Huusk Knives: The MASSIVE Scam Nobody's Talking About
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- Опубликовано: 10 сен 2024
- I uncovered a MASSIVE RUclips scam spanning over 100 RUclips channels with a combined subscriber total of 45 Million.
Huusk Knives is a scam company that has enlisted some of the biggest RUclipsrs on the platform to promote their brand.
The scam company has sponsored Rich Rebuilds, Man Plus River(Man+River), HealthyJunkFood, Adventures with Purpose, Task & Purpose, LegitStreetCars, along with many others.
In this video, I will explain why I think Huusk Knives is a scam and breakdown their false and deceptive marketing claims that they use to trick people into buying their knives.
LINK to List of RUclips Channels Sponsored by HUUSK Knives
docs.google.co...
LINK to List of Companies Owned by ECOMLT LLC
docs.google.co...
Types of Japanese Steel/Understanding Japanese Steel
japanese-knife...
#huuskknivesreview #huuskknife #huuskknivesscam #kamikoto #kamikotoknives #kamikotoknivescam #scam #youtubescam
This video is an opinion and in no way should be construed as statements of fact. Scam is a subjective term that mean different things to different people.
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.
They tried to sponsor my last video. After checking the reviews I turned off the offer.
I'm glad there are still content creators out there that care about their brand and reputation and not just blindly promote anything. Cheers to you. Comment Pinned!
@@LordVenerable to be totally honest, one of my very first sponsors was Kamikoto. I regret dealing with them, but at least I learned from my mistakes.
I completely understand. All you can ask for is growth. I'm not against sponsors, by the way, I'm just in support of accountability and transparency. The pin comment stays!
Backyard Ballistics is a great channel.
You should accept their money and free shit they send you, just to shit on their knives in your sponsor roll and ghost them. Wtf are they gonna do?
Huusk originally promoted their product as Viking knives.
When it wasn't selling well, they just rebranded their pot and pan steel knives as Japanese to make it sound cool.
I knew they'd used a different name before. Couldn't remember what it was though, thanks.
If anyone is claiming they are selling a hand made knife and it's being sold for $30, run away.
An authentic Higonokami knife is handmade in Japan & cost less than $30. That's because it is a utility/pocket knife, not some super knife that can do everything.
@@JerzeecanuckWell yeah, its pretty much just a metal Opinel.
@@pandoranbias1622 It is significantly easier to make than an Opinel.
What kills me the most is the struggle to use that shape for food prep
😂 so true!
My 7 inch Victorinox is a cheap knife, but for prep (especially veggies), it's excellent. It's also super thin and well balanced. This looks like a nightmare on your wrist waiting to happen.
Yeah all the videos make it look like they are struggling with them lol
Right!!! 😂😂😂😂
Carpal tunnel after dicing 5 lbs of potatoes 😂
These scams are actually incredibly common. Many of the products influencers promote are utter garbage/scam.
like every energy drink and workout supplement
If one is as scrutinizing as I am, you can see that most of these products RUclipsrs run ads for are highly marked up garbage. For me it blows my mind how many people fall for such nonsense. It’s like the surprise box things that you pay a subscription for and don’t even know what you’re getting month to month, I just don’t get it lol.
It's something I remember from years ago. 20 years ago, I worked in a sporting goods store for about 3 months to score a little extra cash for Christmas. All employees would start off working in the shoe department.
When I arrived, the store had a sale going on that was about 5 racks wide of shoes. And if you looked at the tags on the racks and on the flyers, these shoes were being sold at HUGE discounts. 50%, 60%, 70% off or more! Awesome, right? I mean, how else could you get a pair of basketball shoes for only $20?
Two weeks into the job, the sale ended, or more precisely, rotated. My job one Friday morning was to take all of the shoes that were going off of sale back into the back of the store, and bring out the new sale products. Okay, I got that.
But guess what happened just two weeks after THAT? The EXACT same shoes that were 'closeout' or 'final sale' shoes from a month ago... were now BACK on sale!
But that's how the system worked. All of those 'Shaquille O'Neal' shoes, or even some of the Nikes and Reeboks, were shoes that were constantly being rotated in and off of the sales racks. The store never expected to sell any Shaqs at $60, they just tagged them that way so that when they rotated them out at $19.99, it seemed like a bargain to the people who bought them.
Huusk is the same sort of scam, just done using the internet instead of a brick & mortar store.
That is why I do not listen to anyone. I find things out for myself.
The wristwatch "influencers" are without a doubt some of the worst. I've modified and built a couple of my own all the way down to the movements for about 18 years now and it amazes me how much BS is out there with just timepieces alone.
I bought 3 of these knives on “sale”. I was sucked in by the advertising they did. After i received them i lasted all three out in a row. I noticed that the “hammer forged marks” were all at the exact same place on each blade and they also were exactly the same shape. These blades are stamped, not forged.
by itself, its no wrong in stamped knifes, a lot of real japanese knifes are stamped, but they also dont pretend to be forged.
@@39zack you just explained why it's bad while saying it's not bad lol. The issue is selling a product as something that it isn't. Especially if there is a premium attached to a product being sold in a certain type of way.
