Anyone who cooks daily already knows the answer to this one: the paring knife is the knife you pick up, and one is never enough. This set gives you three, each shaped for a different job.

The Peeling Paring has a short 2½ inch blade with a curve to it, which is what you want when you are working around a shape rather than through it. The Regular Paring, at 3¼ inches, is Rada's best selling knife and the general purpose one. The Heavy Duty Paring shares that 3¼ inch blade on a longer 7⅛ inch body, so you get more leverage on a squash or a cold stick of butter.

All three are hollow ground from surgical quality T420 high carbon stainless steel and hand sharpened, set in permanently cast brushed aluminum handles with a built in finger guard. They come boxed and ready to give. Made in Waverly, Iowa, with 100 percent American materials and construction, by a company that has been building knives since 1948. Covered by Rada's Lifetime Guarantee.