Has anyone ever broken an Opinel?

[Tyson A Wright]

I have not seen an Opinel break, but I've seen a No.08 get a lot of work done. I think Opinels make a great "hard use" knife: they cut really well; they're very tough; you don't usually need the lock, but if you decide that you do it's very reliable; they're quite lightweight; their handle is very ergonomic. All that, and if you do manage to break one, it's incredibly inexpensive to replace.

For a lot of "hard use" situations, if you're worried about one breaking, you could carry two and that would still be lighter (and cheaper) than having one of most knives of comparable performance, and you have a backup if it breaks.

 

[rishma]

Come on, come on,

As knife nuts, we've ALL thrown a knife at a tree sometime in our misguided younger past.

When I was 10, I broke my dads buck 110 throwing it at wooden gate. Broke the blade in half. I had totally forgotten about that until just now. I probably should have fessed up about that.

Sorry,l for the digression. Love opinels, never broke one or seen one break but they are so slicey that’s really what I use them for.

Serious necrothread!

 

[Henry Beige]

Since the late ‘70s I have carried Opinels on my motorbikes to use for motorbike repair and camping/touring purposes.
Never broke one, or saw one broken. Never used one to pop open a frozen car door or to pry a recalcitrant cylinder off its seat; that’s what a Hultafors GK is for, or a screw driver from an SAK.

 

[sitflyer]

When I got my first couple of Opinel knives I was still in the Coast Guard and used them as paring knives in the galley. They would take a fine edge and hold it rather well. To this day I use them for food prep and none have ever failed or broken. I still have the one I got from AG Russell back in 1980 and it is in my kitchen cutlery drawer. I don't believe I will wear it out before my time is done here.