Can a Chef’s Knife Be Worth $500? SITKA and The James Brand Say Yes

When a leading hunting apparel brand and top-tier knife company team up, interesting things can happen. This is the case with the SITKA STUDIOS x The James Brand Anzick Outdoor Chef’s Knife, one of the more intriguing knife releases I’ve seen this spring.

And the intrigue goes way past the collaboration. The Anzick Outdoor Chef’s Knife jumps out with materials rarely seen in the kitchen and a whopping price tag to match.

No, I have not yet tested this knife, but it looks so cool I had to drop some details about it for other knife nerds to geek out on.

Here’s what we know so far about the knife that just dropped today.

Anzick Outdoor Chef’s Knife: The James Brand Meets SITKA STUDIO

Let’s start with the price because I know there will be some tooth-gnashing here. $500. Yeah, ouch. But if you want the best, sometimes you have to pay. Obviously, this knife isn’t for everyone. It’s also a limited edition. The James Brand built just 600 of these, and I bet it sells out pretty quickly despite the price.

Why pay so much? Let me start with the steel, which is arguably the best knife steel on the market, especially for something like a durable chef’s knife.

The Anzick Outdoor Chef’s Knife has a full-tang 8-inch Magnacut blade. MagnaCut is, in a word, exceptional. It combines edge retention, toughness, and corrosion resistance like few other steels. It’s at the core of one of our favorite hunting knives, the MKC Stonewall Skinner, and performed amazingly during a long season of hunting.

Next, you have a CNC-milled G10 handle. G10 is a top-tier material for knife handles. And while I haven’t held this one in my hands and likely never will, it looks sweet. It should provide a good grip in all conditions if it’s anything like other G10 handles I’ve tested.

The brands made the knife with rivetless construction, which they claim eliminates food and debris collection points to reduce corrosion. It also aims to make the Anzick easy to rinse and clean.

It also has a food-safe DLC coating to improve wear and abrasion resistance, while providing low-friction, high-hardness, and antireflective properties. A Hyphalon sheath protects the knife while storing, and snaps apart for cleaning.

Each Anzick outdoor chef’s knife (MSRP $499) is handmade, laser-engraved, individually numbered, hand-sharpened, and made in the USA.

So, if you’re looking for one wildly nice and expensive chef’s knife as a camp kitchen crown jewel, this one might be it. Available now, you can get one sent anywhere on the globe from TheJamesBrand.com or within North America only at sitkagear.com/knife while supplies last.