Kiwi & KOM KOM are a thai knife brand.
If you’re trying to find knives that:
- you can use and abuse
- are sharp
- are easily resharpened
- are wicked affordable
- you can test new blade shapes
These are it.
If You’re Looking for Knives You Can Beat the Crap Out of
I’m talking like total disregard for care.
I even take the ones with the wooden handles and put them in my dishwasher (for shame Dylan!) – they’re still fine and it’s been 3 years.
Before each use I do a few passes on my honing rod and they’re back to new.
At this point I’ve used these to dice/mince 100s of lbs of celery, carrots, onions, scallions, garlic, etc. Same with meat.
I will say, after like an hour of cutting the wooden handles do cause a bit of a “wood burn” from rubbing.
I’ve also never used a wood oil on them either so that doesn’t help; I bet I could sand them and then apply a wood oil and they’d be fine.
They also make the knives with plastic, anti-slip handles that I know would sus the problem too.
But I’m also lazy and these are cheap.
They Won’t Break the Bank
Most “good” knives these days are expensive – apart from a brand like Victorinox which I’d deem “affordable.”
A site I like to source knives from is Cutlery and More.
They feature a lot of the brands you’ll come across:
- MAC
- Miyabi
- Enso
- Wusthof
- Shun
- etc.
Most Knife people would deem these “good” brands; These brands will run you $50-200+ for 1 knife.
Kiwi and/or KOM KOM are $6-12 for 1 knife.
You could likely build an entire knife set with these for less than $50-60.
While they may “feel cheap” – it’s quite literally because they are cheap and they’re awesome.
They Can be Re-sharpened and / or Honed Easily
If you don’t have a honing rod, grab a ceramic coffee cup and flip it upside down.
Put the knife at an angle like you would for honing it.
Do a few passes on either side and the knife is back to new, like magic.
I’ve had the same Kiwi knives for over 3 years and these are razor sharp again after like 5 passes on a honing steel or a coffee cup.
That’s also after putting them in the dishwasher for 3 years and almost no care for them.
The blades also resist stains (the one above is my thumb print from slicing) and they’re quite thin.
The Blades are Thin
Being thin also leads to dulling quick – but like I said above, they can be re-honed easily.
This thinness can be a benefit for something like veggie prep work but could be problematic for something hearty.
Here’s three different chef Knives I own side-by-side:
You can still:
- Slice, dice, and mince onions, carrots, celery, etc. no problem.
- Slice a 1-2″ steak after cooking no problem.
- They can carve a turkey into thin slices
- They can chop smoked brisket
- etc.
The only thing I don’t really like these for is deboning protein – so chicken or turkey, whole primals and sub-primals of beef or pork, etc.
The blades are flexible because they’re thin but most People like semi-stiff or stiff boning and/or breaking knives for stuff like this.
The blade being thin also affects the weight – which these are light.
If you don’t like light knives, I wouldn’t buy these.
Essentially almost any and all “knife tasks” you can think of a cheap KIWI knife can do.
What About KOM KOM Then?
So I personally don’t own these because the KIWI knives do me just fine.
KOM KOM is made by the same people only they typically have a “nicer” handle and harder/heavier steel.
To be honest though, for a knife that’s $10 or so, it’s not even worth thinking about stuff like:
- blade steel
- handle material
- weight
- balance
- finish
These are all things “good” brands account for and they charge a pretty penny for it too.
But if you do want a little nicer quality I’d go with Victorinox over these.
