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Ken Onion Stratus Culinary Knives: Rain Collection

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Ken Onion Stratus Culinary Knives: Rain Collection

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Product Description

Designed by legendary knifemaker Ken Onion, the Rain collection comprises 11 American-made kitchen knives, each one excelling at different tasks. Made from high-carbon stainless steel, the blades feature a unique pattern to keep food from sticking, and to reduce surface tension when cutting Read More

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Aug 10, 2016

Really surprised at how awesome these are IRL. Sharpened they are beast mode and sturdy. Feel like they will last a very long time and the steel looks amazing. Slips right through beef and cuts tomato slices paper thin. Appreciated this drop very much. Also the G10 is LEGIT! Don't believe the FUD! :D But from what I read these knives were too costly to keep making at this price point so Ken Onion started his own factory to create a new line of knives called the SKY. So I am not sure if we will ever see this drop again.

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Tyler

2438

Jul 16, 2016

We've repeatedly been in touch with the vendor and they've informed us that they are still awaiting a new batch of units to ship to our warehouse to complete the group's order. We will keep checking in until everything is en route to us and turned around to each of you.
We understand that the additional wait time is undesirable. If you would prefer to cancel your order, please contact Community Support using the “Contact Support” button in your transactions page (http://massdrop.com/transactions).
You can expect an update from us on 7/21 or sooner if something comes up.
If you have any questions, please visit our Help Center (http://massdrop.com/helpcenter).

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Tyler

2438

Jul 12, 2016

The group's bulk order arrived earlier to our warehouse in New Jersey and many of the individual packages have already shipped back out. However, upon taking inventory of everything received, our team was made aware of a backorder affecting a small handful of units. Rest assured, we've reached back out to the vendor to resolve this hiccup and expect to have the remaining units in our warehouse shortly.
Expect another update from us on 7/15 or sooner if something comes up.
If you have any questions, please visit our Help Center (https://massdrop.com/helpcenter).

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Tyler

2438

Jul 7, 2016

Bulk order shipped! The vendor informed us that the group's order was picked up and is on its way to our warehouse in New Jersey. Based on the tracking provided, the order is scheduled to arrive on 7/7.
Expect another update from us on 7/11 or sooner if something comes up.
If you have any questions, please visit our Help Center (https://massdrop.com/helpcenter).

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Tyler

2438

Jun 27, 2016

Thanks again for joining this drop! We have submitted the group's order with the vendor for the Ken Onion Stratus Culinary Knives: Rain Collection and they are working hard to prepare it for shipment.
As soon as the group's order is ready at the vendor's location, they will send the bulk shipment to our warehouse in New Jersey where our warehouse team will break it up into individual orders and ship them. The current estimated ship date from our warehouse is 7/18.
We will keep the group updated throughout the fulfillment process. You can expect an update from us by the end of the day Pacific Time on 7/6.
If you have any questions, please visit our Help Center (http://massdrop.com/helpcenter).

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oak1971

Jun 24, 2016

It would be nice if folks who have no vested interest in this drop would stfu.

Todd911

Jun 23, 2016

Is the price for 1-knife?

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Pearson

Jun 23, 2016

Todd911That price is for a single 4-inch Paring Knife (the smallest one in the picture). If you want one of the other knives, you have to pay extra.

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dsmegst

Jun 22, 2016

Wow, that's a lot of heated discussion over some kitchen knives. I don't know what Ken Onion has said in whatever forum but I have a few Shun knives of his design. The material used for blade and handle are different and the Shuns were MUCH more expensive in comparison. But the designs of the knives are pretty similar with the same sort of handle profile and angles. The handle encourages a pincer grip but I haven't found conventional grip to be strange either. The upward angle is a mixed blessing. For me, I find it comfortable since my wrists are straight and my arm reaches down. For my wife, at 5'2'', her arms are parallel to the cutting surface and so she has to bend her wrist over. She loses a lot of leverage at that angle. The one thing I can't tell from the picture is how thin the blade is behind the edge and how well it slices. BD1N steel isn't something I've used before so there's no telling how thin you can reprofile or how long the edge will hold up.

smallbit

1328

Jun 22, 2016

dsmegst

I found a bunch of videos from that second link where she demos each knife.

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Shenanigans

175

Jun 24, 2016

dsmegstI've used both. The shuns where higher HRC on the steel and either vg-10 (comparable to BDZ1) or SG1 (much better than BDZ1) depending on if they are normal or "elite" lines of the Onion-designed Shun series. The Shuns are also san-mai or laminate construction meaning that a thin layer over very hard steel is clad on both sides by softer protective steel (the 3 layers are forged together and will not separate). This allows the actually steel doing the cutting to be harder (last longer) without making that over-all blade too fragile/ brittle. More importantly it makes both sharpening and thinning behind the edge (as needed on any knife over time) MUCH easier. The Rains are mono steel (no cladding). That means if you've got A LOT over very difficult to grind metal to chew through if want to thin or sharpen them. This apparently is plus to folks that think that a home chef might wear a knife out in a couple years because they plan to attack them with a 3hp bench-grinder, coarse wheel, and determined ignorance.
The handle materials on the Shuns is their own version of "pakkawood" which is a wood that has been impregnated by resin under high heat /pressure in order to stabilize it. The Rain's G10 is a full synthetic material that's very popular in non-kitchen knives but not seen much in the kitchen. The Shun's are already proven to be very durable in the kitchen, but g10 is also a very tough material. The only possible issue that I could see is that any time you have a sandwich of handle-tang-handle material they will expand /contract at different rates and over time, gaps may form between tang and scale (especially when there are only 2 rivets on the handle and you think that knives should go in the dishwasher like Cpt. smallbit: blind defender of all things Onion). But as long as they arn't abused / exposed to dramatic temperature changes, they should be fine.
The big difference between the "Shunions" and the Onion Rains are that one line was made by Shun and the blades ground with proper full contour and thinness behind the edge and the others are made by Lamson&Goodnow who ground them very flat and as over-thick as some people's skulls behind the edge.
Both have the same "signature" clueless anti-ergonomics that most intelligent users will realize is mediocre for some and terrible for others.

reforminded

Jun 22, 2016

Man these look like some cheap ass throwaway knives. Massdrop seems to be about getting people quality product at a group discount....why bother with cheap disposable knives like these? Doesn't seem to fit the mold of normal offerings.

dsmegst

Jun 22, 2016

reformindedNot really. G10 is a very good material for a knife handle, probably the most durable and resistant to abuse out of all others out there. G10 can take many different textures and will last a long time. Also, Carpenter makes very high quality steel alloys for blades and they are generally far superior to the cheap blades found in truly disposable knives.