What brought about this evolution was the split second decision to buy a KS. To date this is probably the knife that has resonated with me most. It is not too hard and not too soft which gives it a good balance of edge retention and toughness. It is not crude and it is not elegant, well, one might argue that in a sense of profile but that is not what I mean to say. It is refined but only enough so to make it comfortable in use. It is a big knife that feels nimble and has that 'flickable' feel in hand. The grind is thin but it is not a laser. It is not really a middle weight either though but something between and almost three different knives with each third of the blade. It does everything well and nothing perfectly.
That does not mean I can not appreciate things such my HD2 because I can. This is the knife that opened my eyes to 240s, not the first that I have owned but the first to show me that they do not have to be clunky and unwieldy. This knife is more refined, in ways, than the above KS. It is a totally different knife in every way too. It whispers through everything and while not dainty isn't what I would consider a workhorse and I use that term in the sense of a knife you would take into the heat of battle not in the sense of being a hefty knife.
I can appreciate other knives like my Misono Swedish carbon "dragon" and my Fujiwara FKH. These are what I would consider workhorse knives or even warhorse knives. I have palm battened both of these knives through countless rabbit spines at this point and cracked the knuckles off of chicken drums. Coarsely chopped chocolate, minced nuts, cracked shells and the like. These knives can take a beating and with the Dragon that is particularly impressive for how thin behind the edge it is compared to its Euro counterparts.
Generally speaking I tend to like long sleek profiles that are pointy but at the same time I don't mind wider profiles at the tip so long as they are pointy as well. I like my santoku knives to be 165-180mm not 240!
Anyway, I am not looking to go out and buy another knife at the moment so much as I am looking to research more knives that I had never considered putting on my list and that is because my desires have evolved along this journey. Mass produced, hand made, western, eastern etc it doesn't matter. Any thoughts on knives I should add to my "list" and why you think I might like them?
I already know a few people are going to tell me to add TF to that list. It is already on the list for the future. I have one or two in mind too. But we shall see what the future holds.
Thanks for any and all recs or opinions you have to share. Even if that is knives to run from. LOL.
