Ben: You are absolutely corect that we have become overly enamored with fancy knives, and I am one the worst culprits. I love my steel. However, in the interest of coming clean, I offer the one knife that I use every day:

[img][IMG]http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/344/p72900013bz.th.jpg[/IMG][/img]

It cam to me from my grandfather. He was born in 1898, and my grandmother said that he had had it as long as she could remember. He used only a very fine steel on it, which I also have, so it has not been too terribly worn down.