Blade Guards

A blade guard is a simple piece of kit that does an important job: it slips over the edge of a knife to protect both the blade and your fingers. For Japanese knives in particular it is well worth having, because a thin, hard, keenly-ground Japanese edge chips more easily than a thicker Western one, and the fine tip is more vulnerable to damage. Stored loose in a drawer or carried in a bag, an unprotected blade knocks against other objects, which is the quickest way to chip an edge you have paid good money for. A guard prevents exactly that, keeping the edge safe and making the knife safer to reach for.

Blade guards are most useful in two situations: storing knives in a drawer, where a guard stops the edge knocking against other utensils, and carrying knives in a bag or roll, where blades would otherwise move against each other in transit. Magnetic guards, such as the KAI set we stock, hold themselves onto the blade so they do not slide off in use, and come in various sizes to fit different knives, from short paring blades up to long chef's knives. The key when choosing is to match the guard to the length and height of the blade, so it covers the full edge without being so large it slips.