# Chef Knife Roll Bag



## Mindcome (Mar 31, 2019)

Hi Chefs,

We are looking to introduce Waxed Canvas/Leather Knife Roll Bag into the market and would like a feedback from experienced chefs. Admin if this is not allowed please delete this post. We already have a lot of ideas on how to improve existing products on the market but we want more info on knife sizes (handle + knife blade and most common quantity)

- We need feedback on how many knifes, other tools and their sizes do you usually carry around with you. We all know how expensive pro knifes are and want to keep them in mint condition as longer as possible. 

Example:
1. 10 Individual knife pouches each 2.5” wide, covers knife handle up to 4.5” and blades up to 18”
2. 3 Slots for small blades or tasting spoons covering 3.5” x 3.2” 
3. 3 Slots for serrated utility knives or scissors
4. Other compartments and tools that needs to fit into this bag? Would you like zipper pouch? If so what dimensions?

Also do you use some kind of a blade cover to protect your knifes during transport?

Thank you for your input, hopefully with your help we will make the best knife bag on the market


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

1. 10 Individual knife pouches each 2.5" wide, covers knife handle up to 4.5" and blades up to 18"
little confused by your measurements as to knife handle, my slicer is 14.5" blade length and 6" handle length
overall length 20.5", so I am assuming your bag accepts knives that are 22.5" in overall length, is this correct?

4. Other compartments and tools that needs to fit into this bag? 
steel and combi stone

Would you like zipper pouch? If so what dimensions?
cell phone, pen, and note pad

Also do you use some kind of a blade cover to protect your knifes during transport?
yes


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## Mindcome (Mar 31, 2019)

cheflayne said:


> 1. 10 Individual knife pouches each 2.5" wide, covers knife handle up to 4.5" and blades up to 18"
> little confused by your measurements as to knife handle, my slicer is 14.5" blade length and 6" handle length
> overall length 20.5", so I am assuming your bag accepts knives that are 22.5" in overall length, is this correct?


Yes, that's correct we need both handle+blade length of your biggest tool.




cheflayne said:


> 4. Other compartments and tools that needs to fit into this bag?





cheflayne said:


> steel and combi stone




Ok i can see that usual dimension for stones are:
up to 14" length
around 1.5" height
up to 6" width

Does this sounds about right?




cheflayne said:


> Would you like zipper pouch? If so what dimensions?
> cell phone, pen, and note pad




We were thining about notepad and pen holders but we didn't think of cell phone pocket, interesting. Do you think many chefs would carry their phone along with knifes and tools?




cheflayne said:


> Also do you use some kind of a blade cover to protect your knifes during transport?
> yes




Would blade covers included with knife bag be important to you in purchasing decision?


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

Ok i can see that usual dimension for stones are:
up to 14" length
around 1.5" height
up to 6" width
Does this sounds about right?
My travel stone is 8"x2"x1"

Do you think many chefs would carry their phone along with knifes and tools?
I don't carry my phone with my knives, but once I get to work I put it away for the shift

Would blade covers included with knife bag be important to you in purchasing decision?
Probably detrimental actually, it would depend upon the covers, _chefs are fussy, at least this one :~)_


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## rick alan (Nov 15, 2012)

Not a chef but I would say that 8x3x1.5 would be the very largest stone anyone should want to carry. Most combis are 6-8" in length, 2-2.6 wide and 1-1.5" thick.

I think and extreme example would be carrying 2 Shapton Pros, each 9.1x3.5x1.6 inches. Shapton Glass are 8.4x3x.8. Some might think it nice to carry 2 of those.

Only stones bigger would be some Arks that can be cut big and I think are rarely used these days for kitchen knives, and those wouldn't exactly be light. And some carborundums I've seen at 12x2.


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## Mindcome (Mar 31, 2019)

rick alan said:


> Not a chef but I would say that 8x3x1.5 would be the very largest stone anyone should want to carry. Most combis are 6-8" in length, 2-2.6 wide and 1-1.5" thick.
> 
> I think and extreme example would be carrying 2 Shapton Pros, each 9.1x3.5x1.6 inches. Shapton Glass are 8.4x3x.8. Some might think it nice to carry 2 of those.
> 
> Only stones bigger would be some Arks that can be cut big and I think are rarely used these days for kitchen knives, and those wouldn't exactly be light. And some carborundums I've seen at 12x2.


Hi Rick, thanks for your input i think i was looking at Shapton stones when i was pulling out measurements. This is actually design that we would like to improve if anyone have any feedback?



http://imgur.com/nVcHldW


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

My opinion? Based on 35+ years in the industry?

It all boils down to one question:

We all know how important it is to sanitize knives. 

How do you sanitize this knife roll?

Look, kitchens are full of food. In order to utilize this roll, you need to spread it out on a table. This table is usually full of food, and the roll consumes a lot of real estate. Once you’ve selected your knife, the roll gets stashed under the table, or loosely rolled up on the table.

Kitchens are full of food. There will be spills— coffee, vegetable oil, salad dressings, meat juices, seafood “water”, and dairy products. There will be flour, spices, and bread crumbs, and all of this will find its way into the roll, into the pockets, and especially into the seams and stitching.

So the one, single question remains.....

Now, pretend I’m “yea olde health inspector”, ok? 

“So mr chef, how do you sanitize your cutting board? O.k., good. How, and how frequently do you sanitize your knives? O..k., good. Your sanitized knives are stored in this roll— I.e. in close contact with this material, how is this roll sanitized?

