- Joined
- Oct 21, 2009
- Messages
- 26
not a lot of threads on these knives here, but enough to keep me busy for a bit. I bought my first Opinel in a little shop outside the Gare du Nord train station in Paris in 1990... a No. 10 I think. It was later stolen when I shipped it back to the States from Canberra (along with a bunch of other stuff I had carried with me halfway around the world, literally) and I never figured out where to get another one here in the U.S., until quite recently.
I note that Opiknife has posted in this thread and let me tell you, Opiknife is a really fantastic e-business as well as apparently, a real life store front business. I have ordered a bunch of Opinels from Opiknife in the last couple of weeks (17, I think, in 2 orders). Only about half of them were for me. One I had engraved for a friend as a gift, another engraved for my son. A No. 8 and 10 my parents asked me to order for their use and three more stainless No. 8s for them to give as gifts, and a couple of No. 10s for a friend that I shoot Skeet with who saw one of mine and felt he had to have a couple too. Opiknife is blindingly fast at both engraving and shipping, and they are great to chat with on the phone too. You simply cannot go wrong doing business with them.
Here are couple of photos of some of mine. One thing I really like about Opinels is how easy it is to make them your own. I refinished some of my standard carbone's to get a sort of antique look to them. The pics are not great, but they sort of give the impression of a stag handle now.
Here are a few. No.s 6, 8, 10 and 12.
I have become very fond of the little No. 6 and really like the way the handle turned out. However, I started carrying it in my pocket to work and the nice finish quickly started to deteriorate after banging against all the stuff I carry in my pockets (I'm a General Contractor). I needed a sheath of some kind to use for the knife, but didn't want to buy anything expensive, as it would just get screwed up from work. I tried a mini-mag light holster, but it was a bit too big and I didn't want to have to take off my belt to put a holster on. Then I remembered the cheapo cell phone holsters that I buy for my cell phone from Home Depot... they come with a really crappy mini flashlight which I promptly throw in the garbage, but I remembered that when I bought the holster, the light was IN it! Ta Daaa!!! Problem solved!
I always have my cell with me which means I now also always have my No. 6.
Finally, just a couple more pics. My No 10 slim (effillete, gotta love them French words...they may everything seem more elegant) with Bubinga handle. Funny thing about these more "premium" Opi's. Even though they put a nice piece of wood on them and flawlessly polish out the blade, the actual finish on the handle leaves much to be desired. That's fine with me because it gives me a chance to fuss with it.
I have done work on more of them, but I won't bore ya'll with more pics. I like my #6 so much I will probably be ordering a couple more in a week or two, and I am also REALLY lusting after a No. 8 with the blond horn handle....maybe for Xmas....
I note that Opiknife has posted in this thread and let me tell you, Opiknife is a really fantastic e-business as well as apparently, a real life store front business. I have ordered a bunch of Opinels from Opiknife in the last couple of weeks (17, I think, in 2 orders). Only about half of them were for me. One I had engraved for a friend as a gift, another engraved for my son. A No. 8 and 10 my parents asked me to order for their use and three more stainless No. 8s for them to give as gifts, and a couple of No. 10s for a friend that I shoot Skeet with who saw one of mine and felt he had to have a couple too. Opiknife is blindingly fast at both engraving and shipping, and they are great to chat with on the phone too. You simply cannot go wrong doing business with them.
Here are couple of photos of some of mine. One thing I really like about Opinels is how easy it is to make them your own. I refinished some of my standard carbone's to get a sort of antique look to them. The pics are not great, but they sort of give the impression of a stag handle now.
Here are a few. No.s 6, 8, 10 and 12.
I have become very fond of the little No. 6 and really like the way the handle turned out. However, I started carrying it in my pocket to work and the nice finish quickly started to deteriorate after banging against all the stuff I carry in my pockets (I'm a General Contractor). I needed a sheath of some kind to use for the knife, but didn't want to buy anything expensive, as it would just get screwed up from work. I tried a mini-mag light holster, but it was a bit too big and I didn't want to have to take off my belt to put a holster on. Then I remembered the cheapo cell phone holsters that I buy for my cell phone from Home Depot... they come with a really crappy mini flashlight which I promptly throw in the garbage, but I remembered that when I bought the holster, the light was IN it! Ta Daaa!!! Problem solved!
I always have my cell with me which means I now also always have my No. 6.
Finally, just a couple more pics. My No 10 slim (effillete, gotta love them French words...they may everything seem more elegant) with Bubinga handle. Funny thing about these more "premium" Opi's. Even though they put a nice piece of wood on them and flawlessly polish out the blade, the actual finish on the handle leaves much to be desired. That's fine with me because it gives me a chance to fuss with it.
I have done work on more of them, but I won't bore ya'll with more pics. I like my #6 so much I will probably be ordering a couple more in a week or two, and I am also REALLY lusting after a No. 8 with the blond horn handle....maybe for Xmas....