@@evil993 the stamped steel does not make the knife bad, only if its not honest about what it is
@@39zack no shit? I never said anything that differs. It's bad and a big problem when a company lies about their product, regardless what the lie is.
But how did it perform is the most important part. Are they good knives ??
Cedric and Ada gear called Huusk out for selling knives made of what is essentially a pot metal (It’s a steel used to make stainless pots and water bottles), the video had hundreds of thousands of views.
Then Huusk sent him a cease and desist through youtube and a legal threat to his channel forcing him to take it down. He did a re-review where he slammed them again, but for some reason mysteriously it’s stuck around 6k views.
Now I’m seeing their ads everywhere and can’t help but think that this was them trying to clean up their rep before a big advertising push.
I got a defamation complaint notice from RUclips recently about this HuuskKnives video. They're coming after me too.
RUclips deleted his Video now. so he made a new one. :D
Thanks for sharing that. I'll spread it around if I see them sponsored.
@@LordVenerableas long as what you're saying is factual, and can be proven I wouldn't worry about it. I know for a fact this company is a scam and their knives are junk. I didn't buy them but I have looked into it extensively.
@@actionjksn But this is RUclips we're talking about, they don't care about factual. Any number of RUclipsrs have gotten copyright strikes and had videos removed or demonetized by RUclips even though what they posted was covered by fair use.
Nice to see someone still cares where the money is coming from. Much respect for doing the research and doing the right thing.
Cedric & Ada Gear and Outdoors channel has done 3 vids on how bad the knives are
My title was to convey the RUclips sponsorship side of it, not necessarily the knives themselves, but fair enough.
Pete is the best 👍🏼
Yep, Pete nailed it. But glad to see any channel that busts Huusk knives.
ruclips.net/video/qB5tyfIpSr0/видео.html
My mom just bought 2 of these. I don’t want to seam ungrateful and say something but also I am aware of the scam.
My girlfriend wants some Japanese kitchen knives for Christmas. If I hadn't seen your video I probably would have bought these.You saved me from being scammed.Thanks for posting from the UK!
Lots of fake "Japanese" knifes in the shops in UK too, I'd be surprised if you didn't buy some already for her that are just a design on the blade, when you touch a real Damascus knife you will know
Some have even resumed to naming them something that resembles "Damascus" so they have leverage when you get back to them to say "these are shit"
Be careful with the kitchen shop and pro cook crap that they filled up the malls with.
My husband was about to order 2 for $49.99 from their " website ", luckily he asked me to check it out. Thank you for posting this video. ❤
I'm glad I could be of help.
The price alone is a red flag.
What was your husband thinking?
@@ermias75ermis2 The housband doesn't think, @0463st does the thinking
Japanese workmanship isn't cheap. Chinese workmanship is cheap.
This is why a watch made in Japan or Switzerland will immediately have a base cost of 10x that of one made in China.
These Chinese recognize that their enemies make superior things and have a superior reputation, which is why they seek to tarnish their reputation by calling sweatshop knives Japanese knives when theyre not.
I literally typed in scam knives because I was looking for a video on these things and an actual ad for huusk was one of the first things to pop up.😂
I run a knife sharpening business & returned some knives to a chef on Friday and saw one of these and told him to throw it straight in the bin. I knew nothing of this company or product, you can just tell it's bullshit. Great video!
I had a few extra bucks, so I decided to get one of these knives, being a professional cook, it piqued my interest. My first impression was that it was too heavy to use in a professional kitchen compared to my standard 10-inch chef's knife. The second problem I found was the so-called finger hole. This abomination is nothing more than a design flaw and takes away a lot of the stability of the pinching technique that all professionals typically use. The third problem comes in the form of the shape of the curved blade. The rocking motion that you have to use feels unwieldly especially if your taller and having to use a standard height counter/cutting board. True there are a lot of sliding cutting motions used in the kitchen but there are also the straight down cuts that come in use very frequently as well. Sliding works well for meats but not when you have to go through hard vegetables. Overall, I would rank this knife in the middle of the scale not great but also not bad. For me it makes a better utility knife then a knife in the kitchen.
Great job of calling this out.
I collect fine Japanese and French cutlery.
I saw the faux Tsuchime. (hammered) surface, and knew immediately that it was bogus.
It was easy enough to research it at a skin deep level to find out HOW bogus they are. Appearance was obvious but "where made Huusk immediately revealed that they were made in China.
You did a fantastic job of enumerating the huge number of red flags.
For the sake of overkill I will add another and that is just the shape of the blade.
Fine Japanese cutlery pretty much falls into three categories of design.
1. Traditional Japanese designs such as yanagiba, deba, etc.
2. interpretation of western designs primarily based on French designs. The Gyoto is an interpretation of the French chefs knife.
3. Hybrid designs that may favor either European tradition or Japanese tradition. The nakiri uses a double bevel edge,(western) vs. the single bevel usuba which shares a similar shape.
The Huusk,(with fake Tsuchime), shows none of these design elements.
One other thing, just as legit Japanese knife makers proudly display what steel was used, the geographical origin is displayed somewhere, if not on the blade, on the packaging.
Most quality cutlery from Japan is made in Seki, Sakai, or Echizen. Those communities are rightly very proud of their blade making heritage and always promote that.
