new member, on the hunt for my next knife/set

hey there guys, just joined after perusing the site a little and realizing the wealth of knowledge that is available here. In all honesty some of the responses seem overwhelming and in the end don't always narrow down the search so much as broaden it or change the whole direction! I've been cooking at home since i was a teenager (now 31) and as of 2009 decided to go to culinary school and change the direction of my life! After toiling away in corporate restaurants in Vancouver for the past few years i moved back to my hometown just on the outskirts of the city and am now working at a fine dining restaurant that received a 28/30 from zagat for food. I finally feel like it's time to get some new hardware as I've been working with the same knives from culinary school, the standard mercer renaissance set. While I've been pretty pleased with the service they've provided me with I would like something sharper that handles better and retains it's edge. The Mercer's have actually impressed me when I've compared them to friends or coworkers henkles/wusthof's the difference was minimal and I often found I preffered my knife to the henkles.

I spent the majority of today researching knives first off starting here and looking at reccomendations and than looking up independent reviews and than looking online to look at pictures and price shop. The brands i keep coming back to are Korin, masamoto, suisin, misono, and mac. I'm not sure if I want to stay with the western gyutou or switch to japanese style deba. Any knowledge that i do have is severly limited and was pretty much all learned today! It was just a couple of weeks ago that I first found out about mac knives after picking up one at work and making a few cuts with it (happened to be lying on the counter and needed it to sell an item quick) All of our other knives there are just standard POS knives that our head chef has amassed and left in case one of us forgets our knives at home. At first glance I thought this was another run of the mill knife by appearance and feel i wouldn't have been surprised if someone told me it was bought at a hardware store! That is until i made that first cut and felt the precision, I had to look it up on my phone and came to find that it is a brand that is much heralded by it's users/owners.

Anyways i'll try and wrap this up quick here, I use a pinch grip as mentioned earlier am using a set of mercers, I'll primarily be using it to chop herbs, slice and dice veg, with a little butchering that will increase as i move up the ranks at the rest i am at. I would say i primarily use a rocking motion but in all honesty i may be a bit of split personality in that sense as i switch depending on the task at hand. Sharpening with a wetstone is something Ive never done but in watching videos it's something that doesn't intimidate me and I want to try. I may just look to buy a chef's knife deba or gyutou or try and find a deal on a 2/3 piece set. I'm not sure i will get any aswers that differ from other posters but maybe my post will bring questions that will bring me closer to an idea as to what i want. Right now the list of what i want or at least want to try is massive...I'd like to narrow the field down considerably if not down to one brand/style. I can write down the list of knives that i've been eyballing if it will help but for now i'll leave it at this and see what kind of info it brings, thanks in advance glad that there is such a rich resource like this to help me out!

i should also add the idea of carbon doesn't necessarily bother me either i feel competent enough to wipe my blades down regularly...If there is a comparable stainless blade out there, i'm happy with that as well.

It would be easier if you provide answers to the following questionnaire http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/s...hich-Knife-Should-I-Buy-quot-Questionnaire-v2

Welcome

thx i canhaschzbrgr and mtayl86r

i'm in canada

i'm primarily interested in a chef's knife but would be open to a 2/3 piece set including a pairing, santoku or petty knife

right handed

i'm comfortable with a western handle but really like the feel of the japanese handle and wouldn't mind the switch but it's not imperative

i'm currently using a 10 inch mercer again i'm comfortable with this length but working in a smalller kitchen now would be better to move to a 9 or smaller.

stainless would be slightly preferential but i think i can handle the extra care of carbon, i was really interested in the aesthetics of damascus but have since moved away from that after reading some great posts on here

at this point i only have 300 but would be willing to save up a little more if necessary, would also like to get the necessary stones to sharpen...maybe the question here is what should my budget be...i want quality not extravagence, this will be my first nice blade purchase but i'd like to think it's a knife i can use for many years to come if cared for properly.

I'll be using the knife primarily in a professional environment, I'll keep my mercers at home

i use it for chopping herbs, slicing and chopping veg,slicing meats, breaking down poultry, in all honesty i would like it to do it all or as stated above have a 2/3 piece set that can accomplish this all

i use a pinch grip

my cutting motion varies but i would imagine i use the rocking motion the most...

i want a knife that is sharper and will hold an edge longer, something aesthetically pleasing would be nice with a handle that does not become slippery. i would like a lighter knife but one that can still handle the heavier tasks i might be required to undertake, and one that obv has good balance.

i would like to use it out of the box, food release would be nice but not necessary, something capable of rock chopping for herbs would be good

in terms of edge retention i'd like it to be as long as possible within a reasonable budget, i've been using an electric pull thru on my mercer as little as possible while maintaining with a honing rod.

i use synthetic cutting boards at work bamboo and synthetic at home but have been looking at boos and boardsmith boards for at home

i am def interested in learning how to sharpen with a stone system, any help or knowledge on what i need to get started with that would be great as well

thanks again guys!