Ontario Knife Co. 5-Piece Old Hickory Knife Set 705

I'm a knife geek, who has done extensive studying on the subject, and has fairly extensive experience. I've paid $200 each for several rather fancy knives, including Fallkniven, Bark River, Spyderco and Cold Steel. These "fancy" knives are made of super steels such as VG10 and A2. But my favorite steel is 1095, which the Old Hickories are made of. It's inexpensive, durable, and very hard--keeping a wicked edge for a long time, while resisting chipping. Inexpensive certainly does not equate to inferior. The only drawback is dealing with the rust and corrosion issue, which is natural for high carbon steel. Especially with the wooden handles, I wouldn't put these in a dishwasher. For me, the tradeoff is worth it. Stainless steels are too soft to hold an edge for very long, so dealing with rust is a small price to pay for the benefits of 1095. Even cutting a little fruit discolored one of these blades. But once a patina is established, destructive rust isn't as big an issue--so I like the discoloration, although some would consider it ugly. I bought some leather, and made a sheath for one of the knives that seemed best suited for my wilderness bushcraft needs. Concerned that the knife might fail since it is so lightweight, I ordered another to sacrifice during my tests that would reveal the limits to me so that I would know what to expect. But after some serious abuse, it became clear that the knife is more than capable of serving my needs... and wasn't damaged at all from my tests. I feel that the pattern stamped into the blade adds tremendous strength, so you get an extremely lightweight knife that is strong enough for serious tasks. That's a great combination that I don't think other knives offer. The shorter knives in the set are not full tang, and are a little smaller than I expected. But the larger knives are full tang, which is necessary for bushcraft work. I only wish I found these knives before investing so much in expensive, heavy knives that I hardly use due to their high cost and weight. This is one of the best purchases I've made.

I bought this knife set for my boyfriend as a gift, he was so happy and I later found out this was the brand set his late grandma used for many many years before she passed, so obviously these are quality. They are really sharp and have everything you need.

******UPDATE AFTER ORIGINAL POST****Overall, these really are great knives. Before I go on, I do want to get a word of caution out right now to prospective buyers.These knives are NOT your typical, lazy-daisy stainless steel easy-to-take-care-of knives. You can't just throw them into the dishwasher to clean. The blades on these knives are made out of high carbon, 1095 steel, which is NOT stainless steel. It is much harder, can get MUCH sharper, and retains its cutting edge for much longer. Once sharpened to taste, they are easily touched up to retain their edge when needed. If you DON'T HAND wash and then HAND DRY these knives, they will start to rust fairly quickly. If you throw them into a dishwasher, you'll only do so a couple of times before you see the handle become damaged from the machine...and you'll see that rust I'm talking about. These knives need to be taken care of; if you have the patience to do so, you'll love them, like I do.Now, on to my review. As I said, these are great knives. Yes, they come in a really cheap package. So what? I bought these for nice knives, not nice packaging. Once sharpened by hand, these knives have the razor edge that I'm used to Old Hickory knives having. I'm not a fan of machine sharpening, or this Accu-sharp tungsten carbide garbage some people swear by. I'll pit my hand-sharpened razor edges against their dull quicky-sharpened knives any day...and I'll win every time. These knives are no different. The boning knife, carver (slicer), and butcher knives are full-tang blades, which is also very nice.Now, a few drawbacks. I can live with them, but I'm not completely happy because of them, thus the four-star rating. If these had been like my last set of Old Hickory knives, then this would have been a five-star rating, for sure.What's wrong with them? They are not QUITE as thick as my last set of knives I had bought some 15 years ago or so. I'm a fairly stout fellow, but I was barely able to flex the paring knife blade in the old set. I can flex the paring knife blades without much effort, and can flex the boning knife, carver, and butcher's knife without much more effort than the paring knives. Yes, I COULD flex the old blades, but it was actually a bit difficult to do so.The two paring knives are half-tang. Really, this isn't too much of a problem, as they are not meant for the heavy, heavy duty kind of work requiring a full-tang knife. In my old set, however, even the 3" and 4" paring knives were full-tang. Guess I'm just used to the little extra bit of quality, there.Ontario's out-of-the-factory edges on these knives are abysmal. Now, I didn't expect them to be nearly as sharp as I want them right out of the packaging, but there's no edge on these knives at all. Even a machine sharpener as highly rated as the expensive Chef's Choice M130 Professional Knife-Sharpening Station, Platinum would have issues with putting an edge on these. High carbon steel like this is HARD to cut down to a good, sharp edge...when you start with NO edge at all...well, it WILL take you a while to get these sharpened up. You will have to have patience in plenty to get these sharpened to your taste. It took me a few hours to get these blades sharpened into the razor edges they have now...and I've hand-sharpened knives for over 25 years, have good stones, and even polish my edges using a leather belt and jeweler's rouge...Despite these few cons, these ARE great knives, considering the type of steel they are made from, and the lovely low price that you pay for them. If you have patience enough to take good care of your kitchen tools and to have kitchen knives that can be SUPER sharp, then you'll love these knives.*********Nine years later, these knives are still performing fantastically! I will still leave the rating as four star, simply because of the issues I noted in my original post, but after nine years we're still using the knives from this set. Both paring knives are used daily, and the rest numerous times per week. Still easy to maintain their edge, still cutting through our meats and veggies with ease. I have no doubt these knives will outlast me.

If you are looking for a very nice set of kitchen knives without paying an arm and a leg look no further. These are great knives. 1095 carbon steel, tough steel that sharpens easily and holds and edge. I bought these because my family who grew up on farms and butchered their own livestock used to use these knives extensively. In fact, my Mother still has her Old Hickory butcher knife that has been used (and sharpened) so much over the years that the belly actually now curves inward. Her knives are also have a dark (almost black) patina from years of use.THESE ARE NOT STAINLESS STEEL AND WILL RUST IF NOT PROPERLY CARED FOR. DO NOT PUT THEM IN A DISHWASHER!Not only will they quickly rust in a dishwasher, but the extreme heat will also quickly ruin the wood handles. These need to be maintained. That means cleaned and dried and wiped down with a light coat of oil (yes you can use cooking oil) after each use. Yes they will stain almost immediately when cutting up certain foods (mainly any type of fruit or vegetable with a high acidic level). This is normal and is called a patina. It is not rust, and it will not hurt the blade. Just make sure you wipe then down after each use. My paring knives have already begun to tarnish with a patina from using them to slice up different fruits and vegetables. It goes with the territory.In short, if you are looking for a nice set of kitchen knives at a great price look no further. Just be prepared to maintain them properly and they will last a lifetime. However, if you are looking for a (mostly) maintenance free knife. I would find a decent set of stainless steel knives.