Anyway, I type to much.
AMAZING job of digging up so many details on the scam.
Cheers!
damn you teached me a few things right there thank you for sharing your passion it was really interesting !
the moment i saw the knife i knew it couldnt have been japanese. im far from an expert on japanese blades whatsoever but ive never seen anything japanese made or japanese styled that looked like that knife. also, having a japanese smith making each knife and its anything less than a premium price? people literally buy japanese cooking knives to be imported for hundreds of dollars because japanese artisan quality products are incredible, why would it be anywhere in the price range of the average consumer?
I have no knowledge of Japanese knifes, but any respected knife manufacturer I know specifies steel type (brand name, industrial standard name or just chemical composition) of the knife.
I collect Chinese fine arts and hand crafted knives, there are so many, but people only know about the cringe fake-Japanese, poorly made exports :(
Gives China and Japan a bad reputation.
Right? The santokus I had were obvious, this is an obvious fraud. We could probably both cut mise en place with a hammer if we needed to, but I doubt we want to :D
It's also the absolute worst shape, that stupid hole is beyond worthless, and it's obviously cheap steel.
I know u mentioned u didn’t want people going to hate on the RUclipsrs who advertised this product but the fact is they deserve it. That check from Huusk was worth more than making sure their viewers didn’t spend money on garbage. Meanwhile the RUclipsrs are always so quick to tell viewers how much they are appreciated
18/10 is not even a cutlery steel. Some pots and steel bottles are made from 18/10. It is not sufficiently heat-treatable, so the blade and the bevel aren’t hard enough.
Pete from Cedric and Ada Gear and Outdoors has several videos showing just how bad they are. Worth a look.
18/10 is for tableware, like my WMF table setting, and for cookpots.
18/10 is for pots and cutlery, pretty much all stainless clad cookware uses it as its inert surface. The best pots in the world are clad in 18/10 but its not a knife steel.
I mean if you use one of those cheap automatic sharpeners you can grind an "edge" on anything. lol. My actual chef's knife - can be re-sharpened so sharp that proper technique is a must if you want to keep your knuckles intact. :)
@@billmarsano3404 $3-$4 to make.
I'm an Industrial Quality Analyst, I immediately confirmed to myself that it was a scam company. Everything points to it being Chinese garbage but the nail in the coffin is the claim that they test every knife for quality. That is NOT how QC works, that's an American and Chinese concept that doesn't work. Japan learned from geniuses like Dr. Deming that you don't inspect quality into the product, you do it right the first time and use statistical process control and sampling to monitor the systems. That's why Japan is the world leader in quality control, they don't fall for stupid bullshit like mass inspection. Also just look at it, might as well use a steel cube as a knife, will work about as well
Being a Hobbyist Leather worker, the first thing I noticed was the low-quality cheap leather sheath.
It's a shame that so many creators think it's okay to lie to their viewers for the love of money.
How did you notice it was of low quality? I always find interesting people that can discern the quality of what laypeople will just see as something "nice"
I haven't seen it but let me guess, it's that cheap reconstituted "bonded leather"? In other words, like wooden particleboard they take all the cutting room floor leather scraps, mince them up to tiny bits, then blend them with glue and bond them onto a sheet of cheap rubber/fabric backing and stamp some leather grain onto the surface. It's technically "leather", but it quickly falls to bits and starts that awful peeling apart of the paper-thin outer surface layer you always see on cheap "leather" furniture. Real leather, and for a solid quality sheath should be full grain, is extremely hard wearing and will literally last a lifetime (or two) with the most basic of periodic maintenance. The bonded crap these companies pass of as "leather" will fall apart on its own in a few months no matter how lightly you treat it.
Te beauty industry is worse
Social media truly has become the late night shopping channels of the 90s 🤷♂️
That's why my respect for Cedric went through the roof. The man just proved with science how bad those knives were.
Cedric is a dog, but Pete is awesome :)
@@sunglint cedric and ada were both dogs. they've both passed, and pete considered changing the channel's name, but he has kept it. Huusk knives are crap, long live Pete!
Great video! I've found through their website that they use 4CR14 Stainless Steel. This basically means that there is very little carbon in the blade which means it'll go blunt after a few days in the kitchen.
This is honestly scary what they are trying to do. One of my favorite automotive channels with almost 500k subscribers just uploaded a video sponsored by huusk knives. I did some research and found some of the same questionable stuff that you found which led me here. I made several comments with different accounts of mine explaining that its a scam, but they were all deleted. I thought I could trust that channel, but I guess not. Thanks for making the video and I hope more people see it before wasting their money. It's amazing how easily some people can sell out.
I'm glad you found the video. And Jim Automotive is added to the list.
Gotta maintain the lifestyle so the wife doesn't doom them them into slavery-i mean alimony
I mean it’s been happening for a while. Like those earbuds raycon? Forgot the name
They’re cheap Chinese junk drop shipped
My son and wife bought one of these for my birthday.
First, this thing doesn't hold an edge, it's not the worst knife but it rates down near the bottom, you are better off spending more money with a Hencknels and for the most part get what you paid for. It showed up not sharp, I spent and hour trying to get a decent edge.
