Thoughts on my Opinel knives

You took a good knife and made it better to fit your needs! Congrats.
Good looking finished product. You should be proud.

Always wanted to try these knifes. I understand they're supposed to be one of the best values out there.

Of the 60 or so knives in and around this house, there are a couple of those also. For some reason I can’t explain I’ve always though of them as fishing knifes.

I have a couple questions for those that own these knifes...

1- any problems with rusting?
2- do they keep their edge pretty well?
3- are they difficult to sharpen?

Thanks for your help!

hso said:

They are about the very best value in a folder there is. I keep one in every small kit.

The Scandinavian Moras fill that role for fixed blades. Those go in the packs and vehicles.

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Interesting. I do not consider myself a "knife guy" and have never been drawn to knives because of a Brand for the Brand's sake, but I have always been interested in knives.

I stumbled across Mora-style blades a few decades ago and have, so far, accumulated about 10. They are my primary "woods" blades. When I grab a rifle for a walkabout on the farm, I also slip a Mora onto my belt. When I mow, which does not lend itself to comfortable handgun carry, I attach a Mora to the rear of the yard tractor hood.

That said, there is something about Opinels that has always intrigued me. I have never even touched one, but if I am paging thru a print magazine or forum and come across a pic of an Opinel I find that I just stop and look at it ... and it brings a smile to my face. Like I said it is something but I do not know what. Perhaps it is simply the utilitarian exotic-ness of the knives.

I think that maybe I need to buy one just to see if that smile either diminishes .. or increases.

Off to find a good online deal for an Opinel ...

Thanks for the Thread, joneb!

GBExpat said:

Off to find a good online deal for an Opinel ...

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Let us know what you find?

I'm very fond of the #8 carbon Opinel I was given many years ago by my USMC best buddy. I carry it every day now in a pouch on my belt. They're very lightweight which is nice. And the lock is so simple and so foolproof. Plus they're just plain cool knives. I know it to be true because my grandson told me so.

Armored farmer said:

Let us know what you find?

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Hahaha, I have already ordered a Nº7 stainless ($15) from Amazon ... it should be delivered on Tuesday.

Not only do I have a feeling that this may be only my first Opinel, if I like it as much as I think that I will this will become an "Opinel Christmas" with Santa putting Opinels in all of the adult stockings.

Big fan of the opies for light work. Not exactly great for chopping.

I modded mine up:



For the patina I used lemon juice and water on a paper towel, wrapped it up for a few minutes and then let it air dry. Worked pretty good.

They take and hold a VERY good edge.

GBExpat said:

... I have already ordered a Nº7 stainless ($15) from Amazon ... it should be delivered on Tuesday. ...

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Cute ... very cute. Along with utilitarian and comfortable.

Ayup, I our Stockings will be having an Opinel Christmas.

I bought a #8 decades ago while in France and it's serves us very well in the picnic basket slicing crusty bread, cheese, salami, etc...
I recently picked up a new #8 with the improved lock which now locks the blade open OR closed. Very cool!
Here's the history of Opinel
https://www.opinel.com/en/the-brand/opinel-story#story-1800

...and your Opinel language lesson for the day---

They are one of my favorite knives to give. For kids, I like to give the "My First Opinel," which is a Stainless #7 with a rounded point. For others, a #6 or #8 in Stainless. I have a Carbone but I would not give one to someone who doesn't understand what care it takes. I like to give classic Case slipjoints too, but I have to like the person about 5X as much.

whughett said:

Of the 60 or so knives in and around this house, there are a couple of those also. For some reason I can’t explain I’ve always though of them as fishing knifes.

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Same here; until I discovered the cult following these little things have, that's exactly what I always thought of them as (and used them for).

My only complaint with a Opinel is the wood swells when wet making the blade hard to open. Its a bugger to use wearing gloves.
When the world was a kinder place I enjoyed decades of Opinel use.

I have all sorts of "special" knives for all sorts of "specialized" tasks but I find that most of the time when I just need a knife, the #9 carbone jumps into my hand.

If they made a trainer I'd take it to my MBC class.