why gyuto fever?

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Old Head
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For some reason, in my head I can only justify 1 parer, 1 small petty, 1 large petty, 1 fillet, 1 boner, 1 bread, 1 sujihiki, 1 cimiter, 1 big cleaver, 1 little cleaver.....

but 13 gyuto make perfect sense?

And my logic tells me NOT to stop buying gyutos, rather I need to buy more pettys and sujis.....
 
It makes sense to me... For 98% it's the most used knife, so we are forever in the search for the perfect one. I have two main crushes (gyuto) and now Im eyeing a third because its semi-stainless (Heiji).
 
I am sorry Chris, you have been misinformed and are making a big mistake by lumping all gyutos into one category. What you really have is:

For some reason, in my head I can only justify 1 parer, 1 small petty, 1 large petty, 1 fillet, 1 boner, 1 bread, 1 sujihiki, 1 cimiter, 1 big cleaver, 1 little cleaver.....

1 small gyuto, 1 small chef knife, 1 smallish gytuo, 1 smallish chef knife, 1 medium gyuto, 1 medium chef knife, 1 237mm gyuto, 1 238 mm gyuto, 1 240 gyuto....you get the picture.
...

You are just categorizing wrong. Technically you only have one of each size, I guarantee no gyuto is the exact same length.

Hope this helps.:viking:
 
Ah yes, not only length, I can categorize by weight, handle type, etc...

In that case, I need a 242mm gyuto at around 200 grams or more....

Thanks!
 
Yup, Kalaeb is correct; you really have a small gyuto then a little bit larger gyuto, then an even larger gyuto, etc..... What you actually have is an infinite series of a special type known as Zeno's dichotomy, which basically says that if you approach an object with each step distance being 1/2 of the previous step distance, you will be able to get infinitely close to your goal but never arrive at it. In this case, with each gyuto you buy, you will get closer to your ultimate goal (gyuto nirvana), but you can never ever reach it even if you continue to buy gyutos forever. I believe that most people on this board are somewhere within this sequence.
 
I think there are two main reasons.

1) Gyutos are probably your most commonly used knife, so you can cycle though them more frequently, lessening the feeling that you have too many.

2) They are a multi-duty knife, hence it cannot be perfect at all of its tasks. This sends the user on a journey of gyuto-discovery, with them trying different gyutos, searching for the one which suits their cutting style and personality the best. A gyuto-fingerprint is developed, where each user has a unique fingerprint (consisting of their selection of uses and style).

This leads to no gyuto being 'the one' for more than a small group of people, and many, high performance gyutos of different styles being needed to fill the demand.
 
Yup, Kalaeb is correct; you really have a small gyuto then a little bit larger gyuto, then an even larger gyuto, etc..... What you actually have is an infinite series of a special type known as Zeno's dichotomy, which basically says that if you approach an object with each step distance being 1/2 of the previous step distance, you will be able to get infinitely close to your goal but never arrive at it. In this case, with each gyuto you buy, you will get closer to your ultimate goal (gyuto nirvana), but you can never ever reach it even if you continue to buy gyutos forever. I believe that most people on this board are somewhere within this sequence.

Excellent analysis from a mathematical-philosophical perspective. I could add mine from a mental health perspective, but I won't :D

Stefan
 
Excellent analysis from a mathematical-philosophical perspective. I could add mine from a mental health perspective, but I won't :D

Stefan
But I will.

The answer to Theory's question on post #148 "Why is that handsome guy holding that sword" http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/11460-Official-East-Coast-Gathering-thread/page15
and "why gyuto fever?" are both the same:

theory with sword.jpg

To compensate for little winkies. :)
 
It's a quandry for sure. I've got an illness and the only core is more gyuto. I tried to alleviate this by ordering a new 210mm Deba. We'll see if it's the fix I need.
 
There *is* an affliction that's worse. You could be buying multiples of the exact same knife. Some folks around here do that. Of course I ... uh... have no firsthand knowledge of who any of those poor souls might be. :D
 
That could be practical, say, if you're a pro and really favour a certain knife, and so have a couple of them, with a spare always sharp and ready. Kind of like how tennis players have several of the same racquets and switch as soon as one gets dull - er, when the strings start to lose a smidgen of feel.
 
i would have riffed off that other thread title and ran with:

why so gyotocentric? :D
 
It's just natural progression. First you build up your gyuto arsenal. Then you step back and say "I'm done", and start on pettys, parers, sujis, etc. Then you step back and say "I'm done withthose; time for more gyutos!" Lather, rinse, repeat!
 
My answer.... Why the f*&k not! I have way more gyutos than I need and multiple vintage sab chefs in the 10 inch range and they all get used. It always brings a smile to my face to pick up a knife that I don't use often, or only use for special occasions, and that's enough for me. =)
 
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