Second, The scales don't blend into the tang. Where is the quality control? I feel like it was made by an amateur or a pro that doesn't care. It is definitely mass produced and isn't hand made.
Third, the knife is not balanced.
On the pro side, it looks nice, as long as you don't handle it or look too closely.
Don't waist your money, these knives suck.
Thanks for doing this video, keep spreading the word!
If I see a knife or any product does not state it's country of origin, my default conclusion is that it must be from China or somewhere else I don't want to indirectly send money to.
Even if it says made in USA, im 50% sure its Chinese parts
Lately I've seen ASIA stamped on things. Lol. They don't even want to let on that it's made in China any more.
Also. The entire reason the Japanese developed the blacksmithing techniques of folding the katana blades was because JAPANESE STEEL IS LOW QUALITY, so it needed the folding technique to have a useable strength in the first place. It's like bragging about "Authentic soul food ingredients from tablescraps!" for anyone that knows.
Modern industrial Japanese steels are great, and people love them for a reason. Stuff like AUS-10/10A, VG10, Super Blue, HAP40, etc. But yeah, like you said, the reason katanas were traditionally folded a gorillion times is that Japanese iron is extremely impure and that was the only way to strengthen blade steels enough. You'd never want traditional tamahagane except for LARPing or as a hobbyist exercise.
@@RealLockheedMartinwhat the heck your name on my inbox is "woman gaslighter" lmao how do you have multiple names on YT
How to detect a knife scam:
- "JAPAN"
- Promoted by RUclipsrs completely unrelated to knives
- No mention of where it is actually made
- No mention of steel used other than "HIGH QUALITY" and "JAPANEEEZ"
- Crazy discount BUT ONLY IF YOU ORDER RIGHT NOW
- Obvious stock photos for reviews
- Photos of "professionals" have the knife clearly photoshopped in (not sure how @Venerable missed that)
Plus, they don't even look like mediocre knives. I mean, you can make almost anything sharp for a short while, the question is keeping it that way. And in a lot of the youtubers ad-read footage they are obviously struggling.
Too bad many people lack sufficient pattern recognition traits
The biggest thing is steel type, also the knife should come with a certification in the package that you can easily verify its authenticity on the official website if you are buying a "premium" knife to 1. ensure you are getting a knockoff by either 1. checking the CoA and 2. verifying the serial # and 2. the knife has the steel rating ON the blade itself so you can verify it is the steel you payed for. when they start brushing the knives to conceal it, thats a red flag. i want to see the steel rating to make sure im not paying $200 for some 8Cr13MoV for example. your other points of "completely unrelated to knives" doesnt make sense since there are sponsorships for vpns and ridge wallet, and watches etc for channels that don't focus on that content soley. where its made doesn't matter either. USA can produce crap just as much as china can.
@@crazedmonk8u you can certainly buy a high quality knife from China, but it won't pretend it's from Japan. And plenty of channels get sponsorships from unrelated products, but products that have zero positive reviews from related channels are probably worth staying away from.
I bought one of these knives, it wasn’t sharp, but I sharpened it, and it is very sharp now, very disappointed I was lied to by the company.
... knives*
As a knife maker this company really gets on my nerves.
I think Kamikoto is worse!
I am an actual knifemaker here in the US. The amount of garbage (china/pakistan, etc) being pushed is wrecking the market. The ads are EVERYWHERE.. I saw a comment below talking about how unrealistic a $30 "hand made" knife is, anyone charging less than $150 is very sus. Hand made products are expensive and time consuming.
I found this under recommended videos and couldnt help myself ...
Similarly, years ago my friend worked at Hardee's restaurant, they claimed "Made from scratch biscuits", which was true. The frozen biscuit company was named "Made from scratch". Deception in its simplist form.
I worked in a plastic pottery factory and they falsely advertised saying 50 percent of their products were from recycled materials. Yeah the machine making the pottery would fuck up we'd throw the fucked up material into a grinder remelt it into new material to use again. So technically speaking 50% of their products were made with recycled materials.
Yeah that sounded too much like bullshit. What are they training min wage employees to make biscuits from scratch? Hiring a buscuit maker at every location? Not likely and very smelly.
Our local Hardee’s put up a sign. Out of biscuits until the truck runs
Funnily enough, 20 years ago, Disneyland used to have Mexican grandmothers come in every morning at 0200 and make Tamales during the holiday season. It always surprised me that Disney actually sold the genuine article. I also verified they were in fact grandmothers as I saw many many grand baby pictures when I started my shift. The Mission Tortilla factory also used to make corn tortillas after hours for staff to purchase. You could get 100 corn tortilla packs for $0.50. Those were the days.
The Hardee's where I lived let you watch them make the biscuits. They were indeed made from scratch.
Any time a channel creator is called or calls themself an 'influencer' I don't believe a word they say. They are just grifters paid by the companies sponsoring their videos.
They are influencers. They want to influence or manipulate you. xD
@@pagecollector4856 Hmmm may we should start calling them manipulators..
