KATSU - Claims to be Japanese steel, yet smells like made in China

[Outback in Idaho]

  Saw this knife on the Amazon Vine program, and while it looks nice I am suspicious. Did an online search and there's not much on 勝 Katsu, which is Japanese for "Victory".
As such I tried to contact Grant for his opinion outside of this forum.

  Not sure this knife is worth the money that is advertised. I like the blade design, yet Chinese vendors like showing what looks good, and hide what is not up to standards. And after being taken for a ride on my first year, paying $680 in taxes on hyped-up (un)Fair Market Value I trust very little of what comes on Amazon anymore.

  What do you all make of this, 勝 Katsu Folding Pocket Japanese Knife, G10 Handle, EDC Knife w/ D2 Steel Blade, Leather Sheath? ASIN: B08M42WHWH

[Outback in Idaho]

PS: What is a really good Damascus Steel folder that will last the rest of my days, you think? In this day of age I find it hard to trust vendors.

Thank You

[dks]

PS: What is a really good Damascus Steel folder that will last the rest of my days, you think? In this day of age I find it hard to trust vendors.

Thank You

Victorinox Limited edition Damascus 2020

[cody6268]

Looks to me kinda like a Kizer, which is about $100. Expensive for a Chinese knife, but most definitely NOT just short of $700. At that price, I'm getting into my short list of "No way, no how, not happening" like Sebenzas, Randalls, a custom Pat Crawford Crawford/Kasper (not the cheapy CRKT used to sell), and a long shortlist of custom, high-end folders and fixed blades.

[nate j]

With regard to the Katsu, I would bet money that it is a “Japanese-style” knife that is made in China.  I don’t have any experience with that brand, but it loses points with me out of the gate for what I consider deceptive marketing/advertising.

For a quality Damascus folder, have a look at LionSteel.  Be prepared, though, that we are talking about knives in probably the $200 - $400 range, depending on model, handle material, etc.  I don’t have any of their Damascus, but have several of their knives in M390, which I’ve been pleased with.

[comis]

I don't have this knife and had never dealt with this seller/dealer, so can't comment on whether it is Chinese or Japanese made.  But browsing from the 'Katsu' Amazon store, I do have one of the exact model in green handle, which I got from a Chinese online store a few years back.  It was a really cheap liner lock D2 knife with front flipper level(like the frictional blade), so I have a healthy suspect on whether other models are also made by Chinese.

However, I did read some of comments on the knife did say it has 'Katsu Japan' on the box, so maybe it's also possible the knife parts are made in China but assembled in Japan?