Any Opinel fans here?

[CopperFouling]

I know nothing about them other than that they seem to have a fairly strong following, similar to that of Mora. Since I bought a Mora a few years ago and became a convert, I'm curious about Opinels. Does anyone here have one and have feedback?

 

[JohnKSa]

I have one that I like. For the price it's hard to not have one if you like knives.

I would stick with the ones that twist-lock open/closed. I don't like folding knives that don't have any mechanism at all for helping the blade stay open/closed.

There's nothing to keep your hands from sliding onto the blade, and the design of some of the knives puts a sharp corner of the blade right up against the handle. If you let your index finger slip forward it will come up against that and if there's pressure involved you won't like it.

The handle is very smooth so if it gets wet or you get sweaty, it can easily slip in your hand.

The wood can swell and make the knife hard to open and close if it gets wet or in very humid conditions.

The blade is pretty thin. As a result, it cuts very well but isn't super sturdy.

 

[Cocked & Locked]

I like'em fine. Got a #8 in my pocket now and a Bulldog on my side.

Sturdy enough to field dress and skin a deer and slice tomatoes. Not designed as a pry bar though.

With a little practice one can open-lock/close-lock with one hand...not as fast as the Spydercos though.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Good little knives, I have a #8 as well.

 

[hso]

There are several threads on them here with many fans.

 

[GarySTL]

I have four, a #8 as shown as well as three of the elites with the slim blade. Good handy knives.

 

[CopperFouling]

There are several threads on them here with many fans.

Sorry, HSO, I was taking a quick break from work and didn't think to search. I should have checked there first.

There's nothing to keep your hands from sliding onto the blade, and the design of some of the knives puts a sharp corner of the blade right up against the handle.

I have to admit that's a little bit of a worry for me. It's kept me from purchasing a puukko.

 

[CopperFouling]

Sturdy enough to field dress and skin a deer and slice tomatoes. Not designed as a pry bar though.

I wouldn't use a knife (a folder especially) to pry. Or at least I haven't yet. The blade does look like a great design to slice, though.

 

[Jackal]

I've got a #10 and a #6. I primarily use them while picking peppers from the garden. They are not a very comfortable EDC knife though.

 

[OH_Spartan]

I have several. I do not like their stainless blades but love their carbon blades. There is usually one in my pocket when im in the garden. It is easy to sharpen razor sharp and resharpen after a day of heavy use. it is cheap enough to use for things that are risky for a "good" folder.

 

[JJE]

I have a stainless #8 that I carry a lot, and a carbon #7 that I usually only carry at home (where I can rinse and oil it after use). These are really useful, inexpensive working knives that I can use hard without worry.

 

[gilgsn]

Oh yes, and I am back in France now so they are everywhere. It is easy to sharpen, good carbon steel blade and a strong lock. I can't think of a better camping knife!

Gil

 

[pemo]

I also like the Opinel knives !

My wife use them in the garden and its my hunting back-up knife, always in my back pack.

Here are a few standard Opinels. However I sanded, coloured and oiled one of them and made a leather sheath for another.

Home-made hunting knife also shown.

 

[hso]

Some cool things you can do to Opis.

 

[kBob]

hso,

those yours? did you do that?

Those are REALLY NICE. Never occurred to me to do such a thing.

-kBob

 

[Barry the Bear]

HSO, that is really cool!

 

[Panzerschwein]

Love the Opis, Nutnfancy has review a few with great success.

 

[hso]

I wish I'd done those, but no.

I do own several Opinels, including their saw, and I'd like to have carvings done.

 

[CZ9shooter]

I have a number 6 or 7. Like some others have mentioned, I bought it just to try it. Why not, they're so cheap!

Anyway, I don't carry it much. Just on the rare occasion that I wear dress pants and dont want a "tactical" type fold sticking out. It is very light. I can hardly tell it is in the bottom of my pocket.

I got bored one day and I reshaped and stained it too.

 

[Tirod]

Cut down the back corner, varnished it, and blued the blade. It's a good handling knife for slicing and cutting, I should keep it out more. Carbon steel has sharper edge and easier to keep than a lot of stainless. Opinels are great food prep camp knives if you need to keep things to a minimum like backpacking or a hunting camp.

As a stabber - I'd prefer a cross guard and a thicker blade, not a folding kitchen prep knife. Kind of a bogus complaint. I am reminded someone else used to offer something like it with a polymer handle. Cold Steel?

 

[cdk8]

The Opinel I have used most is the #8 Carbon Pocket Knife, and it is this series I am speaking of -- I like them quite a lot, and I like how they can bridge the gap between a pocket knife and a utility knife - cheap, aggressive slicers, crazy easy to sharpen: you can use these for tasks that you would not want to expose a nice pocket knife to, and if you damage the Opinel blade severely during use, it's very easy to revive (and cheap to replace.) As the steel is pretty soft, they rapidly dull, but this is largely by design since someone woodworking has to sharpen their knives frequently, regardless of the steel. With an Opinel, that process of sharpening is easy, fast, and can use just about any sharpening product. Heck, as they begin to dull, you can strop them on either a belt or a pair of jeans and rapidly revive the edge to a point of being screaming sharp. Additionally, I find the blade works well with a toothy edge, and should one want the toothy edge it's as simple as using a medium-fine stone.

I also like how you can take mustard (or vinegar or grapefruit juice), rub it into the blade, then cover the blade with bubble wrap and leave it for a few hours and wind up with a mustard patina that not only provides rust protection, but leaves a really cool pattern from the bubble wrap.

 

[hso]

Opi does a poly handle now

 

[Piraticalbob]

Opinel also sells unfinished, carvable handled knives; a portfolio of some of the carvings done with them can be found here: http://michel.montlahuc.free.fr/lgerdil.htm

 

[redneck]

I keep a stainless #12 with my camping stuff. We go on trail rides and do primitive camping in the state forests, I have a pretty big set of cast iron and we like to eat real food instead of hot dogs and MRE's. The 12 makes a perfect packable kitchen knife.

 

[kBob]

Tripod,

Yep Cold Steel. They ended up giving some away when you bought other stuff as freebees. Buddy that liked Cold Steel bought at different times something Bowie-ish and their Tanto (authentic or not I rather liked their idea of a tanto, all I ever had was an MC-1 Taylor another buddy gave me) they sent him one of the Fauxpinels each time so I ended up with a largish one and a huge one. I think the smaller is in the glove box of my wife's car actually and the Big one is in a household "GO" 72 hour kit bag.

The lock is hard on both, but at least I do not have to worry about the handles swelling or shrinking.

Once in the way back I saw an Opinel type wooden one in a tackle box and the handle appeared to have been painted bright shiny red. They ever come that way?

-kBob