I was thinking about buying a 7″ Wusthof Grand Prix II Santoku knife. The only reason I haven’t got it yet is because I do not know if it will fit into a 1.5 inch slot in my knife block. I am only concerned about the width of the knife, not the length.
Does anyone know if this knife would fit into that slot? Thanks.

Sure the big names are Wusthof and henckels, but I was wondering what peoples favorite knives are. Sharpness, remaining a strong edge, ect.

What is the best brand for a utlity knife? I don’t want anything ultra cheap but I do not want to spend more than say $50 or so either. (After all it is only a utlity knife.)

Normally I buy Wusthof or Shun but those are just too costly for a utlity knife. (Although both excellent for other purposes. Not to mention well worth the cost.)

How do they stack-up to their Teutonic brethren Henckels Pro “S”, and Wusthof Classic?

So I’m buying knives for a christmas present and I don’t know where to start. I went to the mall today and grabbed some 40 dollar wusthof knife just to check it out. So yeah…it seems sharp idk. So here are the specific questions:
Oh and before I start I’m probably going to buy whatever set I get at the mall which limits me to shun, wusthof, and J.A. Henckels.
1. does it matter for a lefty?
2. will the harder steel of a shun mean less maintenance/sharpening?
3. What knives of the 4 billion to choose from should I get if I’m thinking of just getting maybe four or so to start?

I was atm leaning towards the wusthof classic: a pairing knife, a santoku or something (it just looked cool), some serrated bread knife, and a cook’s knife. Let me know your thoughts. The person I’m buying them for doesn’t know anything about knives either- so maintenance and comfort win out since many of the strengths of each choice will probably just go undetected.