I started using hooks recently after people from various groups offered me some, I've carved the bowls with gouges for years. It adds a little more control and less awkward wrist angles, else no big difference.

For my knives I'm using mostly my pocket knives for shaping and stick to very sharp bits of hacksaw blade for finishing ( shaped on a waterwheel and stuck in a handle. It's cheap quick and replaceable at no cost.) I also make some tiny but highly efficient kinda scrapers out of those.

I don't use vices, the initial shaping is done either with a band saw when I find an interesting bit of wood at work or an axe for tree limbs. Coffee spoons are something I do mostly by hand.

I keep my blanks in a plastic bag when working and just damp them before placing them back in the bag. If you let it outside for too long, green but also dried wood will crack.

I mostly finish those with the scraper always keeping some small tool marks on the outside of the bowl. And then coat them with coconut oil or olive oil several coats a day for a week or more putting them in their bag between coats