Okay. So maybe this wasn't intended to be a thread but I find it very interesting to see what others think about stainless vs carbon blades. In the builds the vote seems to always go stainless, but there are quite a few posts here in support of carbon steel. I would echo those thoughts. Growing up I preferred carbon steel because I was never happy with the edge that I could put on a stainless blade. Also stainless knives never develop a "personality" like carbon knives do. One stainless blade looks pretty much like any other... forever !. The only exception for me was a knife that I wanted to use around salt water. Those had to be stainless so I could use them more than once . I've never quite gotten over my aversion to stainless for users but these days if I buy a knife that I might trade or sell, I look for stainless because that is what the market seems to prefer.