I've joined grandad.. I usually play RA2 each Christmas while I'm at my parents with nothing to go apart from eat.. I figure the amount of time I end up spending each year trying to get the patches to work to get it running on a modern system, I might as well get the steam version and know it'll run 

I have 5 "ornamental" Japanese swords, blunt but look good on the wall. I then have a real one from the WW2 period and a folded steel one <love, love, love>.

I used to be able to practice with them, a long time ago, usually using the blunt ones. Now I can barely pick them up let alone swing one. Although I do still carefully oil the good two occasionally, no visible rust.

Strange thing with the UK law is you can still legally buy Japanese sword style blades under 50cm in length or ones made by traditional methods. Note that does not make them less lethal, plus you can still buy European, Asian or African style blades without problem. There are plenty of other weapons that are just as lethal, getting hit with a Lochaber axe would definitely spoil your day.

So far they have worked well enough, 56-58 Rockwell is hard enough for most uses. Best blades are 60+ Rockwell but are actually harder to sharpen. Usually the decent folded steel knives have a very hard 60+ core with a softer folded metal outside wrapped around it.

The best Japanese knives are all high carbon alloy steel and have thin edge angles, misuse one and it can break or become damaged. There are people who repair these but even they can only do so much.

Also watch out for cheap Chinese folded "steel" knives. often they are not hardened and will not hold an edge. When destructively tested a good high carbon steel blade will snap, a spring steel blade will bend a little and then spring back. These just bend and break.

As to Red framed knife, it's a Fallkniven GP pocket knife. Quite badass, but very sentimental. It was bought when we found out I was going to be a father. The intention is to give it to my son when he turns 18,or some other responsible adulthood stage.

Other knives in the collection are for starting different jobs, moving to NZ, buying house, college, uni, holidays and birthdays. There's a couple that have no real memory attached to them which I find is a shame but they're nice enough




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Do you find you have the same go-to kitchen knife out of those? I always end up using the same one or two knives.

I'd like to know what the deal is with the pocket knife on it's own in the red frame, is that a particularly sentimental/badass one?

I thought I would have the same go to, but to be honest I use them all. Sometimes it's just because ones raw meat and the other veg, but other times it's because I'm slicing one thing, chopping something else, and carving pips out of something else so I'll go through the 4 front knives most dinners. The Gyuto was previously my go to till I got the set. Now it's my "if I want to cut something very very thinly" knife. Or special occasions, it's very versatile.

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Do you find you have the same go-to kitchen knife out of those? I always end up using the same one or two knives.

I'd like to know what the deal is with the pocket knife on it's own in the red frame, is that a particularly sentimental/badass one?