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- Dec 1, 2016
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So my younger brother and I have always been close, but since our dad passed, we both have made a better effort at keeping in touch in general. Though we live in the same city (or town, depending on one's perspective), life still tends to keep us busy and we both have our own paths to walk. Though we both share an affinity for tools, blades, and metal things in general, are tastes are still pretty different. Where I like larger, stouter knives and bigger, heavier axes and hammers, he prefers finer, subtler blades and adopts a bit more of a minimalist approach. That all being said, we both are of a mind that there is a right tool for every job and we do our best to apply that in every aspect of our respective work and projects.
My little bro took the loss of our dad pretty hard and it didn't help much that he wasn't able to obtain any sort of keepsake to remember him by. So I decided to remedy that and get him a knife. My only trouble was in selecting the right one. My dad had a pretty varied collection of knives, none of them having all that much value. However, aside from the few multi-tools he had, he always adhered to a pretty simple criteria that I have mentioned before; carbon steel, simple to use, not pretty or fancy. I was initially set on getting my brother a Buck 110, a solid knife that comes with a sturdy belt sheath. However, the more I considered it, the more I thought that something was off. My dad owned maybe one lockback knife and I remember him not liking it much at all, plus he would have never used a belt sheath, he would just toss that bad boy in his pocket. So with that, I went back to the drawing board.
My search brought me to Opinel. I had never heard of Opinel until a couple years ago when I was looking for a new knife to accompany me whilst mushroom hunting. That being said, I kind of filed it away and didn't think of them again until rather recently. As I started to delve into the history of Opinel knives, the more and more convinced I became that this is the knife that would be a good representation of our dad. Carbon steel blade, simple function and design, impeccable craftsmanship, and arguably one of the best values out there. A working man's knife for a working man. Perfect fit for not only my dad, but my brother too. If our dad was still around, I would be getting him one as well.
So I ordered the Opinel Carbone No. 09 and it just arrived today. I have not handled a Opinel before and I have to say, I am so very impressed with it. It is comfortable, elegant in its simplicity, and beautifully functional. I will be making a leather pocket sheath for this with some personalization and will update this thread with a pic when its finished later this week.
Hopefully my brother will like it.
I made some pocket sheaths for these gift Opinels.
(Just realized this got long-winded, sorry guys...)
My little bro took the loss of our dad pretty hard and it didn't help much that he wasn't able to obtain any sort of keepsake to remember him by. So I decided to remedy that and get him a knife. My only trouble was in selecting the right one. My dad had a pretty varied collection of knives, none of them having all that much value. However, aside from the few multi-tools he had, he always adhered to a pretty simple criteria that I have mentioned before; carbon steel, simple to use, not pretty or fancy. I was initially set on getting my brother a Buck 110, a solid knife that comes with a sturdy belt sheath. However, the more I considered it, the more I thought that something was off. My dad owned maybe one lockback knife and I remember him not liking it much at all, plus he would have never used a belt sheath, he would just toss that bad boy in his pocket. So with that, I went back to the drawing board.
My search brought me to Opinel. I had never heard of Opinel until a couple years ago when I was looking for a new knife to accompany me whilst mushroom hunting. That being said, I kind of filed it away and didn't think of them again until rather recently. As I started to delve into the history of Opinel knives, the more and more convinced I became that this is the knife that would be a good representation of our dad. Carbon steel blade, simple function and design, impeccable craftsmanship, and arguably one of the best values out there. A working man's knife for a working man. Perfect fit for not only my dad, but my brother too. If our dad was still around, I would be getting him one as well.
So I ordered the Opinel Carbone No. 09 and it just arrived today. I have not handled a Opinel before and I have to say, I am so very impressed with it. It is comfortable, elegant in its simplicity, and beautifully functional. I will be making a leather pocket sheath for this with some personalization and will update this thread with a pic when its finished later this week.
Hopefully my brother will like it.
I made some pocket sheaths for these gift Opinels.
(Just realized this got long-winded, sorry guys...)
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