Geez, Ken_, way to stir the pot!

Okay, I'll play.

First level of choice? For me, stainless is the go-to steel for everyday work. I use my knives fairly hard, on a daily basis. The stainless available these days will take and hold an edge that is entirely adequate for what I do. The knives get wet and dirty, and they rinse or wipe off without complications. For the most part, I don't see the value in fussing with carbon steel. The same applies to my kits.

But, with that said:

I have come to respect and appreciate carbon steel in certain types of blades and certain applications.

My Ontario machetes are carbon steel with a baked-on finish. They have already been worked hard, and have held up. I would take them anywhere and know they would see me through. A stainless machete strikes me as too brittle to trust.

When I am teaching someone to sharpen knives, I put a carbon steel Opinel in one hand and a medium grit stone in the other. They can raise an edge quickly, move it around, create a wire edge, even break it off, and learn. It builds confidence very quickly, which is the key; most people give up because they don't succeed quickly enough.

I can never pass up an Old Hickory at a garage sale or secondhand store. I like the old-time look, the decidedly untacticool layout, the proven old designs, and the smokin' edge you can put on them. [Edit: If they're well used, all the better: that is evidence of honest, hard work.]

I also have a few carbon steel shelf queens that I'll use but not abuse. One is a Solingen hunting knife with a quarter-dime-size chip out of the edge that I bought for $2; plenty of steel left for restoration. Another is an antique hunter I have seen pictures of somewhere, takes an incredible edge, bought at a swap meet for $5. The third is a Cold Steel Carbon V folder in the style of the Opinels but with a solid Zytel handle.

There's my take: stainless for most uses, but some specialty items in carbon.