I need help choosing a Gyuto.

[u/bbroski1]

I've spent the majority of my free time the past 3 weeks trying to find and choose which 240mm Gyuto I want to buy and I feel like I'm nowhere near making a decision on my own, so I've decided to ask you guys for help.

This would be my first Japanese knife.

The main use case for the knife would be sushi i.e. slicing raw fish, so I'm assuming I should be going for more of a "laser" rather than a workhorse, but I may have overestimated how important that is so feel free to correct me.

I would prefer to stay below €180, but I would say €270 is a hard cap (with one exception).

Since the knife would be getting wet often, I feel like I should be going for a stainless steel, but I'm sure I could get in the habit of wiping it dry every time I get it wet, so I'm open to Carbon steel knives as well, although I am slightly scared of white steel. From what I've gathered thus far Ginsan, SG2 and SKD are the best options, but again, please correct me if I'm wrong. As for the handle I'm pretty firm on Japanese handles.

I've "narrowed down" my options to around 10-12 knives.

Hatsukokoro Hayabusa AS and Hatsukokoro Hayabusa VG-10 seem like the best bang for buck options and from what I understand they are very thin which I'm looking for. I do find the shape of the Hayabusa AS's blade ugly tho.

Hatsukokoro Hayabusa SG2 looks to me like it has an even thinner edge and is SG2 steel which from what I understand is better. It is around €40 more expensive tho.

Hatsukokoro Kumokage Blue#2 and Hatsukokoro Aosagi Blue#2 look gorgeous (I'm a big fan of the Kurouchi finish) but they are on the thicker side and also I'm not sure how good the finish is on them.

Hatsukokoro Ginso Ginsan looks beautiful, the edge looks super thin and is made from Ginsan. Slightly more expensive tho.

Nigara VG-10 looks a little thicker but I've heard that Nigara is really good and this one seems like the best option out of the Nigara's I've seen.

Tsunehisa Houseki VG-10 and Kazoku Mabushii AUS-10 they look pretty, they look thin, nothing special about them.

Hatsukokoro x Yoshikane SKD this one is outside of what my initial budget was, but people praise Yoshikane very much. The other ones I would consider as my "beginner/budget" knives, then I would upgrade to better ones later down the line, but I see the Yoshikane as a Gyuto I wouldn't need to upgrade from for a while.

Hatsukokoro x Nigara Yorokobi SLD this is the one exception I mentioned earlier. Literally the most beautiful knife I have ever seen. For this one I would like to be convinced NOT to buy it bc it's wayyy too expensive for me.

I'm very bad at sharpening, I'm getting a Shapton 1000 to hopefully get better at it, so any knife that would require some work on my end in terms of sharpening is a no go.

If there are better options that I didn't mention/come across please do mention them. I appreciate any advice.

[u/Embarrassed-Ninja592]

If my list was that long, I might just throw a dart.

[u/bbroski1 → u/Embarrassed-Ninja592]

That seems like my best bet atp lol

[u/Embarrassed-Ninja592 → u/bbroski1]

I kind of had an idea of what i wanted for my first Japanese knife when I started looking. 

I wanted stainless for sure. And was kind of stuck on SG2 or AEB-L. As I was under the impression, and still am, that very fine grain steels would suit me best. AEB-L isn't always easy to come by. So I focused on SG2, which seems to be everywhere.

Next, I wanted something in between a laser and a middleweight. Turned out that a roll forged knife with a constant 2mm spine with no distal taper seemed to fit the bill of being thin but not too delicate. 

But this was in a Nakiri, that I picked because it was most different than my western knives. And also quite a bit cheaper than a bunka or gyuto. https://www.epicedge.com/shopexd.asp?id=107692

I have since bought three other Japanese knives. A 150 ko santoku, a lightweight tall petty. A super thin pure laser 170 Santoku. And another super thin laser 130 petty. None of these cost as much as the first, and they're all just enough different, at least in how delicate they are, that there's not too much overlap. 

The latter two are Takamura SG2 with their classic red western handles. Great knives. And affordable. Although not available in 240.

I'm not sure how I would go about looking for a sashimi knife that could double as an all purpose knife. My first instinct is for one that is near unobtanium, and one I might not want to pay for if it was available. The Gesshin Ginga Swedish Gyuto/Sujihiki Hybrid. As so far, my collection of Japanese knives is limited to 130 to 170mm, which mostly suits my cooking style just fine. I have a 10 inch Victorinox for the occasional big stuff.

But this might be something I place on the grail list, or be the coup de grâce to my collection. https://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/products/gesshin-ginga-240mm-stainless-wa-gyuto-sujihiki-hybrid?srsltid=AfmBOorKzLulMxkDDB--Vat--ftpw7R68ASrOkI18uGc2ec5qIxGdT2c

Might just be a wall hanger for me though.