Sukenari YXR7 Petty 165mm, Ebony Handle with Blonde/Marble Ferrule

A petty is a small utility knife, from the French petit. It is commonly shaped like a small gyuto and runs from 120 to 150 mm, up to 180 mm. Its clearest role is detailed work where a larger knife feels cumbersome: fruit peeling, garnish work, condiments, and small board work beside a gyuto or santoku.

A knife maker, Tojiro, frames the petty as a useful second knife, not an automatic necessity, and recommends santoku plus petty or gyuto plus petty combinations. It is not a replacement for a full size chef's knife; it lacks the blade length and belly for efficient chopping, rocking, or breaking down larger proteins. Treat it as a precision tool, not an all-rounder.

Petty knife lengths vary by maker: KAI's guide defines a petty (ペティナイフ) as a small knife with a narrow blade measuring 150 mm or under. Its table gives 90 to 150 mm, and it describes the shape as a smaller gyuto with a pointed tip.

We list petty knives from 70 mm to 165 mm, including lengths above the limit used in KAI's guide.

For most cooks the second knife after a gyuto is a small utility knife (petty) of about 150mm. If most of your cooking is vegetables, make it a vegetable knife (nakiri) instead; if you carve or slice a lot of meat or fish, a slicing knife (sujihiki).

A gyuto covers the main board work, so the gap it leaves is small work. A petty does the jobs where a full-size blade is clumsy: peeling, trimming and coring in the hand, and small board jobs such as shallots, fruit and herbs. Our petty knife FAQ covers the shape in detail.

A nakiri earns the second slot if you prep vegetables every day. Its flat edge meets the board along its whole length, so slices separate cleanly. It has no pointed tip, so the gyuto still does the tip work.

A sujihiki is the choice for carving roasts and portioning large pieces of meat or fish. The long, narrow blade has less surface touching the food than a gyuto, so slices come away cleaner. 240mm and 270mm are the popular lengths.

A santoku or a bunka is a weak second knife: both are all-purpose shapes that repeat what the gyuto does. If your gyuto already handles the small jobs comfortably, the second knife can wait, and a whetstone to keep the first one sharp is the better spend.

No. Proterial's YSS page lists 4.70% chromium for YXR-7, below the JSSA's 10.5% minimum for stainless steel, so semi-stainless on our YXR-7 steel page is a trade label, not the association's definition.

Proterial describes it as a matrix high-speed steel for forging tools with superior strength and toughness, listing 0.80% carbon, 5.50% molybdenum, 1.30% tungsten and 1.30% vanadium with a hardening hardness over 62 HRC. It can rust: wash and dry the knife after use.