Done It Again - Opinel

[PRM]

I have been carrying a Number 8 Opinel carbon blade knife for about 20 years. It has been a great knife and is definitely a user and a keeper. I was surfing EBAY last week and saw a new Olive Wood Stainless Number 8 for sale. I won it at a bargain price and it arrived yesterday. WOW!! is all I can say. The fit and finish are great and the Olive Wood really sets it off. The Opinel INOX blade was razor sharp out of the box.

 

[walksbyhimself]

I have carried a No. 8 everyday for the past two years or so. Fantastic knife for a great price, and I like customizing/modding them. I prefer the carbon blades myself, but that is one nice-looking knife. Nice find!

 

[Piraticalbob]

Nice knife! Olive wood is a lovely figured wood, too little seen in the US. It actually smells of olives when you are working it.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

Nice I am getting one soon!

 

[snow]

always wanted an opinel. I have had reserves because I have been unfamiliar with the locking mechanism. However, I think I am going to take the plunge, I just like the style and will probably buy just to have one.
.

 

[ArfinGreebly]

Locking Ring

Don't worry, you won't confuse an Opinel with anything else.

It's a different shape, its weight and balance are unlike anything else and, when you open it, the hold and action are unique.

I found that a few minutes with the Opinel was all that's needed to familiarize myself with and master the lock.

I don't carry them on my person; their round handle makes them awkward to pocket. I do, however, keep one in the truck (a #12), one in the master suite (#6), one in the gun lockup (#8), and a #10 somewhere. I should probably find that one.

 

[PRM]

You guys are talking about the locking mechanism. The new Opinels have an added feature. As with the older knives the locking ring still turns to lock the blade open. The new ones have a cut out at the bottom of the locking ring (see picture) that when turned will lock the blade closed so the point of the blade does not accidently catch in your pocket and try to open when you pull it out.

 

[Sniper X]

I bought a kershaw copy of the Openiel number 8 about 30 years ago whilst working as a BMW mechanic. It is a goodknife but I have always wanted a real one. Plus the lock ring fell off sometime and it is gone.

 

[Carl Levitian]

I think Opinel's are one of the greatest knives out there, bang for the buck or otherwise. I got my first one in 1982, and I was hooked. It's about my favorite knife to carry, and everytime I try some other knife, I always come back to the opy.

A number 8 in my all time favorite, but a reworked number 12 is in a nylon belt pouch. I sanded down the handle so it looks a bit like a large laguole/navaja kind of thing. A small number 6 is my dress pants knife. In spite of the round handle, they are so lightweight for thier size you can forget you have it there till you need it. I must have half a dozen hanging around here. I don't have a stainless one, I'm hung up on old carbon steel. Next to the Opinel, all I carry is my old yellow handle Case sodbuster in CV, and a carbon steel pocket fixed blade made by Mike Miller of Oklahoma. It' shaped kind of like a mini chefs knife, and is 01 steel.

What other knife can you sand and shape to your own liking? I made my number 9 into a bird of prey head at the back end of the handle. Finished with a lot of linseed oil rubbings.

If all I had for the rest of my life was my Opinels, it wouldn't bother me at all.

 

[ArfinGreebly]

Flat Wood Handle

If the Opinel handle were flatter, carrying it would be a whole lot easier.

I got an EKA Swede-88 for my birthday last fall. It is mechanically just about as simple as the Opinel, though it's a lockback.

The handle is linerless Masur birch. It is thinner and flatter and significantly wider than the Opinel, but every bit as light. It pockets effortlessly. It doesn't look like it ought to pocket easily, but it just about disappears in a front pocket.

Swede 88 Masur (World Knives) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Opinel #6

-

The blade is Sandvik stainless (12c27 or related) and quite thin. It's broader near the handle than the Opinel, but the curved edge tapers to a very useful point.

Swede 88 Masur (Ragweed Forge)

It gives me the essence of what I want from an Opinel (simple, light, warm wood handle, easy to carry, sharp, generally useful, kitchen friendly) in a compact, flat package.

Some pics I took of mine: - (Full spread here.)
http://noisyroom.net/pix/thr/2009_1024-Knife/Smaller/2009_1024-Knife018.jpg
http://noisyroom.net/pix/thr/2009_1024-Knife/Smaller/2009_1024-Knife019.jpg
http://noisyroom.net/pix/thr/2009_1024-Knife/Smaller/2009_1024-Knife021.jpg
http://noisyroom.net/pix/thr/2009_1024-Knife/Smaller/2009_1024-Knife022.jpg
http://noisyroom.net/pix/thr/2009_1024-Knife/Smaller/2009_1024-Knife023.jpg
http://noisyroom.net/pix/thr/2009_1024-Knife/Smaller/2009_1024-Knife025.jpg
http://noisyroom.net/pix/thr/2009_1024-Knife/Smaller/2009_1024-Knife026.jpg
http://noisyroom.net/pix/thr/2009_1024-Knife/Smaller/2009_1024-Knife027.jpg


Yes, it's stainless, but I'd be equally happy with a carbon steel version if they made one.

There is, of course, a down side. Darn thing costs four times what a same-sized Opinel does.

Oh, well.

Maybe some day Opinel will find a way to make a flat, broad handled version of the #6, with a modified flattened locking ring. That would be awesome.



Carl: You have got to post a picture of that "reworked" #12 with pouch. The #12 is a monster. If you have found a practical way to carry one, please, by all means, I would love to see that.

 

[hso]

Considering their simple construction and low price I'm surprised that our handier members haven't started carving unique and interesting handles for opis.

http://michel.montlahuc.free.fr/rob.htm

 

[walksbyhimself]

Not carved, but I've done some work to it...

I apologize for the poor quality of the photos. Cell phone camera.