hmm I need an extra knife for my work in pro environment.

as happy as I am with my carbon knife, which has extreme hardness but is not suitable for heavy jobs.
so no frozen stuff, lobsters etc.
as most knives at my work(not mine) are not sharp enough I'd like an extra knife for these kind of jobs.
and hey as a female in the kitchen I DO need a good sharp knife!!

what am I looking for:
big chefs knife, starting at 250 mm or more.
comfortable to work with, easy to sharpen on japanese waterstones, should keep edge well, preferably not rust sensitive.
available in europe.

I don't care too much what maker.....just looking for opinions etc for now....if you can recommend something like shops, feel welcome to do so by private message eventually.
have considered MAC knife, tojiro, global, sabatier, german...so, the jury is still out.
hmm budget may be around 200 euros.

tojiro dp western deba.

You want something that will handle lobster cracking for several hours without needing sharpening or chipping? Frankly, I might go with Sabatier or German stainless. You'll have to do some intermittent maintenance but at least it won't chip too much. I think most Japanese would chip or deform on frozen stuff.

my first j knife was a suisin western inox gyuto. i did a lot of dumb **** with that thing and it never once chipped. it won't get screaming sharp but its a good balance of thick and thin at the edge and the 58 hrc is forgiving.

I say Suisin carbon. http://korin.com/Suisin-High-Carbon-Steel-Yo-Deba?sc=27&category=8549934

I have used the 180 and 270 gyutos from this line and they developed incredibly stable patinas very quickly. Never chipped and took a great edge. I don't think you need to exhaust your budget on a knife for your stated needs.

For hard jobs, get a soft steel. I would suggest a soft French carbon instead of stainless for both much easier maintenance and far better performance. Have a look at K-Sabatier.

GGGG I did not mean that I needed to crack lobsters for HOURS (thank goodness no!) just that it should be able to take rough tasks like that.
a crate of lobsters at a time, is in this case, less than ten....

so, just a real sturdy but SHARP knife, preferably chef knife I think. OK keep suggestions coming the last one was quite interesting but not withint europe....
keeping eyes open.
looked at the tojiro (its available in my country netherlands, as are the MAC knives, globals , germans...etc)

If you liked Chuckles suggestion, korin france is selling it, too: http://www.korin-france.fr/nos-coll...aponais/suisin-high-carbon-steel-yo-deba.html

if you consider the tojiro dp, check out this shops prices:

http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/chubonoie/item/tkgca13-3-0198-2703/

I'd get a decent solingen german steel (doesn't necessarily need to be Wusthof) or a sabatier but usually in my experience the germans have more weight and material beyond the handle than french which is something I'd want in order to crack lobsters or split frozen portions

Yep, get a softer stainless German. Or a medium/heavy Chinese cleaver.

thanks for all suggestions.
I've indeed decided to go for a german make, probably going to be a wusthof 12 inch which is a hefty knife weighing over a pound.... will serve me well.