Do you use a saya at home?

Trying to figure out if a saya is really needed for home use. They make total sense if you're a pro and are going to be traveling with you're knives to/from work, but for a home user are they really necessary? Right now, due to kitchen space restrictions, I keep my current global knives in drawer (not touching each other, with some lightly padded shelf liner), and in the future will probably use a magnetic bar/rack or display stand. So would I get much use out of a saya as a home user (aka, me trying to figure out if I should get a saya with upcoming gyuto purchase)?

Short answer is yes. You don't need one until you do and then you're stuck with some crappy plastic sleeve thing that always falls off or the tip of the knife protrudes.

No, I don't use one at home. But....

Should you get one with your Gyuto (assuming it's available and reasonably priced)? Yes, absolutely for all the reasons StonedEdge gives (& implies.)

I only use sayas at home when the knife is stored for a longer time and thus not on a magnetic holder. Latest then it makes me think that every knife should come with a saya of some sort.

Nope, never. I have sayas for all of my knives and NEVER use them at home. I do not store my knives long term and if I did I would not store a carbon knife in a saya for any reason, ever. With rust inhibiting paper I would but not a saya. Sayas, for me, are for travel.

I have cardboard when needed (cereal box and tape) but don't usually use them. With carbon you run the risk of moisture accumulation/rust...

Yet-Another-Dave said:

No, I don't use one at home. But....

Should you get one with your Gyuto (assuming it's available and reasonably priced)? Yes, absolutely for all the reasons StonedEdge gives (& implies.)

Click to expand...

Exactly what I meant...I don't USE them at home. But I have them for when I transport some knives, at home most of them live on a wooden magnetic strip. I've had some very sharp knives cut through a bag due to poorly fitting blade guards and they almost fell on concrete...never again.

As a home cook, my knives don't travel. All the ones in current use are stored in a wooden/horizontal knife drawer block, below the designated cutting area on the kitchen island for quick access. I have sayas for most, but not all of my J-knives. It just seems unnecessarily fussy to store the ones in daily use that way.

Also, the drawer block is a little better ventilated. I'm careful to dry off my carbon steel knives after use, but there is always a little humidity on the blade after use and rinsing, no matter how careful you are. I don't like the idea of closing up the blade in a tight-fitting saya with an even slightly damp blade. It reaches ambient humidity level faster in the knife block. A magnetic wall rack would be even better in that respect, but that won't work in our kitchen for... ah, aesthetic reasons.

Home cook so I’m not using my knives all that frequently. All my knives live in a drawer in the box they came in. I’m not aware of any potential problems with doing that but I’m willing to be enlightened if there is.

Home user, nope have a few sayas and they never get used. Sit in the knife box.

Home user. Knives work every single day several times a day. I use sayas to protect my blades when Im not using them.

I have some knives that don't have a box, so I store them either in a saya or with a cardboard saya inside a bigger storage box.
The others that I use often are in my knife block (at least those that fit inside the slots!).

It seems this stand is the traditional way of storing Japanese knifes, with or without saya (top 2).
http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/3524-Knife-storage-block-Saya/page4

I agree that a saya with a good fit is probably the best way to travel with knives, both for the owner and the knife.

BTW, I started making custom saya for my kitchen knifes, it's pretty useful and rewarding.
I even did one for a machete, because I like woodworking not leather/textile works.

For me, this one depends on your particular setup and needs. Me I use all my says all the time. I either have knives in my bag for work or I keep my knives in a husky work bench drawer dedicated to knives. I don't use a block at all and even lock them up... Even though the key is laying on the bench. Still nobody messes with them. But if I used a knife block or magnetic strip to store them and didn't travel, sayas might be a little redundant or borderline useless.