Can you recommend any folder that outcuts or cuts same as Opinels,Carbon or Inox?

Oh heck, I'll say it. I don't like the Opinel. There! I've had it in the kitchen for two yrs and I seldom pick it up. Plus, if I use it for a steak and lean it on the edge of the plate with the handle on the table, it swings to "blade up" and I'm not too overjoyed with that aspect.
 
Well, most of them are lightweight and inexpensive ($8-10) slipjoints. No lock at all. A bit thicker than Opinels, but great slicers and without wood swelling problems.

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Carbon steel similar to Higonokamis'. Edge holding on par with Victorinox's steel IME

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Rusts very easily, makes nice patinas.

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Sharp edge can be put in a minute with almost anything available (coffee mug, ceramic plate...). The scales are very cheap and sometimes you get a lemon with bad centering.

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But for the price most are sharp, simple and robust designs. Quality a bit less than Opinel's standards, but price is also lower than those. Made in Solsona, a small region of Spain about 150 mi. away from where I live. Very popular here between hikers, farmers and village people. Rare to see in the cities, where Vics and Opis are far more common.

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I'd rate them as high as my Higonokamis and Douk Douks, but lower than Opinels and Victorinox.

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As much as I love opinels I have a cheap victorinox paring knife that out cuts my opinels, but that is because the stock is thinner. I agree with jackknife that a SAK slices just as well as an opinels, but SAK's steel is a bit on the soft side and because of that, I see the blade on a SAK as more of a secondary blade to your normal folder, essentially a "back up" blade with useful tools included.

When I work in the field I often carry my cold steel American lawman or an Opinel no. 8 or 9 as my main folder and a SAK or leatherman as a mini toolkit.

Back to topic though. For the price, opinels cut damn well! But you do get knives that slice better. A high quality chefs knife for example, but you have to have deep pockets to carry that :p
 
I just recently picked up an Opinel #7 Inox. Not only is the stock thin with FFG, but there is also no discernible bevel. Is that what is called a "zero grind" with the FFG going all the way to apex? It is sharp, be feels very weak. No doubt it's an amazing slicer, but would not want to use it one anything tough. I feel like the light wood would snap at the pivot.
 
So far, of the knives I own/have owned, I have not found any folders that clearly out slice my Opinels.

Svord Peasants are quite a bit thicker (even the mini, which I also have), and have lower convex grinds, which makes them not cut as well. My only SAK (farmer) has just about the same spine thickness, it what appears to be a FFG, but its a narrower blade, so its not as slicey.

I had a Case Peanut that was fairly thin and slicey, but the chord of those blades is also quite narrow, so they have to be thin to cut. However, I didn't have an Opinel by the time that I gave that one away, so I can't really say how it compared. And all of my (non kitchen) fixed blades are quite a bit thicker.

The rest of the folders I've used haven't been close. However, I really don't own many folders, so I don't have the best set of knives to compare.

I quite like my Opinels, but don't think of them as anything more than they are.
 
Another vote for the K55K and the late carbon steel Cold Steel Twistmaster.

The Mercator was my original, "Oh look, blood. I guess I cut myself" knife.
 
Havalon Piranta is sharp and not to bad to handle. Plan to skin game this winter. Youtube has vid on field dressing an elk. Looks good to go!
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
If left at post-quench hardness without tempering the internal stresses alone are going make it brittle. It would have to be tempered down at least a few points just to relieve them.

What paring knives were these that were being used for sod-cutting?
Click to expand...
Sorry, been in and out a lot lately. It was a knife that Alvin Johnston made about a dozen years ago, 1095 at 65, IRC.
 
This is fairly close, the blade arrived strikingly sharp out of the box and is ground down fairly thin too, strong back spring helps keep it in place while open and it's priced so as not to break the bank either;

Check out my review of this folder here

G2
 
When I was a mere knife user, I never fiddled with my Opinels. I just carried them on my bikes, and used them when I needed them. Now that I am a knife enthusiast, I like to fiddle with my knives, especially my Opinels. I fiddle with them because I like to carry them; I carry them because they cut so well. And cost so little. And have such a simple, elegant, classic design. And, they are readily available. What else can you say that about?
 
I just picked up a MAM (Filman) for the sake of comparison. They are identical on paper using the same steel and wood. The MAM uses a liner lock.

It opens easier and the lock works, but there is both slight side to side and front to back play. The liner itself is too thin to grip reinforcing the lock. The lock also acts as the washer, kind of a neat design there.

As to the blade itself, close but no cigar. Actually, not even that close. It's somewhat sharp out of the box and will cut, but not that sharp and no Opinel sharpness. It doesn't sharpen well either. Despite the two blades looking identical with the same steel, they don't feel the same or act the same.

Just sharp enough as a steak knife, which I guess it is. For the price being roughly the same as an Opinel, Opinel all day.

IMG]http://images.knifecenter.com/thumb/1500x1500/knifecenter/filmam/images/MAM2038a.jpg[/IMG]


I also recently picked up an aogami higonokami to try the legendary blue steel. Oh yeah, this thing can cut the same and arguably outcut the Opinel. It's sharp; like a little thousand fold samurai sword. It's also thicker. It's like super VG10. Japanese know how to make sharp.
 
Hi! If the issue you have is only about the wooden handle swelling when wet, besides the good tips & tricks to treat the wood to make it more water-resistant, there is also an interesting Opinel limited edition (#8 only I think) which comes with handles and fittings in aluminium. Comes around 50 EUR here. So no need to change a model you like, even if some variety doesn’t hurt. It’s knives, not wives… :D. Take care.

Not my pics, don’t own this one (yet… :)):

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I have some amazingly sharp knives, but for day in and day out slicing, I doubt anything beats an Opinel. Just today, I was working in my garden with both my SAK Gardener and Opinel #6 stainless. Last year, I came to the conclusion that the Opinel is a better gardening knife. The SAK is a bit safer in use. I still feel the same way. I also believe the stainless Opinel to be superior to the carbon.

Joe
 
I'd go for Spyderco Dragonfly - the thing cuts like a laser... honorable mentions go to Victorinox and I'm quite happy with my Colts... basically, ffg + decent steel + acute sharpening angle = slicing machine.
 
Another frenchy is the only knife I have which is close... my le sauveterre by Guy Vialis.
 
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