Tamahagane isn't really a "kind" of steel. It's more about the process of covering up the fact that you're using relatively crummy/impure iron sand by combining it with pure charcoal (carbon) in a sealed air-proof vessel called a crucible to actually make steel by getting it all to melt together over a long period of time. Then you take the new steel that comes out of your crucible and if it's not too terrible you heat it back up and fold it over and over and over to create a matrix of steel that doesn't let any of the impurities stay together in any one place where they can create a weak spot in the blade. Then you cover half the blade in clay, heat it back up enough to harden the part that isn't covered, quench the whole thing (which causes all that Katana curvy-ness) and grind and sharpen the hardened edge you've made on the outside of the curve. And boom, you've got a toy that will give all the little Samurai out there hours and hours of unsafe fun.
The only thing that really makes Tamahagane "special" is that the process allows you to make a relatively decent blade out of pretty crummy materials.
They dont use crucibles. Essentially bloomery steel.
Not exactly. Tamahagane is a bloomery steel. The kiln the iron sand is mixed with the charcoal and smelted into the bloom is open topped, not air tight. Secondly, we all know tamahagane was not a great steel on it's own. So did the Japanese swordsmiths. That's why the blades started as a stack of flakes and then folded. The folding process works out the impurities and spread out the carbon content. THAT is what made the Japanese steels different than other steels of the era.
@@mikeford963 I wouldn't go so far as to say tamahagan wasi not great steel and apply that to all sword making.
Competent smiths would select their steel carefully and some Japanese blades are of uncannily good steel, rivaling any other.
Ofcourse that is not to say every sword was perfect, or even close. There are big variations between different eras and prices.
@@mikeford963 And when you look at the immense amount of research and effort it took over centuries to make something decent out of a pile of (literal) garbage, it's actually quite inspiring. I mean, the issue was ( and still is ) that Japan has very little in the way of decent natural minerals and has to import a lot of it. But their options were severely limited back then, as Korea and China didn't exactly make it easy on them to get the best quality ores.
What a way to say a whole bunch of words while not saying anything of substance. Tamahagane is a type of steel, its been documented countless times all the way from ancient japanese blacksmithign manuscripts that is what it is called.
This scam is ongoing in France. They use the "Aikyo" brand and say the knives are handmade by a Japanese family named Nakamura. But it's the exact same knife as Huusk, they use the same images/videos in their ads. And what's even worse? The price : they say there's a 50% discount, from 159€ down to 79€!
The thing is that China is very capable of producing quality steel knives. They could have been honest and embraced that, and put out a product that's decent enough quality for a person to invest in, but they chose to be deceptors. I feel sorry for the fallout for the employees, but that company needs to just go away.
The We/Civivi knives are really top notch, and I now carry a Kizer as my EDC, putting far more expensive benchmades, SOGs, and even my William Henrys back in the box. China's not all crap, but these Huusk knives sure appear to be.!
I've gotten some perfectly fine Chinese knives. No reason to lie, just makes them look bad.
pre CCP culture is amazing, but there is no place for innovation nor craftsmanship in an authoritarian regime.
The thing is, it's not China that's doing this, it's individual companies within China that are. There are tons of companies all over the world that do this kind of thing, not just the Chinese ones.
@@gyffesmeDon't forget Maxace, it's such a shame for every Chinese company that gives a damn for Chinese reputation, ten more gotta come and ruin it.
Here's how you can avoid being scammed into buying garbage all these influencers pedal: don't watch influencers.
I feel the creators should be made to bear the blame when they promote scams without doing their due diligence.
As long as they clearly indicate that it is a paid advertisement, It's all we can ask. After everything, I find that I'm less likely to buy a product that I see a paid ad for on youtube because it's mostly scams and gatcha girl gambling games.
This one isn't all that bad. $30 dropshipping scams (and cute $50 scams like established titles) are benign and provide an important life lesson. It's the stuff the finfluencers like Graham Stephan shill that will kill you. E.G. FTX or masterworks.
I actually brought a Husk knife, I feel very stupid. The knives are garbage, as soon I opened it I knew I was screwed. UGH
Husk Japan; Owned by a European company, made out of pot metal in CHINA.
Anything that markets directly through social media people is usually a scam.
But anyone who knows how traditional katana are made would know that would have nothing to do with these knives (it'd be a really stupid way to make a knife)
You notice, it seems like they stay away from _actual_ knife and blade related channels?
They know that people that know knives would see it for the garbage it is.
When I went to check to see if "Ellie Clark" is a real person, I found articles from over two years ago...pointing out that these knives are a scam. Also, I found Haarko knives, which are the same knives, just shaped a bit differently--the wording is just about identical in the advertising. Both blade designs are bad jokes, not knives any decent cook would choose. All things considered, I expect a thorough search would turn up more variations of these, probably all with a vaguely similar name and design.
The funniest part, I think, was the one "article" (really an ad) praising these things--which claims that it isn't the chef's skill that matters, but the tools the chef uses. They pushed the idea pretty hard.
Just watching the clips of people cutting with those knives is enough to tell they aren't all that sharp--too much effort is required to make the cuts, and it's much too obvious...at least it's obvious to me. The hole through the blade is a really dumb gimmick...just there for show, not functionality.
