5" Utility Knife - Zhen Series (PM8O)

Reach for this when the chef knife is too much blade and the paring knife isn't enough. Cherry tomatoes need to split without squashing. Silverskin on a pork fillet needs trimming with the knife flat against the membrane. A small block of cheese needs slicing cleanly on the board. The 5" utility knife is the one you'll stop overlooking once you actually have a good one in the drawer.

The In-Between Blade That Earns Its Place

Five inches is long enough to keep the blade on the board for most small-produce work. Short enough that you're not wrangling extra length when trimming silverskin or halving a dozen cherry tomatoes in quick succession. It's the blade that handles the jobs your chef knife makes awkward: anything smaller than a capsicum where the extra length starts working against you rather than for you.

67-Layer Damascus on a Compact Frame

The core is 10Cr15CoMoV, vacuum heat-treated to 60-62 HRC, wrapped in 67 layers of Damascus cladding. Same build as the larger blades in the Zhen Series: an edge that holds its keenness through repetitive work rather than going blunt by the third use. The full-tang pakka-wood handle is proportioned for the smaller blade, so it doesn't feel like a handle designed for a bigger knife that someone trimmed the blade off.

Specifications

• Blade Steel: 67-layer Damascus with 10Cr15CoMoV core
• Hardness: 60-62 HRC (Vacuum Heat Treated)
• Blade Profile: 5-inch utility knife
• Handle: Pakka-wood, full-tang
• Use: Cherry tomatoes, silverskin trimming, small block cheese slicing, and any board work where a full-size chef knife has too much blade length to be comfortable.
• Series: Zhen Series (PM8O)
• Model: PM8O-WY

Complete Your Set

Pair it with the Zhen 7" Santoku (PM8O-RS) for larger vegetable prep where five inches runs short, and the Zhen 3.5" Paring Knife (PM8O-SG) for the in-hand jobs this blade stays too big for.