First good knife for a line cook

Hey guys looking for a few recommendations for a line cook of mine looking to take the plunge into j-knives

So far his collection is limited but he has seen and used a few of mine and has started researching and shopping for a good first purchase

So far he has figured out the following parameters:

Guyto
240 mm
High carbon, preferably not stainless clad
Wa handle, western might be ok but he's digging the idea of a knife that needs taking care of.
Knife will be used for all the basic uses a young cook will need and as he grows other knives will be added
He is going to be learning to sharpen with me and using my stones so that is no concern
Price limit 220, as he researches he keeps going higher but I have advised keeping a lower price point to start and get a feel for what he likes in a knife and how to sharpen
We work in San Francisco if that's relevant, he went to Bernal the other day but said there wasn't any high carbon.

Thanks in advance for any advice and recommendations

Jesse

Do you know whether he would prefer lighter or heavier knife? What profile would he prefer?

I am wondering whether something like Ikazuchi (stainless clad super blue) would be an option. On the other side of the spectrum could be Munetoshi from JNS. Also Itinomonn kasumi (apparently not available at the moment) could be an option. But there are of course many others.

What are you meaning by high carbon? By definition high carbon seems to just be any steel with greater than 0.5% carbon in its composition. Do you mean non stainless carbon steel or stainless Steels with higher carbon content? In any case Bernal Cutlery has all of those combinations (fully reactive carbon steel, fully stainless, stainless clad carbon, etc.)

Itinomonn V2 Kasumi: very good alrounder, but is stainless clad. I have the stainLess version and it's great. Although OOS right now. Free shipping and outside of Europe they sell tax free.

Tanaka B2 damascus or KU: best bang for buck, I have two of his knives and love them. K&S have the best finished versions but seems to be OOS Metalmaster is good too, but very slow and also OOS.

Kochi from JNS: If the budget has some room to increase, I have no first hand experience, but it is well respected knife and everyone loves the cutting performance.

Shiro Kamo KU or damascus from Cleancut: I have two Shiro Kamos and can't say enough good things about them. The KU is OOS but the Damascus thay have.

Kurosaki Syousin Chiku from K&S: Another very interesting ss clad carbon. there's a separate thread going on about these.

Wakui 270 from bernal 228 usd, perfect choice. Online from James is tanaka or kurosaki, both are mint. Jon from jki might be worth the drive as well.

Itinomonnn Kasumi

I love my Wakui and would definitely recommend it. Wonder if Bernal has a discount for industry folks?

+1 for Itinomonn - both kasumi and stainless is really nice.

Lars