carbon (not stainless) steel cutlery

I recently seasoned a new wok over a charcoal fire with my son. He is 11, and immediately by my side whenever I am cooking outside. Anyway, the conversation is always interesting, and that day's subject was metallurgy.
I am aware they are a little more maintenance, but I am thinking of acquiring some carbon steel k sabatier cutlery. Have any of you had any experience with this type of knife? Would you care to share any insight?

Once you've established a patina on a carbon steel knife, there's not too much maintenance other than keeping it dry. They tend to be more resistant to dulling, so you'll find that they still cut well when their stainless steel drawer-mates are due for sharpening. That's probably the main reason why I sometimes reach for the carbon steel knives preferentially - not because they're necessarily better, but because statistically speaking, they're likely to be the sharpest knife in the drawer.

In my experience, when a new carbon steel knife is still getting its patina, it feels "grippy." I don't know if this is universal, or if it's the particular knife I have.

I have both types and use them both, but for different purposes. The chef's knife is stainless, my favorite boning knife is carbon. For paring, I've got one of each.

Any metallurgist will tell you that high carbon stainless steel is more wear resistant than plain carbon steel of similar hardness. That means they are more difficult to sharpen and, conversely, more difficult to unsharpen, i.e., they hold an edge better - IF you do a good job of sharpening in the first place. That can be a big "if". The choice becomes a personal preference issue. Carbon is certainly easier to sharpen and a casual touch up with a steel or fine ceramic rod can put a great edge back on carbon steel quickly. Stainless knives are more demanding of good sharpening technique and I, for one, can't do much with them without breaking out the sharpening tools like my beloved Edge Pro.

Thank you both. I may be getting K Sabatier Chef's knife soon. I am curious to see how it will compare with similarly priced Henckels stainless. (I think it was the "four star").

Just do it! It will serve you for the rest of your life with a little simple care. Use, wash, dry, steel, store, repeat after every use. I have a chefs knife that my father bought in Freeport Maine at the hardware store that still had nail kegs! Well before the place became a mall from the city limit sign on. That was forty four years ago, the knife is still going strong.