Is your fav knife your most used?

[Just a DK]

So as an owner of too many knives I actually wondered if my favorite knife corresponded with my most used.. and i started tracking.

Lo and behold as a self professed large workhorse enjoyer… the most used is a 210 45mm high sakai kikumori nakagawa b1 (I would not have rated this in my top 10 at all).

Just kind of got me thinking… is what i think i like different from what i actually reach for? What does heel height as a metric for buying knives even mean? Have I had too much to drink?

 

[Blumbo]

For me, favorite = knife that brings me the most joy in and out of use. That usually that involves a nicer knife that demands more attention and care - which can be fun and rewarding when making a meal out of enjoyment or for someone you love. You get the time to savor the process and end result. That being said most times though I just don’t have the attention to spare when making a meal to survive. On a typical work day I find I reach more for knives that I don’t care about as much and the Moritaka/Shun comes out.

Also doesn’t matter what the knife bros say <50mm works great if you know what you’re doing ^^

 

[Tea_Hills]

Strangely enough my favorites are not always my most used. Typically I'm trying to stick with using 1 or 2 knives and rotate after a week or two. I'll think about selling some less used ones and tell myself I'll use them for a while to make I won't miss them, enjoy using them, rinse and repeat. Leads to a big pile of knives

 

[Just a DK]

For me, favorite = knife that brings me the most joy in and out of use. That usually that involves a nicer knife that demands more attention and care - which can be fun and rewarding when making a meal out of enjoyment or for someone you love. You get the time to savor the process and end result. That being said most times though I just don’t have the attention to spare when making a meal to survive. On a typical work day I find I reach more for knives that I don’t care about as much and the Moritaka/Shun comes out.

Also doesn’t matter what the knife bros say <50mm works great if you know what you’re doing ^^

Im not baller enough to say a nakagawa dammy b1 is my not care knife, i think im coming to the horrible conclusion that the 45mms are just easy to wipe and clean…with minimal to no performance issues…

Thus ill keep skipping using a large western…

 

[SwampDonkey]

I think this is a great question. I don't tend to use my favorites as much as their ranking would suggest, because they're a known quantity and I know they bang so I focus on some other things.

I like to use newer knives pretty consistently for a month or so to really get a feel for them. So I'm often rotating knives and purposefully using ones I'm less sure about to try to suss out the differences or see how they compare to my favorites. If I go through a buying lull then my favorites start to come back out in the timeshare though.

Strangely enough my favorites are not always my most used. Typically I'm trying to stick with using 1 or 2 knives and rotate after a week or two. I'll think about selling some less used ones and tell myself I'll use them for a while to make I won't miss them, enjoy using them, rinse and repeat. Leads to a big pile of knives

Also 1000% agree with this. Some I barely use, go to make a goodbye meal with, and realize they're delightful and won't be sold.

 

[Nemo]

Yes.

And no.

 

[Messer Mojo]

My most used knives are smaller vegetable knives and pettys.

My favorite knife shape is a Nakiri and my favorite knife is also a Nakiri, but because I'm often lazy (when cooking and sharpening), I prefer my smaller knives.

 

[drrayeye]

My newest are the most used, but only for a few months. Then use becomes task dependent. That's when the favorites dominate--unless a new knife becomes a new favorite.

 

[Ruso]

My favourite knives and my favourite knives to use are two very different things.

 

[Pie]

How about 66mm height? Takeda AS 240 almost all the time, unless I need to cut something really dense.

Favourite, and most used.

 

[Cliff]

This is a great question. I have a handful of knives that I like to use when I have the kitchen to myself and time to pay attention. But beyond that, it's quite variable. I'll go through long stretches with one or two knives as daily drivers but then pull something I haven't used for awhile and realize how much I like it.

There are some ingredients I use a lot. I dice a lot of apples. For that, I've got a handful of short-ish lasers that I guess are my favorites.

If there's one knife that just feels like the Platonic form of knifedom, for me, it's a 270 Misono Dragon. It's far from my "best." I go through periods where I reach for it and others where I don't. There really isn't any situation where it's a better knife than my 270 Ginga... But it just feels right.

 

[Mikeadunne]

I’m not even sure I have a favorite, I’ve never been able to commit like that in almost* any way. House burning down and I can only grab one knife might be the great determiner. But even then I’d probably be thinking for years which knife I should have taken etc. I wish I actually knew which my most used knife was. Might be my fm or my marko just bc I’ve had them for a little while now and I never get tired of picking them up and running through a little product. And either of those could easily be the one I save in a burning building situation. But who knows lol - I like choices and thank god I have all of you to reinforce that inclination.

 

[M1k3]

I currently go back and forth between which knife is my favorite.

HSC 265mm in Z-wear. Such a great all around knife, with great edge retention.

Munetoshi 270mm. It just clicks with me. Sure, White #2 steel isn't anything special. Yeah, I need to touch it up once or twice a week. It checks all the boxes for me and is a great value!

Honorable mention: HSC 230mm wrought clad 52100. Fun knife for cutting medium sized things smaller.

 

[Tekkz]

My favorites are my most used for specific tasks yeah. My absolute favorite knife is a sujihiki though, and that obviously gets used less than a gyuto. But it's the only suji I use.

 

[zizirex]

most used probably my 210 Ginsan Petty/Suji Suiboku from Takada.
it's very versatile, beautiful and has good edge retention.

 

[gentiscid]

Idk man, it's like asking which one of your kids is your favorite.

 

[timebard]

My most used is a 220x50ish Shihan AEB-L. Very easy size and steel for me to reach for when I'm in a rush/distracted, and a really solid performer to boot.

If I'm taking my time, some of my favorites are better cutters and/or more authoritative but don't get reached for as often.

 

[henkle]

I recently jumped on the Shindo bandwagon with a 165mm Funiyaki. Can't say I really love it, but somehow I keep reaching for it. This seems like an unhealthy relationship.

 

[stringer]

My most used knife is my Kanehide 240 that I keep at work. I am on my third one. It's not necessarily my favorite knife. More like a bionic attachment for my arm.

 

[240_Gyutos_Only]

The first expensive knife I ever bought, I babied and didn't use much even though it was my favorite. I had recently graduated from college so a few hundred dollars seemed huge. After I acquired multiple expensive knives in the following years, now I do find myself using my favorite knife the most.

Not to imply that one's favorite knife necessarily has to be the most expensive, but for me that usually ends up being the case as I wouldn't pay that much unless I'm fairly sure I'll like it more than my other ones. And so the barrier for how much use it gets tends to be cost. If I bought a knife today for over $1k, I probably wouldn't feel comfortable using it even tho it might be my favorite.

 

[konsuke]

How about 66mm height? Takeda AS 240 almost all the time, unless I need to cut something really dense.

Favourite, and most used.

How do you deal with wiping it down, or do you have such large hands that a folded towel wipe is enough?

 

[Pie]

A quick wipe down on either edge and one with the towel folded over the spine is good enough. I let this one sit a bit sometimes, it still has lacquer on most of the blade face so rust isn’t a problem yet.