Pumpkin carving arsenal

I thought it might be helpful to identify the tools I’ve found helpful carving jack-o-lanterns. While we abused various kitchen knives growing up, specialist tools can make carving safer and simpler while sparing your good knives. From left to right and back to front in the image above:

• Rubbing alcohol: clean Sharpie ink from pumpkin skin.
• Sharpie permanent markers: mark up a pumpkin for carving.
• Utility knife (or X-acto): cut pumpkins precisely.
• Serrated carving tool: primary tool for removing sections of pumpkin (though I’ve been tempted to use a jigsaw for large removal). Often available at the grocery store around Halloween.
• Carving gouges: carve the pumpkin. I bought this set of carving tools years ago and have used them more for carving pumpkins than wood. The gouges of various widths and shapes are useful for carving lines pf varying weights into a pumpkin or removing skin to allow light to shine through.