Good Knife as a Letter Opener?

[Kestrel]

This may sound a little strange, but I'm trying to find a knife that would make a good letter opener. It needs to be a fixed blade and have a slim blade, of course.

I kind of like the smallest Randall Number 2, with leather handle, but have never seen on in person. It might be too big. I bought one of those Kershaw "military" knives, similar to the older "Solingen" blades, but the blade is a bit too broad to work well. I guess I want something nicer than a $10-type letter opener. Something nice to look at on the desk.

I even thought about an automatic, if I could find one with a slim blade. It would be something "gadgety" to use for opening mail.

Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[Combat-wombat]

I've heard that most stilettos are good for letter opening. Most copies aren't that high-quality, but will do the job for letters most definitely.

http://www.bladeplay.com/item--Stiletto-Knife--28

 

[Mr.BadExample]

You can have one custom made and stay within that price range, depending on the maker. I have a springbok handled little knife by J.Neilson that I use for a letter opener, it was less than the Randall.
My Randall is too big for opening letters

 

[hso]

Ok, I'm confused.

Why do you want a real knife to use as a letter opener?

Now that that questions out of the way, ComWombat has the sense of it. An inexpensive, or even expensive, itilalian auto would work fine. They can be had for anywhere from $30 to $300 easily. Heck, if you want an extra special handmade you can get one for $300-ish.

 

[Sunray]

I've been using a bayonet from a Swedish AG42B for 20 years or so. Unbelievably good steel that holds an edge even with repeated use on paper. Doubles as a back scratcher. The release button is just right for scratching one's back without tearing off the hide. I fell heir to the one I have. Don't think I'd want to spend what they're asking for one now though. $30 or so is kind of daft for a letter opener.

 

[GunGoBoom]

Lol, I've been searching high and low for several years now for a *quality* backscratcher, and still haven't found one yet - this may give me a good excuse to get an AG42 with bayo.