Can we update the "what knife should I buy" thread

When people ask me my opinion on what knife to buy one of the first things I ask is what type of steel they want in their knife, along with all the other stuff in the thread. I gave it a read and was a bit surprised by how little information it asked for when it came to steel. The only part I noticed was the Do you require stainless steel question. I personally feel this is one of the more important questions you need to discuss when buying a knife.
One being because most people have little or no knowledge on the different types of steel and why they differ. From reading some of the posts on what to buy you should be able to recommend what type of steel to get based on their preferences but a lot of times they dont feel in enough information to point them towards the right steel.

I feel it would be better to rephrase the "Do you require a stainless knife? (Yes or no)" question into something like this:

What type of steel core do you want in in your knife? For example, carbon steel (blue, white, yellow, etc.), stain resistant steel (VG, AUS, GIN, etc.), or powder steel (R2, ZDP, SG, etc). Of course all this can be re-worded to make better sense. Im not the best writer.
maybe something about Honyaki, iron cladding, stainless steel cladding, damascus steel cladding etc.


Would love to hear what everyone's thoughts and opinions on this. I think it would not only help in choosing a knife but help to educate people on steel.

Ah, the thing is when I joint I knew nada about the kinds of steel. I still don't know much. Theory,yes but I have not held a knife made of each type with all thing being equal to make an opinion. What I have seen is that based on the user desired characteristics or tasks that the kind of steel gets discussed and refined. I think the questions are geared towards newbies like me.

Ah that does make sense as they go more into discussion it will get refined. Maybe put it in simple terms like Rusty, stain resistant, super hard, easy to sharpen steel, edge retention

The problem with rephrasing the question is that alot of times people who are new to japanese knives wont know the difference between blue, white, R2, vg10 or whatever steel. And another problem within a problem is that the attributes that can make one steel in one knife great often varies from different lines of knives. For instance, Ive used knives made with V2 and white 2 that werent particularly that fast to sharpen. At the same time most knives that Ived used that are made with V2 and White steel are super easy to sharpen. So Im not sure if were really helping anyone by basing their personal selection process on steel types. Now if you want to pose a question like "Which do you prefer? A knife that gets super sharp fast, a knife with great edge retention, or a knife with high corrosion resistance?" Then perhaps we could match the desired attributes the thread starter is looking for to different knives regardless or steel core.

A knife that gets super sharp fast, a knife with great edge retention, or a knife with high corrosion resistance?"

Click to expand...

Choose two

Most often then not, if the person who asks the question have a preference and knowledge in steel he/she will ask for the specifics. Like bla bla bla in AS or White #1 or whatever. But most folks who do not know much abt steel are more interested in the properties of the knife (steel) they will find useful.