At 280mm / 11”, this hand filling, kitchen-conquering chef knife, handmade in Washing State by bladesmith Salem Straub, is not for the faint of heart. Salem's new Tahitian Zebra pattern mosaic damascus carbon steel blade, standing 57mm tall at the heel, offers compound bevel geometry which lends itself to chopping efficiency through excellent food release, and also contributes to the knife's weight, or lack thereof, which tips the scale at just 7.4oz / 210g; virtually featherweight for an oversized chef of these proportions. A full-distal taper down the spine provides quite a bit of lateral flexibility throughout the blade’s length, and Salem finds a way to balance this beautifully by ending the concave portion of the bevels early enough that the spine actually thickens around 2" from the tip, providing a touch of added strength to an oft-used part of the blade, before the spine tapers again to the needle-like tip. In the rear, the heirloom-fit bolster meets a beautiful, softly carved pieces of Australian Mallee Burl with a two-tone appearance.