Santa (me) brought this knife for Christmas. I sometimes make my own bread and my "bread knife" just wasn't cutting it. I had a plastic slicing guide (box thingy with the slats in), but after only a few uses a piece on it broke and I had to try to hold the bread AND the side of the slicing guide with one hand, while slicing with the other. If you've ever made homemade bread, you can imagine what a challenge this was. Even before the guide broke, my bread knife still would smush the bread, the slats would move, and I would not get even slices. So along comes the Bread and Bagel Slicer. The first time I used it, it was amazing and I fell in love. It slices right through without smushing the bread. I did it quickly, easily, and without a guide. The slices were much more even, and I was able to slice as thinly as I liked. It works great with bagels, too, and looks lovely.As for other reviewers' problems, if they had read previous reviews or looked at the picture, they should have known the handle was not a guide for slicing. This knife doesn't provide a guide, but I found that I don't really need one, unless absolute perfection is required (not at my house!). I don't see how you could cut yourself any easier with this knife than any other. My other bread knife is larger and seems much more dangerous. You have to be careful with it as with any other knife and keep your hand out of the way, and when washing. For lefties, just undo the screws and turn the blade the other way, or order the left-handed one.My only drawbacks are the sideways slicing, which takes some getting used to but may be what makes it work better. And when you slice a loaf of bread, the frame of the knife gets in the way and you have to keep lifting it up above the bread to move the already-cut slices out of the way instead of just letting them fall in place and moving your knife more quickly along the loaf. HOWEVER, with the amazing way this knife slices compared to anything else I've used, I will deal with it.Really, it slices through bread like butter, quickly and easily, no smooshing. It never gets put away because I use it every day. If you only bake bread once every few years, it may not be worth the investment, but if you've been frustrated trying to slice bread and you bake once a year or more, I highly recommend this knife. Wooden slicing guides are expensive, and you still need a good knife. Plastic slicing guides are unstable, get scratched (releasing plastic into your food) and break. This may be expensive as far as knives go, but cheaper than the other options. I'm crossing my fingers that it will last for many years.