This site has, in the past several years had numerous requests for input regarding knife rolls. What you’ve just read has been my standard reply to each request for feedback. To this day not one single reply has been made to the sanitizing aspect of these rolls.

Will you be the first?


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## mike9 (Jul 13, 2012)

In a pro evnironment I would choose Shapton Glass stones they don't take a lot of space, are splash and go and dry quickly. In my roll I make cardboard sayas and orient the blades into the pockets. That way only the handles get banged into each other.


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## Mindcome (Mar 31, 2019)

foodpump said:


> My opinion? Based on 35+ years in the industry?
> 
> It all boils down to one question:
> 
> ...


Hi foodpump,

Before doing what I am doing now, i was a service engineer in pharmaceutical industry and i get your concern as i was in a cleanroom environment all day every day, disinfecting my tools couple of times a day.

I have a simple answer to your question. Knife guards. It will keep the surface that comes in touch with food protected. Everything else is chef's responsibility. To keep everything clean on a daily basis. Where do you usually keep your knifes so they are protected from environment?

Thanks for your input and experienced knowledge


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## Mindcome (Mar 31, 2019)

Mindcome said:


> Hi foodpump,
> 
> Before doing what I am doing now, i was a service engineer in pharmaceutical industry and i get your concern as i was in a cleanroom environment all day every day, disinfecting my tools couple of times a day.
> 
> ...


Sorry just to add, waxed canvas is waterproof as long as there is wax on it, so liquids just slide over. You can clean it with water, IPA and brush. I think if i was able to bring my "dirty" tools after cleaning it into the API manufacturing area into some of the biggest US pharmaceutical companies(I won't mention names here) where FDA is on a daily basis then i am sure you can bring in your previously cleaned roll into the kitchen. Just my two cents, correct me if I'm wrong. I care about the food safety and i would never eat in a dirty place where i know kitchen is even worse. But we as consumers always have faith that chef's are clean, which is not always the truth but we still eat that food and we are alive 

I am really interested, is there any approved version of material where you can carry your knifes as per old health inspector's standards?


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## rick alan (Nov 15, 2012)

Oops, those Shapton dimension are not the stone sizes, but the box/case dimensions. Stones themselves are more ordinary in size, both on the thin side and the glass are rather thin.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Yes, knife guards will prevent the knife blade from coming in contact with the roll. That being said, removing a knife from a roll with its guard in place is awkward at best.

Regardless, the roll will be exposed to all the above mentioned foodstuffs in a commercial kitchen, and while breadcrumbs or salt may be pretty much benign, protein rich liquids like dairy or meat/ seafood juices will behave like they do and start to stink after a while. Spilled Vegetable oil may not harbour bacteria, but will go rancid and stay greasy.

The fact that the roll when spread out consumes a lot of real estate is not to be taken lightly. My observations of employees and co workers selecting a knife from an open roll include:
- Spreading the roll partially or even fully over a cutting board
And
-Pushing objects out of the way in order to spread out the roll, causing spills or objections from coworkers sharing the table.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

I forgot. Where do I keep my knives?

In a plastic fishing tackle box, or toolbox. The benefits of this are:
-Very minimal “footprint”, no space needed to roll out in order to select knife.

-Dead simple to sanitize: remove knives, shake out crumbs, toss the thing in the dishwasher, done.

- Opportunity to put a lock on the box if desired, but more importantly—-
-Very hard to steal a plastic toolbox without being seen. It can’t be shoved under an apron like a roll can...


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## Mindcome (Mar 31, 2019)

How many knifes would you prefer to have in your knife bag?

8 knifes - room for bigger zipper pouch?

10 knifes - smaller zipper pouch?

Please respond below and give details if possible. Thanks!


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Ahhh, I see. Well I guess your “hygiene” was nothing more than a bluff.

Look, waxed canvas may be waterproof, but:
1) it needs to be treated on a regular basis in order to remain waterproof. On large sheets or even jackets this is do-able, but on small items with multiple pockets and seams it is a right royal p.i.t.a.. Cooks have a hard time just maintaining their knives, who has time to maintain a waxed roll?

2) So what if water runs off, where does the water go? It goes into the pockets, seams, and stitching. Water is life, so is bacteria.

3) Knife guards. Very difficult to sanitize them, everyone knows this- hard to access that long narrow slit. So you have a knife in a pouch that has a guard on it. How do you remove this knife?
You can’t grasp the knife guard and pull the knife out of the roll, you’ll just pull the guard off. If you pull the guard off, the blade is in contact with the roll, which is not sanitized.

Zippers.... Every school kid who has a backpack knows a zipper is only as good as its stitching—which is why most kids go through at least two backpacks per school year. Putting a zipper on your roll will require long seams—which will trap food debris and especially moisture. Having a full zipper roll will make the roll even larger when it is spread out on the table. Oh, and zippers have this nasty habit of failing...

And then there are the stones, which by nature are very brittle, crack easy, chip easy, and are very expensive. These need to be in protective cases which consume even more space. Of course a diamond stone won’t crack and is much thinner, but also even more expensive...

Now I don’t expect you to respond to this post or even acknowledge it, but I hope I have made my points clear to the people you intend to sell this product too—- the cooks.


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## harrisonh (Jan 20, 2013)

I personally like Boldric, but ultimate edge are pretty good.


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