It varies from 2.5 to 4 inches in length, and is a multi-functioned knife. It differs from a professional cooks knife because a cooks knife uses a board to chop & slice food, while this knife can be used almost anywhere.
Manufactured with high levels of carbon & steel, it is an excellent choice for all of the cooks & chefs alike. It has edges curved in such a way to cut through the skins & peeling off the skin of different vegetables and fruits. There are dozens of different brands selling loads of paring knives in the market. It is highly recommended to get good suggestions from people you know that have been using them. Every household has a cook or a chef, either hired or done on own. You can ask any of the experts and they will provide you with an unbiased opinion on which one of the small knife to choose. A good quality of paring knife should have a soft exterior & hard interior for brilliant cutting and flawless handling. High cobalt carbon Swedish steel knives are the best known for their quality as paring knives in the market
Just like every household item needs care paring knives too, and are no exceptions. You dont want to keep on buying a new paring knife every week just because its edges got rough or you lost it. Maintenance is a big factor for life long usage of the knives. What many people do is that once they buy paring knife, they use it for all purposes excluding kitchen, like cutting wires, cardboard papers, boxes, and other similar products. When you use it for purposes besides its actual use, its life will be reduced drastically and you dont want to let that happen you. Handle with great care. As these are sharp never ever put them in a place where your kids approach to them is easy. After every use, wash and clean them thoroughly. You should store it at a place where kids can not access it. Somewhere in a magnetic rack in a kitchen cupboard would be a great storage idea for your paring knife.
One such company making good quality paring knife is Wusthof. Wusthof paring knife is excellent tool of precision, razor sharpness &lifelong commitment towards quality. The ones having serrated edges are known as serrated paring knife. These knives are ideal for every kitchen usage, because they are very suitable for peeling fruits 7 vegetables skins easily, given their portable nature fitting in every palm of customers hands.

Article by Robert "Ek Knife Fan" Cure
Early generation EK knives were made from 1941-1976 in Connecticut and Florida. These knives were made during John Ek's life. Most of these early knives were made of 1/8th inch steel, maple handles secured with lead rivets. They were crude but very dependable and built Ek's reputation for military knives. Ek sold his military knives only to soldiers. Each knife is marked with the location it was manufactured. This is useful to figure out in what war or military conflict the knife was used in. Ek knives for WW2 were made in Hamden, Connecticut and knives made between 1949 and 1976 were made in Miami, Florida. Over 100,000 knives were made between 1941 and 1945 in Connecticut. Ek moved to Miami and continued to make his knives from there. A flood in the 70s destroyed earlier records but it is believed most knives made in Miami were made in the middle to late 1960s. The Miami Ek knives are the most valuable of all his knives. Not may knives were made in Miami which drives up the price for these collectible knives.An original early Ek knife with a single edge blade, sharpened false edge sold for over $ 800 in 2006. Another original early dagger sold for over $ 600 in 2007. These early knives hold their value and are still very popular among collectors. This is even true with poor condition knives. A very poor early model #2 Ek dagger with the tip of the blade missing sold for over $ 300 in 2006. So expect to pay at least several hundred dollars for an early knife made by Ek, even in very poor condition. The mint condition or good quality go for nearly $ 1,000.It's not just early Ek knives that are very collectible, but accessories from his early time of knife making in Connecticut are popular as well. The original early knives were mailed out with a small booklet "Your Silent Partner". This little book covered the different kinds of knives, features and care of the knives. Not a 1st edition, but 2nd edition of this booklet sold in 2007 for over $ 200.If you want to get into collecting Ek knives then I recommend you have a healthy amount of money available, or scour auctions. Good luck!