Mercer Culinary M20003 Genesis 3.5-Inch Paring Knife,Black

Better than expected. Has a great feel in the hand is razor-sharp and just the right size 4 slicing apples, chopping vegetables, slicing tomatoes, whatever that you would use a pairing knife for it seems to be very high quality at a very good value. It was packaged nicely and arrived on time so I would give the vendor at least 5 stars and I would give the item 5 stars as well. I would also give amazon delivery five stars

Got this a few days ago because I dropped and broke the tip on my favorite paring knife. I cook a lot and this knife is much better than the one (I thought was great) it replaced. Extremely sharp with a handle that is not only comfortable but textured so no matter what liquid gets on it,it remains perto grip!

This knife is super sharp, feels comfortable in your hand and does a superb job of cutting and slicing food.

My wife and I love to cook, and a good quality, sharp knife is an indispensable tool in the kitchen. We have a variety of different brands and blade styles, ranging from a high-end Damascus Shun chef's knife to several small Wustoff paring knives. My wife's favorite knife for most purposes, because it was lightweight, maneuverable, and easy to put a sharp edge on, used to be a very old low-end Wustoff paring knife, the kind with a stamped-steel blade rather than forged, and a riveted slab handle. Unfortunately, over the years it gradually fell apart: pieces of the handle broke off and had to be epoxied back on, and finally, two years ago the blade just snapped off at the handle. After doing some research, I bought her this Mercer paring knife as a replacement, even though I was not familiar with the brand. It is an exceptional knife! She loves how the handle feels in her hand and the blade balances, and I am extremely impressed with how long the blade holds a very sharp edge (much longer than a number of our knives that are considerably more expensive), and once it does lose peak sharpness, it is very quick and easy to resharpen (FYI, I use a small, folding, two-sided diamond whetstone to sharpen my knives). I very belatedly came back to this product page to rate the knife, and was excited to see Mercer also offers a boning knife. We live on a small farm and raise a herd of Heritage Soay sheep, so I do a fair amount of butchering. I've ordered the boning knife and am looking forward to putting it to work.

I bought this knife three years ago and it’s been my daily driver ever since, bypassing my Shun and all others as my go to blade. And I mean everything- for slicing and dicing all the way to opening butcher packs, Amazon boxes and letters from the government! The blade is the perfect size, holds its edge well and is easy to maintain. I can’t find my original so I’m here to replace it- I’m sure the original will show up at some time in the future and then I just have two - right at $20, this little guy is about the price of a bottle of table wine. If you’re looking for a good general purpose knife, don’t hesitate. Buy a home and a smiths sharpener and it’ll last you decades. Edit- Found it! Now i have two- if you need a paring knife, this is the one (or two)!

If you want a paring knife to peel apples and such, this probably won't be the best choice so that is why I rated it a 4. The shape reminds me more of a mini-chef knife than a parer. For peeling, something slimmer would work better. But, I have a vegie peeler so that doesn't matter to me. The Mercer genesis paring knife is great for quartering apples and other small items. I find the shape to be advantageous. I also concur with the many positive comments I've read about Mercer Genesis knives in general and I don't understand the negatives about blades rusting, chipping, etc. I've had a couple for over a year and they have held up well and even after getting scratched up in a junky manual sharpener there is no rusting. I will also add that anyone who has hand issues such as arthritis or carpel tunnel would find the Mercer Genesis line to be very comfortable. It is light weight and a handle with a comfortable non-slip handle and the knife seems almost 'self-propelled.' Minimum cutting force is needed. The only negative is the fact that the knives do go dull rather quickly but nothing a sharpener or whetstone can't fix.

Very well balanced and solid feeling knife. I haven’t had it long enough to see how it holds its edge but I’m happy with the feel.

i have been searching for a sharp knife that retains its sharpness. I thought I found it with the Mad Shark, but unfortunately it did not stay sharp for very long. My glowing review was premature. But I have had this knife long enough to be able to say that it seems to retains its sharpness. And it is very sharp, cutting through meat and fruit like cutting through butter. It remains to be seen how long that sharpness lasts.

Knife is worth its price. Sharp and of reasonable quality.

sharpest knife of my collection.cute and royal

The knife feels nicely balanced to me. The forged steel blade and the textured handle both seeem very good quality. The blade sharpens easily on a whet stone, and holds an edge. I wasn't familiar with this brand before but wouldn't hesitate to buy other products made by this manufacturer.

Bought this and the Zwilling paring knives at the same time. This is a larger and rougher handle, and is heavier and more balanced to the handle. Either one will last a lifetime, and do the job. The Zwilling is two or three times the price of this, but they are of comparable quality considered as knives. The difference is a matter of taste and perhaps size of hands. I find this one's handle a bit too thick, but others may differ, and that and the extra weight are about the only substantial differences. They are both quality items, well made and finished. I would be guided by what you know fits better in the hand. If your budget is limited, don't think twice, get this one. It will do the job, last forever, and you will probably get used to the feel and weight of it very rapidly. An extravagant present with a brand name to match, the Zwilling fits the bill a bit better. But as said above, this is largely about taste. I also bought the Zwilling 16cm chefs knife, and like it very much - see separate review. I recently bought the Mercer similar 16cm chef knife for a different household. People might like to know how they compare. This size is not what professional cooks prefer, but for someone cooking in a home environment for a small number of people, it will be much better than the 20cm versions. Also the handles of these are much better than the more elegant looking two piece riveted handles, they fit the hand better and are pretty much totally non-slip. The Mercer is about half the price of the Zwilling. It has a similar handle. The blade is slightly deeper, and its definitely heavier. It apparently has a full tang, which the Zwilling may not. In sharpness and ease of sharpening they are probably about the same. Maybe the Zwilling is a bit harder and so takes a little more work to restore the edge. I slightly prefer the Mercer in this respect, but I slightly also prefer the Zwilling in the hand, to use. All in all I think, as with the paring knives, whichever you get you will get used to in a short time and not really notice the difference. The thing I would say about the paring knives is that the Mercer is a little bit shorter, and that makes it a bit less nice to use in some applications, so you end up using the chef knife more. But that's a minor quibble. Whichever pair you get (paring and chef) I think they will last a lifetime, so be guided by how important the pennies are. I continue to have a slight preference for the Zwilling, but if money is tight, buy the Mercers. They will last a lifetime and be a pleasure to use. I bought the Zwillings in the Christmas sales, well discounted, so the difference was not so great as it is now. Without the dscount I would have bought the Mercers and been very happy with them.

More than perfect