Buying Tom Douglas by Pinzon Wenger 10-Inch Chef's Knife

After having used my previous cheapo knife set to death I decided to buy myself a nice chef knife. Because I'm an Amazon prime member I take advantage of the free shipping and bought 10 knives to pick the one I want to keep. The others I tried were different versions of Wusthof, Victorinox, Henckel, Shun, & Kyocera in either a Chef or Santoku above 7".
After testing them all I decided on this one for a few reasons.
1. Blade- was almost as sharp as knives 4x as much cost. After testing on different foods and a few different knife techniques I found the Douglas 10" to be easier to wield then some of the smaller blades. After cutting I used a USB microscope to check the edge & it looked great. Most the other blades after the same tests showed much wear. While the Shun was the sharpest it also showed a ton of micro damage to the blade, meaning more use of the steel to make the blade straight.
The other factor was the shape of the blade. The pinch before the handle is thin like the blade and most of the other "better" knives had a thick or graduated pinch which made me exert about 3x as much force to hold the knife. I know this thicker part is a sign of a good knife but I prefer the thinner pinch.
The best part of the knife was an dull piece of metal that juts down from the handle. Most the other chef knives went straight to blade and my huge paws would make me smash my knuckles while chopping. This little drop down is like the Santoku in idea without the huge shelf.

2. The handle is made for big men! After trying 10 knives from Amazon and a few more in Store at SurLaTab this was the best handle (other then the miracle blade's rock & chop... seriously great knife design). The handle was not only long but was rounded thicker as well. The pinch area has a molded grip to make proper knife techniques easier. I'm horrible usually when trying to chop fast like Top Chef but this handle gives me so much more control without cramping from holding it. I also like the handle material. At first I was suspect of the molded plastic but quickly grew to love it. The plastic gives a nice grip even when your hands are mucky. It has a micro beading that the pictures don't really show, it gives you a great grip and cleans easily.

3. It's Tom Douglas' local food hero of Seattle. He must have actually designed this knife as I haven't seen anything like it before and the size of the handle would fit his lumber jack hands. I first bought his spatulas and they were great so I gave the knives a shot.

If you have smaller hands like my wife try the 7" Santoku Tom Douglas by Pinzon Kai 7-Inch Stainless-Steel Santoku Knife. She decided to keep that one for herself as the handle is perfect for her child like hands. I have used it myself a few times and while it is small for me it is still very easy to use and very good quality (different maker then chef knife).Get more detail about Tom Douglas by Pinzon Wenger 10-Inch Chef's Knife.