Thanks for all that info Bob. I've actually been looking to get a carbon knife for a little while now, and based on your recommendation, I ordered the Hiromoto HC 240mm Gyuto. It showed up today, and I gave it a quick run through on some veggies tonight, and after a quick test, seems to be a great knife. The knife did have some burs on the underside of the handle, but that's nothing that some fine sandpaper won't take care of. I've been using a 10" wide Wusthof chef's knife, and there is a huge difference between the two. The Hiromoto blade is much thinner overall, making slicing something like an onion almost effortless. As for the shipping from JCK, I ordered the knife on Saturday, and it showed up on the east coast Tuesday!