Go carbon steel, cck 1303 cleaver from chefsmall.net very nice, a victorinox paring knife, victorinox bread knife, robert herder carbons steel petty, anything be moritaka hamono as long as you can sharpen, richmond artifex gyuto. avoid mainstreem german knifes, too thick, thinner knifes sharpen better and dont wedge in the cut plus german steel is soft. visctorinox is a good budget buy, try nogent sabatier for french. and get a crock stick sharpener.