Best chefs knife in the $75 and under range

A dull knife is not safer than a truly sharp knife. That is a myth. A dull knife takes more force to cut and steer increasing the risk of an accident. A pinch grip on the knife with a claw for holding the food will greatly reduce the risk. There are some good basic videos and classes on kitchen knife safety. That being said **** happens, but with proper skills you will greatly reduce damage to yourself. I have had my fun with knife injuries usually with paring knifes doing tricky work like carving radishes into flowers and mushrooms for my daughters. Used superglue worked great. There is mild neurotoxicity from super glue and I am planning to hit up my orthopedic surgeon friend to get a tube of his surgical glue. Sorry for previous posters injuries. Certainly never fun. Using a claw you will save your fingers, much better to just shave some knuckle skin if an accident occurs.

At the Salado EggFest I ended up cutting the crap out of both hands. Our own Travis preformed triage and gave me a profhylactic ((for my finger)))..... :ar!

Bummer. Hope your healing up nicely.

Nothing more pleasant than a nice deep gash to your finger with a jalepeno soaked knife. Ouch.

I, respectfully, have to disagree with Newportlocal.  An extremely sharp knife will cut into a tomato with just the weight of the knife laying on it.  One slip and it will cut into you far beyond what a dull knife would cut.

Several of us here like to sharpen our knives to incredible sharpness (it's a macho thing).  It is my experience and several others' experiences that knife wounds from very sharp knives are much more severe than with dull knives.  It may be true (but I doubt it) that you may cut yourself more often by exerting more pressure to cut into that onion with a dull knife, but the resultant injury is not nearly as severe.

As expected when I posted. I expected there would be debate between camps. When i was younger the macho invincible attitude was more pronounced. My opinion is not based on macho.The cumulitive hive mind of knife nuts and professional chefs on forums like kitchen knife forum would disagree. I personally find i have much more control over my sharp knives than when they start to dull and want to twist and not steer as well. In regards to injury. I take it very seriously when i am cutting and have put a lot of effort into safe technique.But too each their own. We can certainly agree to disagree and be friends.

More important than a good knife is knowing how to keep a knife sharp. Even really good knives get dull fairly quickly with regular use and then its just a dull expensive knife. The knife in the video is what I use camping and think I paid $12 for it and its as sharp as you will ever need a knife.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYGKhwx315A

True

I've always been in the sharp= safer camp because of what I observed when I had the restaurant. All chefs are taught that 1st week in culinary school as well. Our chefs would walk off the job if our knives went dull (as if they needed an excuse). We had a company in every week to drop off fresh knives and take the old to sharpen. Every restaurant in town used the same guy. I don't have any scientific evidence but I have plenty of empirical evidence that at least it is believed to be true and taught to be true that sharper is safer in commercial kitchens.

I do acknowledge that if you do get cut with a sharp knife, the cut would will be deeper.

Really don't have a dog in this fight, just noting what I observed in my business.

That being said, "macho" sharp may be a whole different story. They were very sharp but sounds like many folks are taking it to the next level. That could be another issue.

Lmao it's all in fun. Not meant to be a fight and hopefully people learn something from it and improve their own knife skills and safety from something we said.

I decided to buy inexpensive knives that felt right when I held them (safety) and sharpen them on an electric sharpener I got that got good ratings (just sharp enough for anything I'd need).  If they get damaged or lost, I'm not out an expensive show piece.  If I drop one on my hand when I'm frittering about in my cramped kitchen, the sharpness does minimal damage.

I am getting married in November, soooo I am now registering for wedding gifts through crate & barrel, bb&b and macys . . . pretty freakin awesome.  I already scanned 4 different SHUN knives from crate & barrel but this link has opened my eyes.  From what I have read on www.kitchenknifeforums.com and  http://www.chefknivestogo.com/ shun makes a good product, but known to be overpriced.  I have never owned a japanese knife, so now considering purchasing a go-to Tojiro Gyuto and slowwwwwly grow my collection from there.  Also, I have never sharpened a knife except by running my henkels through a cheap plastic device with carbide. I want to install the magnet and line up my SHUNS on the wall soooo bad, but after research I feel I am making the right choice, but it is difficult!    

Thought I would give you a little info hope it helps. It is really a fun hobby and I enjoy my cooking to a whole different level now.

Since you expressed interest thought I would give you some fun links.

http://korin.com/site/home.html
korin is an amazing shop in New York and Mari will be very helpful to you. You can have your knife professionally sharpened for free before it is sent to you if requested.

http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/
Jon has nice knives and Japanese waterstones for sharpening and is a really nice guy to talk with. He also has a lot of videos on sharpening.

http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/
Koki also extremely helpful and I usually get my knives quicker from him in Japan than I do ordering from a shop in the states. I don't know how he does it.

http://www.theboardsmith.com/
If you get nice knives you should get a end grain board from boardsmith. Dave is very helpful and I don't know how he does the quality he does for the price. A lot of boards use too much glue, aren't end grain, etc. and will hurt your edges.

This is the best knife to start your addiction for a reasonable price from Bluewayjapan.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Japanese-Swedish-Stainless-Wa-Gyuto-Knife-240mm-Octagon-/230726550467?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35b85fc3c3#ht_2640wt_836
I have the 270mm and absolutely love mine. 

Tojiro isn't bad. Early on I bought a DP and the higher end Senkou. cutlery and more has a set of paring and gyuto senkou for $199.
That being said if you buy the Sakai wa gyuto at blue way you will definitely want more nice japanese knives.

This thread is interesting, thanks guys and gals! $-)