Carving Knives - Blades

The ol' saying, "too many is never enough" applies to carving knifes too.  I like to buy new carving knives.  And after buying and trying out many there are some observations that can be made.  They are all different.  They are different in style, blade shape, blade thickness, cutting edge angle, blade steel, and handles.  And I think they all have there own personalities.

It my opinion. and maybe mine alone, that one or two carving knives in my collection stand out among the others.  The top knife is an OAR CARVER and the bottom one is a MIKE SHIPLEY.  I use these two knives as examples or representatives of all carving knives,  What makes these two knives different is the blade.  The OAR CARVER blade is D2 tool steel.  The properties of this knife include a blade that is a bit thicker, stiffer, flat, and holds edge quite well.  The MIKE SHIPLEY knife has a blade that is thinner, and a bit flexible.  The edge of this blade seems to hold up well too.  These two knives have quite different personalities.  I like them both.  However, the OAR CARVER does take some initial effort at flattening and sharpening before use.  The MIKE SHIPLEY knife handle just plain ugly.