A. G. Russell, anything they sell, for the value with the guarantee. Consider ceramic from Harbour Freight as disposable but good while they last. Most of the heavy knife users of my experience use a service and that may be a good way to start even for a homeowner not a restaurant owner. White hat chefs often have an assortment of bragging knives and properly so but use the service knives for most prep work.
A good knife block with a steel and Russell's ceramic and diamond sticks are a useful compromise between ease of use and results.
I use a couple hunting knives, Wayne Hendrix and A. G. Russell/Morseth in the kitchen. I've got chopping tools in the small hatchet sense and chopping tools in the dicing vegetables sense handy too.
I've got a lifetime accumulation of a full range of sharpening tools from a once pricey big black Arkansas and such with bases to a 4 grit set of big diamond "stones" with bases. Did I mention big? My experience has been that almost anything including something from Goodwill/Salvation Army will do when the edge is properly thinned and maintained. Magic Chef multiple diamond electric hones will save lot of time and effort thinning the edges on cheap knives. The best of today's knives really need skill and diamond hones but 1095 and Arkansas stones will do anything anybody can ask for in the kitchen.