The "Ellie Clarke" quote is ludicrous. "...the most widely recognized style of chef's knife in the West." is an outright lie. Just do a quick search for images of "chef's knife", and you'll see what I mean. While looking to see if there is an actual chef named "Ellie Clarke", I found a LinkdIn profile for one claiming
"Ellie Clarke
Chef
Slough, England, United Kingdom"
but under education:
" East Berkshire college Windsor Graphic
East Berkshire college Windsor
Retail and visual merchandising display (3D)Window displays, interior design, graphics.
2012 - 2014
Highly passionate when it comes fashion, creative writing and design.
Window displays and visual merchandising are where my skills lie, I like to keep up to date with the latest trends and research by window shopping."
Given the mismatch, I think this profile is likely connected to the scam...why else would an advertising student list their job as chef? My guess is that the scammers stole this profile and changed only the current job part.
Another of the "chefs" giving testimonials, "Bernard Descoteaux" is a retired newspaper editor. I was pretty sure before I went looking, but both the names I looked up primarily show up in advertising for these scams...and if I look up any other names attached to this scam, I'm sure it'll turn out they're unconnected to cooking. The actual people whose names are being used will be unaware of this, too.
Great job exposing this scam!
I appreciate the kind words. Thanks.
Pete exposed it.
this problem is so much worse than most realize. tons of drop shipped chinesium for knives like these, fashion watches like mvmt, headphones like raycon and beats (at least at one point those were basically just drop shipped crap, maybe changed with apple involved..) and on and on with cheap, junky products passed off as premium. often with the same company running several of them at once like the kamikoto knives and established titles people. its sad how many people are willing to take advantage of people who just dont know the industry very well and dont know theyre buying crap.
The thing is, quality costs money. Combine that with the idea/urban myth that companies that make good products are led by 1%ers who are laughing at the peasants and it's ready-made for scammers. The reality is that there is a reason that Swiss watch is $300.(or more). Just watch some watch repair videos and see how they react to the cheap fakes - and show you how terrible they really are. You simply can't make an automatic movement that works well for $10. Same with headphones and audio equipment and and and... :)
I own a sharpening business in New Zealand, and one of these knives came in to be sharpened. The handle was so rattley and poorly made. The wooden handle was literally moving every time I touched it.
Them not realizing its a scam, makes it worse .. if you just push anything on your followers as long as it makes you money, you probably do not deserve followers.
If you've ever used a kitchen knife you have to know at a glance that this thing is not going to work well. It could be made of the best materials, but it is still clearly an ergonomic nightmare!
Anything that any youtubers promote or is sponsored by, is best believed to be a scam.
The first red flag for me (from watching this) was claiming that the knives were manufactured using 'ancient' Japanese techniques and materials. No one does that for sale to the mass market. It would take far too long to make them.
You CAN get traditionally made knives in Japan, but you will pay a premium for them.
That and from the get go looking at this knife, I'm sure I saw a vid for probably the exact same knife a while back, it did not get a good review.
Right, I seen a paring knife for 300 dollars. The low price and mass production is definitely a red flag.
Thanks. I was flashed a promo for these on some channel I was watching. Like most RUclips ads, if it is too good to be true, it isn't. The whole influencer/digital creator marketplace is a cesspool of deception and lies, a place governed by "let the buyer beware." Reviews are particularly problematic with sites that sell/fake reviews. These folks wouldn't know the truth if they tripped over it.
This whole scam sounds like it needs to be looked at under the RICO Act. Due to the number of influencers and companies involved, this may be considered "Modern" organized crime. I'm no attorney, but...
Ok the main requirement for a RICO indictment is two racketeering crimes within a six month period. I looked it up 😂
Wire fraud? Order slamming with default selected recurring subscription after checkout...
As a former cook, these knives would be a nightmare in a kitchen. Absolutely horrible weighting and blade shape for anything. The chefs aren’t even using them naturally. This isn’t even a real knife.
My thoughts exactly. Blade shape is a skinner for removing the hide from freshly slaughtered animals. Yet, this thing will never reach sufficient sharpness to do this.
Excellent! You are what makes the consumer world a better place. Thank you!!
Thanks for the kind words.
I got mine for $14. It's my cheese and meat knife. I sharpen it every couple of months and it has not been a problem for me.
I was not aware of any scam. It's a nice heavy knife that cuts thick 5 lb blocks of cheese and all sizes of meat, raw or cooked, with ease.
Maybe I got a good one or something.
Edit: I did not get mine from any youtube ad or channel personality.
The funny thing is that you can see how bad the knife is because it can't even get through an onion. I own a 10€ knife and that one works better.
Gl;a to see that you too noticed that. It did great on the banana, though!
Most of the shots where people were cutting produce looked like they were struggling to make the cuts. While it might be an issue with sharpness/blade thickness I also think the shape of the blade and it's relation to the handle is absolutely terrible for a chef's knife making it difficult to control the cut. I pretty much exclusively use Santoku style knives when I cook and can't see anything about this design that makes me think it might be a better option.
@@revgregory I think it just wasn't hardend and the high thickness but the shape is definitely not good for slicing. That shape would be more suited for mincing herbs but you can just use a chef's knife for that. This product doesn't even make conceptual sense to me. Wird mix of scgo and cooking knife. My 10€ knife is still going strong btw but I also use a honing steel.
If it sounds too good to be true, then it is! Decent Japanese made knives start at $100+.
