Opinel?

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Panzerschwein

Panzerschwein

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Guys I just ordered an Opinel No. 8 carbon steel folder like this one:

OP8n.jpg

$15 on Amazon Prime. I hear this is a historic and well regarded knife that is very common in Europe.

Anyone have any experience or thoughts on the Opinels? Thanks!
 
I've had 3-4 of them over the years so you could say I'm a big fan. The design is very simple and lightweight. I especially like the locking ring from an engineering perspective because it performs a dual function - very elegant. The blades are very easy to sharpen and they just cut and cut. When you get yours, try soaking the joint area with petroleum jelly to effectively waterproof it.

The hardest use I've put mine through was camping trip type stuff: gutting fish and shaving tough hardwood into kindling. No damage to the blade but I have had the friction joint loosen a bit; not a big deal because the locking collar is nice and secure.
23736320_10109258543167208_5798778978251433671_o.jpg
 
Last edited:
NoirFan said:
I've had 3-4 of them over the years so you could say I'm a big fan. The design is very simple and lightweight. I especially like the locking ring from an engineering perspective because it performs a dual function - very elegant. The blades are very easy to sharpen and they just cut and cut. When you get yours, try soaking the joint area with petroleum jelly to effectively waterproof it.

The hardest use I've put mine through was camping trip type stuff: gutting fish and shaving tough hardwood into kindling. No damage to the blade but I have had the friction joint loosen a bit; not a big deal because the locking collar is nice and secure.
View attachment 768754
Click to expand...

Had to ask— Badger in Birdseye Maple?
 
Thank you gang, I like that it is cheap so I can practise my sharpening game.

If I soak the joint with vasoline, will it still be safe to cut food with?
 
I have one but don't use it much. great steel, easy to sharpen razor sharp. holds edge good.

on mine the collar lock loosens as yu use it and yu have to keep fiddleing with it to keep it tite.

is this normal? if its not id buy a new one cuz I like it otherwise.
 
I and my sons have skinned and gutted many a dewhen my son got one er and domestic lambs with an opinel knife.
It was a surprise to me when my son got one hardness tested. As I recall it was a RockwellC54-55. Not as hard as the experts would say is optimum.
They do sharpen very easily and hold an edge good enough for me.
 
Cooldill said:
Thank you gang, I like that it is cheap so I can practise my sharpening game.
If I soak the joint with vasoline, will it still be safe to cut food with?
Click to expand...
Yes it's fine, the jelly stays in the pivot so it never touches the food.

ridgerunner1965 said:
I have one but don't use it much. great steel, easy to sharpen razor sharp. holds edge good.
on mine the collar lock loosens as yu use it and yu have to keep fiddleing with it to keep it tite.
is this normal? if its not id buy a new one cuz I like it otherwise.
Click to expand...
If the collar loosens up, you can pop it off with a screwdriver and squeeze it with pliers to tighten it up, then reinstall. Works great
 
Petroleum Jelly, aka Vaseline is a paraffin wax and it's food safe - after all one of it's uses is for cuts, rashes, dried skin lubricant...
About the knife - if you use it for it's intended purpose (cutting), without expecting it to replace your axe, pry bar, or machete, it will serve you for a long time. But be careful - those Opinels start to multiply at no time...
 
Thanks so much, gang. I like how it is a classy older design. I know not to use it for heavy duty uses. I imagine I'll use it mostly for food prep, light woods work, maybe as a patch knife, etc.
 
I have one. A number seven. It's neat for what it is, but I only carry it on rare occasions. Those times when I don't want a "tactical" knife sticking out of my front pocket. Like weddings and whatnot. I put the litttle Opinel in my back pocket next to my wallet.
 
Bought a No.8 some thirty years ago in France. Still in great shape---I keep it in our picnic basket for making sandwiches---it laughs at crusty sourdough, salami and dry jack cheese!
Last year I heard from a pal in the UK who told me Opinels are illegal there because they're a folder with a locking blade.
 
Cooldill said:
Thank you gang, I like that it is cheap so I can practise my sharpening game.

If I soak the joint with vasoline, will it still be safe to cut food with?
Click to expand...
I lube my Opinels with flax seed oil, the same stuff I season my cast iron cookware with.
 
Cooldill said:
Anyone have any experience or thoughts on the Opinels? Thanks!
Click to expand...
I don't care for them, and I don't get the fascination with them. There are numerous other folders at similar price points with equal quality steel, equal or better build quality, and far better features. Spyderco revolutionized folding knives by putting a clip and one handed opening on the same knife. I've little use for a knife that takes two hands to open and close, and which has to be manually locked open.
 
Wow, concur with the above. My feelings exactly. Also, the Opinels are useless for tasks such as cleaning fish, since the handle gets slippery and there's no guard. Never been sure of why there seems to be a small cult around this knife. I'm sure this knife is great at cutting cheese and pieces off one's baguette, and maybe the foil around the cork of that bottle of Beaujolais ... but for anything requiring a more solid blade, I'm going with the myriad of better options.
 
Awkward and inconvenient for a modern knife but handsome and demonstrating a wonderful simplicity. Strangely they are the only pocket knives that ever wooed some of our more civilized female friends and they're so affordable they can be gifted out easily. They dress up nicely too with some blade polish and handle reshaping.
 
ugaarguy said:
I don't care for them, and I don't get the fascination with them. There are numerous other folders at similar price points with equal quality steel, equal or better build quality, and far better features. Spyderco revolutionized folding knives by putting a clip and one handed opening on the same knife. I've little use for a knife that takes two hands to open and close, and which has to be manually locked open.
Click to expand...

They can be made to open one handed very easily. Disassemble and lightly file the blade gap, dab vaseline, reassemble.

Different strokes for different folks....
 
I got mine and the tip broke off in short order. More of a novelty, I really don't like it for pocket carry. It is VERY sharp and looks nice, though.
 
I believe that some of the participants here will be better served by a Zero Tolerance folder. With a thicker blade (Of course it should be black, don't be silly!)... Some of my daily carry knives are Opinel #9 Carbone, Opinel #8 Effile (slim) and a two blade Victorinox Excelsior. I have yet to brake the tip of any of them and I do use them. Daily. For years. Cutting stuff. But then again, I take into account what they are and not what I want them to be...
 
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