Let's talk knives

Knives are one of those things where you get what you pay for.  We bought a good set of kitchen knives 10+ years ago and the balance and ability to keep an edge is amazing.  I don't know the brand off the top of my head but I will take a look later today.

Gerhard

Now listed as "Swiss Army" but still stamped with the Forschner label on the blade.

https://www.amazon.com/Swiss-Army-Brands-40040-4-Inch/dp/B000Q9EHQS

I bought this bread knife 10 years ago and still use it daily.  And I cut and eat a lot of dark baked crusty bread.

Great results for moderate price. I also suggest getting a tool and the knowledge to sharpen the "wavy" blade from time to time.

Yes, I too would like a Bob Kramer knife (though the ones Amazon show are a design of his that is licensed to Zwilling in Japan; real Bob Kramer knives go for several thousand dollars a piece).  I have an ordinary 8 inch Henkel serrated bread knife that cuts through all my bread quite nicely.  My Bob Kramer sharpening stones will only work on the non-serrated side.  For the sharpening the serrated side I use a nice tool made by Diamond Machining Technology that is designed just for this purpose:  https://www.dmtsharp.com/sharpeners/folding-models/diafold-serrated/  Keeps the knife factory sharp with little fuss.

I chose a 10" knife with a thin blade and sharp points on the serrations.  

I find the serration pattern on the miracle blade slicer to work great. I have an old dull one and it cuts bread great.

I've tried a bunch of different ones, maybe a dozen or more, including several that their respective owners swear by. None have made me feel "That's the one for me." I've found some I like better than others, but part of that is probably personal; e.g. maybe I don't care as much as you do about having to clean up the crumbs since I've never tried one I'd eliminate for that reason.

In addition, while I've never done a controlled comparison, it wouldn't surprise me if certain knives are better and worse (per my personal standards) with different types of breads and/or crusts. 

So, just like you should bake bread the way you like it, maybe you should look for a knife that cuts the way you want, not the way someone else does.  

I have a Jamie Oliver bread knife, and an Ikea bread knife, both of which are excellent for almost any bread I bake, even the fresh, crusty ciabatta we had the other night. Not too expensive either.

The Cutco knives are/were Made-in-USA (I have not purchased in a long time but still believe they are made in US).  I have been using the model 1724 for years and it cuts my sourdough loaves perfectly.  These knives are moderately priced, but can be had on auction sites for good prices used, or discounted new:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cutco-Slicer-Bread-Knife-DD-Edge-Item-Number-1724c-Retails-for-105-Sealed-/162330314455?hash=item25cba406d7:g:uO4AAOSw5cNYXAc9

P2B

Tim, you say you aren't interested in an electric knife,  but another approach is a small slicer, like the EdgeCraft   https://www.amazon.com/EdgeCraft-610-Choice-Premium-Electric/dp/B0002AKCOC/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1483491800&sr=1-1&keywords=chef%27s+choice...   I have the 610 because it is fairly light and easy to take out when I need it, and put it away when I am done.  If you are baking sandwich loaves, it is very easy to use, and works on artisan loaves as well.  It is not very powerful, but it is compact, and as long as you use the guard and pusher, you won't cut yourself, and the edges will be straight and clean. 

I concur with cook's illustrated: there are several makers/marketers of food service quality 12" serrated slicer that sell in the range of $10-20 (check out your local restaurant supply); like this one at Amazon. Then get yourself a Smith's DRET Diamond Retractable Sharpener to tune it up when it gets dull. IIRC, I've seen them at Dick's Sporting goods, in the hunting/fishing section, and the like, maybe even home depot, for under $10.

Any serrated knife, regardless of the cost, is going to become dull after a bit of use. The secret is not the knife, like GregS says, it's being able to sharpen it later. It is a little tedious, but very doable.

I have this Dexter Russell 12" scalloped slicer that I bought 8 years ago for less than $10. They're about 1.5 - 2x that now and made in China (with Japanese knife grade steel?) and possibly still in Japan, too. They are made with a decent grade of stainless steel that is not overly hard to sharpen. Their sani-safe handle will run another $10 more--and, in my opinion, is not necessary for just bread or home use. I find that the extra length of a 12" blade is easier to use than the typical 8" bread knife. 

I swear by this knife for my Tartine sourdough. Cuts through the crust like butter, fantastic handle. 

http://www.cutleryandmore.com/shun-edo/dual-density-utility-knife-p129047

In my experience, the Japanese are masters of any cutting tool they make, so that Tojiro knife looks pretty.  I'm going to buy one then I will be able to give an informed opinion about it.

For now, I can say that you cannot go wrong with the Victorinox Bread Knife.  I have used one for some time with no complaints.  A few years ago, I bought a bunch of Victorinox Chef and Bread knives for the kids and I kept one for myself.  At the time, they were dirt cheap at my local restaurant supply house - not so dirt cheap anymore, but still an excellent value.

Another bread knife I can recommend is a Swibo, Swissmade by Wenger.  The one I have used for many years is about 10" long with a straight blade and a rounded tip.  My local supply house doesn't carry them anymore, so the may no longer be available.

Richard

by their relatively harder steel compared to traditional European style knives. While this enables them to be sharpened to and hold very thin edges, it does make those same edges more brittle and difficult to maintain.

Knife steel hardness is commonly measured using the Rockwell C scale. A typical Henckels chef knife made of high-carbon, rust-resistant stainless steel is HRC 55-58. A good Japanese knife will have a Rockwell C hardness of 60 or higher. Many entry and common kitchen knives have HRC ratings of 56 or less.

Tojiro make many fine knives and are an excellent value. According to their US rep, the F-737 bread knife is made from a high carbon stainless steel with an HRC of 52±1; significantly less hard than your typical Japanese cooking knife, comparable to many other retail and commercial products, and relatively easier to sharpen. Serration will protect the cutting edge to a point, but the knife will still eventually need to be sharpened.

a German knife maker and the inventor of the serrated blade. They sell a 12.5" bread knife that is off the charts both in performance and price.

I'm just a newbie to this forum but have been baking my own bread for over two decades - mostly wheat-based “healthy-type” breads including lots of wholesome gritty and/or "sticky" additives.   Anyway, one of the problems that I finally solved about ten years ago had to do with developing a fail safe way of cutting up the results of my  experiments.   Regularly configured knives often didn't work because blades thick/strong enough to do the job tended to crush and/or tear the loaf - especially if I’d tried to cut it into thin slices.  My solution was to make my own bow knife from a discarded hacksaw and four 2" long pieces of 3/4" wide strap steel (the stuff that's wrapped around lumber to keep it from warping).  The steel strips served to make  the distance between the saw's blade and back frame greater than the thickness of a typical bread loaf.  That  was accomplished by cutting off the “ends” of the saw (see the picture – a detail of one such end) and then brazing them back onto the frame with a gap created by sandwiching each between the ends of two of the steel strips. The other modifications included removing the kerf from both sides of the blade (which further thinned it)  and then scalloping/serrating its cutting edge (on one side) with a bench grinder (that rendered it extremely sharp – it cuts very cleanly with no crumb “ wastage”).

It’s proven to be useful for lots of other kitchen tasks too; e.g., slicing frozen meat into thin strips suitable  for jerky making.