OK, I'm new to this thread cuz I just didn't think I would get a chance to try this in the near future. But the recent attention from the Olympics has me learning more about the FBV and curious to try it. Sorry if these questions have been ask and answered before. Where in Southern California is it available to try retail? Does it cost much more than a 'traditional' sharpening? Is the cut less durable because of the larger gap created by the new technique. Does it create problems when you 'nick' an edge? Is it easy to 'qucik fix' w/ a stone or is the chunk bigger due to the larger gap between edges? If this is true does the life of the runner last less than when using a traditional cut?