apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I have one and go blades up.

I am now going blades-up after my just-sharpened boning knife fell off the strip right into the screen of my charging iPod last week, rendering it (the iPod, not the knife!) completely useless.

I got one, built it myself because I couldn't find a strip made out of wood. Blades go down. I think it looks better, and the knifes might slip (handle prevents that).

Knife blades down just seems too . . . stabby.

In all the restaurants i've worked at it's been blades down, for safety reasons.

Like zeta and sol, I've always gone blades down, for two main reasons. One, most knives are weighted more heavily towards the handle, so you don't want that weight to drag them off the strip. Two, most handles are large/sturdy enough to stop them slipping down, at least temporarily. That said, the placement of the knife strip makes a huge difference. You should never have blades at hand level. If that's the case, move that knife strip!

Oh no, Sara Kate! I'm very sorry for your loss, but I can't help laughing at the image of your poor impaled iPod.

Please, please, take it to the Genius Bar, knife and all, and tell us what their reaction is.

After having knicked my knuckles several times while reaching around my counter on the tips of the knives when I was "blade down" I converted to "blade up" and am much happier...is anyone else completely compulsive about having the tines all line up perfectly like I am?

Mine are half up and half down because of their relation to a close-by shelf bracket.

Exposed blades bother me on a number of levels, no matter the orientation. I am entirely too clumsy to stick knives to the wall.

In my kitchen, most of my knives are safely stored in a block. Those that won't fit in the block are individually sheathed in a drawer.

I highly recommend Knife-Safe Kitchen Knife Covers:
http://www.kidsmartliving.com/knifkitknifc.html

Blade up, for easy grabbing of handles.

Aimi, I have one of those covers and I LOVE it--great for taking my chef's knife to a vacation rental, etc. I want little ones for my paring knives.

I don't know a ton about feng shui, but I think there's only a problem if the blades are acting as "poison arrows" and are directed towards people. So pointed up, pointed down, shouldn't make a difference. Unless you're concerned about someone who lives upstairs or downstairs from you....

My blades are up, or, if you want to get picky, at a 15-degree angle. I think it's safer for my knives, my hands, and anything stored below them (in this case, it keeps them just off the granite countertop behind my sink). It's also how I've seen them stored in restaurant kitchens and knife shops. Luckily, none of my knives are very heavy, so I don't worry about any sort of slippage. If I did, I'd be too paranoid to keep them on a magnet.

I prefer blades down. Not only do I like the way it looks more, its safer for me in my tiny corridor kitchen. My knife strips are close to the cabinets and spice racks. I find myself reaching over the strips pretty often. I'd prefer to bump into the handle than the blade. Also, I prefer the hilt right above the strip, resting on it. As for blades up, I don't see any benefit for myself.

Blades up and like HelloChloe, am compulsive about them lining up perfectly as well.

We have a narrow wall space and so we have two magnetic strips, one above the other. The bottom one, just above hand level, has the heavier knives, blades up. Once we did that, we realized that we had to put the ones on the upper strip blades down--otherwise, we'd be constantly knicking our hands with the lower blades reaching for the handles of the upper ones...and I, too, don't like it if the blades aren't all lined up vertically, whatever their orientation...

I keep my knives in a drawer, all by themselves.

Blades down for me. And I don't store anything on the counter under them.

Blades up, because the strip is at eye level above the stove. Actually, there aren't many knifes on it--steel measuring spoons & cups, a small whisk, one paring and one butcher knife, neither of which will fit in my knife block. I might look into those covers!

I am all about the blades up. I won't use knife blocks after I was told that the slots are a breeding ground for bacteria and strips are the best way to store them safely

I store mine blades up. Because of the space they're in I think blades down is just asking for trouble.

I did just "upgrade" my magnet to the one from IKEA and let me just say that IKEA made a magnet so strong that I went from "popping" my knives off to having to slide them off. I have no slippage worries whatsoever.

Images on my blog: http://embritadesign.blogspot.com

Wouldn't storing knives blade down eliminate, or at least minimize the slippage problem? If the knife starts to slip a bit it should be stopped when the hilt comes into contact with the strip, shouldn't it?

i'm considering mounting my strip underneath my cabinets so that it's actually lying flat and you wouldn't see the knives or the blades except for the handle poking out horizontally.

any comments on this? i fear safety as they could eventually fall just because of their individual weight and am concerned for the knives themselves as i've spent more on single knife than some shoe-holics spend on a pair of shoes and don't want a chipped blade. how often do knives slip or fall?

I keep my knives on two strips mounted vertically. The knives are kept horizontally, handles pointing inward.
http://www.jumpyfroggy.com/gallery2/d/10796-2/3059_kniferack_2oct05.jpg

Mine are blade-up. I've never had any problems with slippage, and the strip is high enough that the handles need to be in easy reach.

In a drawer in a wooden knife block. I have far too active an imagination for a magnetic strip. What if I wander into the kitchen one night when I'm alone in the apartment, only to notice the number of knives on the strip and wonder-- is one missing-- and what was that noise behind me...

My knife strip is at head height so blades up so I can reach the handles quicker.