Gyuto/Petty or Gyuto/Custom Handle

[JayBee]

1)Pro or home cook?
Home

2)What kind of knife do you want? (Gyuto, Santuko, Petty, Paring, Sujihiki, etc.)
Gyuto

3) What size knife do you want?
210mm

4)How much do you want to spend?
<350$ Slightly flexible on this

5) Do you prefer all stainless, stainless clad over reactive carbon, or all reactive carbon construction?
If it's fun to sharpen I don't really care, but probably all carbon or stainless over carbon. My knives are well taken care of to avoid rust and chipping.

6)Do you prefer Western or Japanese handle?
Japanese, although if I got strong recommendations for a western handled knife I wouldn't rule it out. I'm almost 100% a pinch gripper

7)What are your main knife/knives now?
Tojiro W#2 Nakiri. My project knife I practice sharpening and reprofiling on. I'm not afraid to abuse this one to try new things.
MAC Pro MTH-80. My stainless work horse. Gets really sharp and stays that way, but isn't the most fun to sharpen.
An assortment of other JA Henkles

8)Are your knife skills excellent, good, fair?
Good I guess? I'm not very fast, but I'm pretty careful not to chip my blades.

9)What cutting techniques do you prefer? Are you a rocker, chopper or push/pull cutter?
Probably 90% chopping, 5% push/pull, 5% rock.

10)Do you know how to sharpen?
Yes. I love sharpening. Am I good at it..... certainly not good compared to most of you here but I can get the W#2 and MAC (whatever steel it is) to shaving sharpness and keep it that way for a good while.

Ok here's my situation. I'm in the market for a 210mm Gyuto, and i've got some friends raving about kurosaki blades for a while now. I've got a 210 Shimo in my cart right now (I love the pattern on the cladding, looks fantastic), however i'm also looking to branch out and try a new steel like B#2 or AS. I really enjoy sharpening, so I think it would be beneficial for me to get more experience with different steel types. Kurosaki has an AS Gyuto, but i'm not in love with that specific kurouchi finish (If it had the same blue/black as the Mizu, i'd be sold).

I think i've got 2 directions I could go right now. I could grab the shimo and an AS petty (I also need a petty, just not as bad as I need a bigger knife), putting me right around my budget and satisifying my condition of getting a kickass gyuto and trying a new steel. The other option is recommendations from this forum on a high performing 210 Gytuo in the ~200$ range, and spend the extra $ on a nice custom handle. Any suggestions?

[Jeff B]

Like your choices. For me if it comes down to getting a custom handle or another knife I'm getting the knife!

[JayBee]

That's a really, really good point =)