Hell, you can't find decent Japanese garden shears for less than 140
Actually, closer to $300. Sigh. Hence how they can scam people. The idea that Japanese companies are making huge profits over cost. The reality is, they are making a profit, but just barely. The number of hours that goes into each one is absurd from a typical mass produced knife perspective. Nobody in the U.S. would look at their business plan and think it was sane as they are spending 50% or more on labor and materials. :)
Thank you for putting this information out there for consumers and RUclipsrs alike. We live in the age of information, there aren't any excuses, you can be deceived, only if you want to be! 😮
Good work exposing another dropship scam! i can not imagine why are things like this legal? i understand free market, but fake advertising should be a crime
Nice content. To be honest, it's very easy to find out that this is some scam in some form just from their promos (and buzz words used in their sponsorships/ads) it's just that most RUclipsrs don't even care and that is the sad reality. Hope you get more subs and make more videos.
All RUclips sponsors should be considered scams. Whether it's knives, watches or Scottish Lord titles, they are all designed to make lots of money from ignorant customers.
Thank you for a well researched commentary. Imagine the depth of malicious enterprise currently available on the web. Sadly I see HUUSK is still marketing with expertly craven presenters but it gives me pleasure to watch them laboriously HUUSKING a pickle or waving it about as if fending off an invisible badger. Sometimes you must laugh & try not to think of the next scam. Me, I hope they contract tetanus.
It's nothing new that most stuff nowadays is a scam.
Great video - thanks. This highlights how RUclips channels need to do their homework before endorsing a product (also see FTX).
Yes, agreed. I also did an FTX video as well. Hopefully, content creators are getting the memo to do research or at least put a "I don't research my sponsors" disclaimer.
All they see is dollar signs. They dont care about due diligence or what these companies support. Its disgusting.
Hoax knives...
No respectable chef would stab their cutting board with a knife
... even less so their food with an inapproriate tool like this.
I love the design but when I saw the price the first time I didn't believe it was hand forged because the price would be to unbelievable for that.
You shouldn't like the design either. It's shit. There's a reason that it's not a common cooking knife form. Just stick with standard chefs knives and you'll be great
Note: In many countries it’s illegal to offer a discounted product that’s never sold at the non-discounted price because that means the discounted price is the true price and the non-discounted price is false advertising. Companies cannot offer a product that’s always on sale to trick people into thinking they’re getting a good deal.
Actually this way of advertising is illegal in all of the EU.
+++ Cedric & Ada also called these guys out, & tested their garbage to prove it.
Complete crap knives without heat treat. Thanks for calling out the complete FRAUD of these scumbags.
Yeah, I made a follow-up video including Cedric and Ada. The company is super shady.
@@LordVenerable I have heard Kamikoto is much worse!
So fed up with their fricken emails that they never stop sending despite endless requests.
Excellent job Venerable. Keep it up
Thanks. I appreciate that.
I'll never give a dime to any company who employees influencers.
Except that every one’s talking about it, but scams shouldn’t spread so liking- comment -subscribe to calling it out 👍
The video title refers to the fact that a large quantity of youtubers are promoting Huusk, but nobody's talking about it. To your point, people have made videos about Huusk being deceptively bad but as you can see, content creators either don't care or don't do their due diligence.
@@LordVenerableto be fair there are some creators that openly state that sponsorship is only for funding for the channel and doesn’t equate to support or recognition of the company
(i say this as someone who had managed channels in the past, we had have and still do conduct research into potential sponsors but we’re also instructed by our clients to weigh the total amount of funding against the shadiness of a sponsor and ensure that at the end of the day the channels receive the necessary funding
hence why some creators will state that they don’t support the company but will still run a ad for them - they need the cash ) hope this helps to give you a perspective into the “otherside” to this argument
It’s honestly unacceptable to sponsor a product like that. Anyone with basic knife knowledge can see it’s super low quality. The design might look cool if you’re 10 years old, but even in the sponsored videos, it’s obvious the blade geometry, thickness, pattern, etc., are all wrong for the tasks they’re showing. Trying to do fine food prep with a blade that thick, cutting twigs, opening packages, cutting cords... it’s just ridiculous. The whole product looks cheaply made. RUclipsrs promoting it deserve to be called out publicly until they apologize. In this day and age, ignorance isn’t an excuse.
Like the video and subscribe to the channel. Thanks!
Damn that list is getting long
Sad to admit it, I got , got. Dopey me fell for the "Japanese Blade of the Samurai." It took a month and a half or more for it to arrive. I had forgotten it was even coming. The first couple of weeks, it was scary sharp. And then it wasn't. I realized a good sharpening stone can make a butter knife sharp. I wasted money for this lesson. Buyers beware. I also spent on that ab stimulator, OOPS. It didn't work, and I can not get it to work. There is no information on the packaging, the instructions book, or the shipping label. No number to call, no support. I'm just "Stuck like Chuck."
100% crap!
Agreed.
My mom got me one of these, and it's a decent knife, but this is nowhere near the quality of a real handmade kitchen knife, and the curved blade makes it almost unusable in the kitchen. I know most members of the target audience of this scam can't read chinese or japanese, but the symbols on the pamphlet are not japanese, but simplified chinese. Dead giveaway right there.
