What single item improved the quality of your life over you got it? (Buyed it/got as present/made it)

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Chef's knife. Mountain bike (a "real" mountainbike) Gaming Laptop
- Which knife? I'm still stuck on deciding between expensive Wustoff vs cheap Mercer and boutique Japanese knives.
  Except that my cooking is absolutely horrible so I'll probably go get the cheapest thing anyway
  
  Vinctorinox is generally accepted as the best "starter" brand, and is the end game for a lot of people
  
  Thanks
  
  Let me start out by saying that I am by no means an authority on the matter.
  First was some generic brand 7" chef's knife. I think I paid around $40 for it. It did alright for a while, but what I noticed about it was that the ergonomics and fit/finish were (just slightly) lacking. Unrefined edges made it a bit uncomfortable to use.
  My next knife was from Zwilling. It's another standard 7" chef's knife with the hollow cutouts on the blade. This one was much better quality wise, the fit and finish and balance are all there.
  The next one after that is a 5" Chef's knife (with hollow cutouts) from Wüsthof. This is my current everyday knife, and I like the size of this one much better. I got this one because I really needed something more compact, and it's been great for mostly everything I use it for right now.
  The next knife I want to get is a Nakiri style. Wusthof is sold out of their more affordable line, and the Zwilling one doesn't have the hollow cuttouts on the blade. The Zwilling brand doesn't look quite as good as the Wusthof, in my opinion, but it may still function great.
  The last thing I'd like to mention is a knife sharpener. When I got my Zwilling, they also threw in this little keychain Wusthof sharpener, and as long as I give my knife a few swipes every couple of times I use it, they stay pretty sharp. Definitely don't overlook this detail, because even a lower quality knife will benefit greatly from a consistent sharpening routine like that.
  Good luck, and I hope that helps. Let me know what you end up going with if you do decide!
  
  Thanks. I don't know how to sharpen my knives, and I'll likely go for something under $20 or so. I'll have to see what I can do to sharpen them
  
  There are two main sharpening angles. 20 degrees is typical american knife. Some overseas chef knived get into 15 degree edges. Lower the degree, the sharper the edge, but the quicker itll dull against bone or stone or use overall. Pay attention to the angle when you buy a sharpener. You can get basic pull through sharpener for cheap, good for starter as the sharpener is set at the angle, just make sure the sharpener angle matches the knife angle, and if it comes with course/fine or whatever, only ever use the fine. The course sharpeners are for when you ding or dent the blade edge and they remove a lot of metal.
  If you get into knives and want more, then i would move to a proper sharpening stone with a wedge or jig to hold the angle for you. Thisll let you get a feel for what angle to hold the knife at. After a while you can freehand without the wedge or jig.
  Dont go too high dollar on your first knife, an 800$ japanese knife is incredible but the difference is not all that apparent to you from a 40$ knife and its better to fuck up a cheaper one learning to use and sharpen it, hence i recommend victorinox as the starter knife (15 degree on most of those). Everyones hands are different so what works for one person doesn't fit everyone. Typically a chefs knife will do what most people want, 8" to 10" to start out, pick your favorite knife out of your cheapo kohls knife block and note its shape and length and go from there, get a single decent knife dont get a high dollar block of them as you wont use most of those. Dont overthink it or worry about it
  
  Thanks, I'd like a 20cm long (8 inches) chef's knife. I'll have a look at Victorinox.
  Thanks for the advice around sharpening, I assumed everyone used sharpening blocks but apparently not. I'll keep the degrees in mind.

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