About HADO B1D - The Sumi line started off as a collaboration between HADO and Knifewear, and the B1D is the next evolution of that collab. By using the incredible Aogami #1 (Blue #1) steel and cladding it in intricately layered damascus steel (hence B1D), they’ve crafted an Excalibur-esque kitchen blade that wows me every time I use it. The confident weight and extreme sharpness of Hado knives means I barely have to push when slicing and the blade just drops through vegetables. It’s functional art.

While the blacksmith handles the forging and hardening to ensure the knife keeps a crazy sharp edge for a long time, the sharpener uses their mastery of steel grinding and polishing to turn a raw piece of forged steel into a precision tool.

Nomura-san of HADO is one such master sharpener. HADO sources expertly crafted blades and refines them into kitchen scalpels. When sharpening, Nomua-san and his team always have the end user in mind, shaping blades so they get incredibly sharp, keep their edge as long as possible, and are truly impressive to cut with.

About the Shape - Inspired by the profile of a traditional European chef knife, Gyutos are a multi-purpose knife with a slight meat cutting bias. “Gyuto” translates to “cow sword.” If you want one knife to do it all, This is it. Starting at 180mm, Gyutos can reach the ridiculously long (and awesome) 370mm. For the at-home or professional cook, we recommend a Gyuto which measures between 210mm and 270mm long.