As an owner of a Japanese kitchen knife mine is about half the thickness of this huusk blade, doesn't even look good for kitchen prep
I have one rule regarding advertisements. 1) If it's advertised on RUclips or Facebook, it's garbage.
All these influencer and RUclipsr sales pitches are obvious BS. Surprised anyone still falls for it.
wanna know how to tell if it's a scam or not really quickly, the ad says something like "This knife has been kept from the public"
Funny how I’ve never paid more than 10 bucks for a kitchen knife and yet I’m still able to cut just about anything I cook.
Great work... when I saw the advertising for these (even by some "good" YT channels), it's obvious to anyone who knows anything about Japanese knives, that the whole thing is crap!
Katanas have special steel, and 10,000 layers, so the claim that they are made like a Katana is bogus...and stainless steel, not in a Katana, and 70% discount? It's something that appeals to certain buyers, especially chinese, and, apparently, US Americans!
And, as you noted, anyone reading the "Ferengi print" sees all kinds of "we don't really claim that they are professional", "we remove fake reviews", "manufactured and shipped from China"...
Seriously disappointed that so many "influencers" have shown how cheaply "bought" they are!
It's not even a well designed knife. I worked in professional kitchens for over 14 years. Every video I see of people using it, it's clearly awkward and not comfortable to use.
I'm surprised they didn't market them as "Hand-forged by blind Japanese monks on Mount Fuji that can cut through diamonds".
These are so common I expect a new one to pop up every week. Every niche has at least one, audio gear, watches, clothing, fishing tackle, knives, the list goes on and on into infinity.
"Comes off the box razor sharp and they'll stay like that for years", *laughs in knife person*.
it's so funny because ancient katanas were inferior to literally anything the europeans were making at the time.
their legend comes from this idea that "oh, well they picked out the best chunks of metal from the bloomery and were folded a half a billion times so they must be great" while the reality is that the only reason the steel needed to be folded was because of the inferior smelting technique.
in japan they used bloomery steel while in europe in the same time period they used crucible steel
the difference being that crucible steel actually fully liquefies the metal and allows for the removal of all the impurities, which renders folding pointless.
the legend of the great japanese katanas literally stems from them using inferior smelting techniques.
Many of these "Influencers" are serial offenders advertising one scam after another.
All any any social media advertising is at best suspect.
Legitimate RUclipsrs would know they are renting their own credibility to their advertisers and choose wisely.
Promoting scams harms their own credibility and the only redress consumers have is unsubscribe, not interested at the 3 dots.
With no views they may learn to reject scams.
Ancient Japanese sword makers would fold metal for the finest katanas over and over again during the forging process. This method increases the resilience of the metal used to make the blade, is time consuming and exceptionally laborious, and most importantly, requires the *consummate skill* of a talented smith. The very notion that these blades are forged in a similar fashion is LAUGHABLY PREPOSTEROUS to anyone who has even one SCINTILLA of knowledge about smithing. They tip their hat that they are frauds in their opening statement. I would never purchase this knife, but thank you for getting this out there; apparently some people are easily duped.
As a knife enthusiast and collector, 2 things:
1. Sick to death of hearing "German steel" or "Japanese steel" and seeing promo videos showing them chopping carrots like you couldn't chop a carrot with a butter knife.
2. This knife is so awful even at a glance. Gross.
It's times like this where knowing literally anything about knives comes in handy. We can smell a melted ford bumper from a mile away.
Wait until people find out that Cobratech are all aliexpress knives.
The knife looks like crap to start with. And I would never consider any junk that a RUclipsr pushes. The only reason RUclipsrs shill for these companies is to get free merchandise.
whats also funny is Japan was known prior to the 1970s for cheap quality goods, prior to them cracking down and improving standards
Too many creators promote anything and everything and I'm over it. I won't buy anything that a RUclipsr recommends- because I'm tired of being lied to. Don't pee on my head and tell me it's raining...
1 gal raves about the free mattress she got and tells us how amazing her sleep is now and she can't believe she lived so long without this mattress- and then shows us the mattress in her guest room. So either she sleeps in the guest room while her husband sleeps in their master bedroom alone- or she's a liar.
People raving about all of these stupid games and begging us to sign up and then crickets- but they got paid so that's all it mattered.
Established titles was also a terrible scam promotion for land ownership, it had no legal bearing or recognition for the affected area whatsoever
If anyone expected a high quality knife at $30 they need to seriously get with it. I purchased some for myself and Xmas presents. I wasn't expecting much for the cost, as long as it holds an edge it's a cheap knife to use camping or out by the grill. I'm satisfied with what I've got so far.
My father in law fell for a scam on Facebook, claiming to be selling a Dewalt tool set at 70% off. Even after I told him that it is a scam and to call and cancel his debit card used, he said no that he will wait to see if they will ship him the tools just in case it is a real offer. Two weeks later, he got a knock-off Dewalt screw driver set that he paid $50 for, lol.
I found one in my brothers kitchen knife drawer.
It's absolute junk. It falls so far behind the chefs knife I generally use, in performance, it's truly laughable.
The handle is a poor fit, and is not secured solidly.