I'm talking about proper brand name construction knifes like Mora... Using the wrong tool for wrong job will break them, but used properly they aren't easy to break.
I am not really disagreeing with you. However, with knives, not any product will even work decently.
You need good enough steel to take and then hold an edge. So it can not be super cheap steel with big particles, as you will never manage to get that knife sharp enough to use.
On the other hand, super hard hrc+++ cheapo knives will also not do much for you. First, because they are rarely sharp and second, because in a kitchen environment where not every cut is going to be perfect and nice to the blade, the blade is going to be effed. It's gonna be sharp for lunch and a disaster by dinner.
However, you are right that good knives for very little money are available. I have been using several Victorinox knives that are plyable and robust. They can be made very sharp without much effort, and stay that way for reasonable amounts of time.
And that's the point. I don't really need to throw them away. They don't really look fancy, true. But they are in daily use since... six years? Eight?
And the price difference to supermarket knives was probably 10-20 euros/dollars.
Edit: And I say this as someone who has a random assortment of sharpening/honing utensils and really only barely knows what he is doing with them.
Good midrange, perhaps not necessarily Wüsthof (aka the macrobrew of European knives), but other proven knive brands, is a very good option for people who don't do Sashimi every day.
I've found that Moras need a sharpen before they're really fit for duty.
And at that point, may as well keep sharpening them. What's the point of having a Scandi grind carbon steel blade if you don't sharpen it? There is literally no easier geometry or grind, and who cares if you scratch it a little?
I don't feel bad losing it (haven't) or breaking it (haven't) either. But taking a dull knife, letting it get duller, then tossing it, really doesn't sit right with me.
