For those that venture outside of Japanese-made kitchen knives, you need only scour the internet for a few minutes before you eventually come across the brand Dao Vua. Who are they and why have they taken the internet and market by storm? The story of Dao Vua and their kitchen knife price point is really where it begins.

Here is the short and dirty version of their humble beginnings, which you can easily find online. Dao Vua knives are handmade in Hanoi, Vietnam by barefoot Vietnamese bladesmiths, using recycled materials, from what they call leaf spring steel. At the price point of these knives, they are seriously impressive from build to sharpness. Though, they may not be for you if you struggle to take care of your knives. Being carbon steel even if with a kurouchi finish, they sharpen easily, but also oxidize easily so care should be taken to maintain a dry knife. 

One of the main reasons you see and hear a lot about Dao Vua, is because not only do you get a good looking knife with a cool story attached to it at a reasonable price, despite being a start up of sorts, they have listened to their customers and adapted.
There exists the three staple knives of Japanese cuisine (deba, yanagiba, usuba), and then there's the kiritsuke. Often portrayed as ""the master of all knives"" and traditionally single bevel though this one is double bevel, it was believed that only one person per professional kitchen could utilize this knife, the master. A knife which when in the hands of a skilled user, one could easily use to mince garlic or oblique cut scallions.