind of guy, I do have a collection of knives, both sporting and kitchen styles, and I shoot from the hip when it comes to likes and dis-likes of any product. Clearly it's too soon for a full review.... but here are my "First Look" observations.
1. $20 - That's hard to ignore, but will it be worth the regular price which seems reasonable.
2. The box is really nice, it has a padded cut-out that swallows the knife, it's heavy duty, and has a magnetic closure on the front flap.
3. The design and lines are sharp it has a full tang, there is good fit and finish work on the triple rivets, handle and pommel. Other than a reverse pommel angle, the SpitJack kinda sorta resembles some Dalstrong models of carving knives.
4. The grip fits my hand well, the knife feels hefty, yet amazingly balanced to me.
5. The blade is very sharp out of the box and passes the paper test all the way to the rounded point with no problem at all. I'm guessing it has a blade angle between 14° and 17°.
6. I would call the blade semi-flexible, meaning flexible enough to follow contours of something like a bone-in ham, but stout enough for very straight cuts on something deep like a prime rib.
Technically a Granton edge slicing/carving knife here is how it compares to my current favorite carving knife which is a 14" Victorinox brand:
7. The SpitJack is 29 grams heavier than the Victorinox.
8. The Victorinox has a textured Fibrox handle which is more generous in width and it curls at the butt to reduce slippage. It too is very well balanced. It's cost was around $45.
9. The SpitJack has wider grooves and they are farther up on the cheek.
10. The Victorinox has a higher blade height for more cutting board clearance which may seem trivial.... but it comes into play if you are wearing a hot glove under a Nitrile glove.
11. I have not seen a county of origin or detailed description of the steel on the SpitJack. My Victorinox is Swss made.
12. The sheer size of the Victorinox is great for showing off, and I can get a true one-stroke cut everytime.... but I have to store mine on a magnetic knife holder and it's a pain to wrap up when transporting to an event.
Bottom line, I'm stoked to field test my new SpitJack slicer. I'm very particular about lightly honing all my knives regularly so I'm not the best when it comes to commenting on the life of an edge. Biggest take-away: With the free return option, I should have tried to order 3 or 4 on my special offer, these may have been nice for Christmas presents.... BUT it's only March, so if I like it $27 is not out of the question.
