Hats off................to Opinel

Jolipapa said:
It reminds me of a colleague who had swapped his Dyane's engine for a GS one. He was outpassing everything on the highway until the cops confiscated the car.

The next car sticking to the road like a 2cv was the winged Chaparral (2E/2F) . A slightly higher pace though! 😉
Click to expand...

The 2F Chaparral ! In 1967 my parents bought their first tv and few days later i've seen images live of the first winged car, the 2F Chaparral, racing the 24 heures du Mans. An airplane wing on a car ! Go figure !
What i didn't know is that, years later, i would have a son who would own a model of car who was racing the 1967 24heures ! 47 years later i've driven the car, a Marcos mk3, on 2 laps of the Le Mans Circuit. Unforgettable.

IMG-20220319-WA0002.jpg

Dan.

Edit to say, i've driven those two laps for the 24 hours Classic. A meeting of vintage race cars.
 
Last edited:
dantzk8 said:
The 2F Chaparral ! In 1967 my parents bought their first tv and few days later i've seen images live of the first winged car, the 2F Chaparral, racing the 24 heures du Mans. An airplane wing on a car ! Go figure !
What i didn't know is that, years later, i would have a son who would own a model of car who was racing the 1967 24heures ! 47 years later i've driven the car, a Marcos mk3, on 2 laps of the Le Mans Circuit. Unforgettable.

View attachment 2168074

Dan.

Edit to say, i've driven those two laps for the 24 hours Classic. A meeting of vintage race cars.
Click to expand...
Lovely! When I was younger I was fascinated by engineers like Mr Duckworth, Marsh and Costin. They represent a whole piece of car racing history!
 
The thing that makes the Opinel a standout is, its like the Bic pen, Toyota Corolla, Timex watch, and other things of that sort. They just flat out work. Not only work, but work well. Can you buy a 200 dollar knife that will slice with a sharp Opinel? The run of the mill Opinel fresh off a stone will have that scary sharp edge that goes right though matter. No matter whittling in wood, slciing vegetables or meat, cutting rope. Who knows how many generations of working folks not only in France, but around the world, have used Opinels over the last century and some change, to good effect.

I know from my own long experience in my love/hate relationship with the Opinel, that I may get a bit impatient with the finicky factor of them, but in the end they fulfill my love of a light weight knife in the pocket, that I can use to an extreme that I won't use a more expensive knife for, and they have always got the job done for me. Okay, I have to do some tweaking when I get a new one, but what the heck, its not a real chore messing with knife. A bit of sanding, some soaking in linseed, mineral, or other oil and you've got a pretty darn good knife. If you want to really go all out, stuff some Johnsons paste floor wax in the joint and hit it with the better half blow drier. I've experimented and found I could totally submerge an Opinel in a glass of water for 30 minutes and still open it okay. A little stiff, but its doable. Okay, it may get a bit sticky under really wet conditions, but nothing is perfect. Hell, at this point in time and for quite a bit of the past decade or so, I get out of bed in the morning and I'm a bit stiff and non functional for a bit. At least till I move around a bit and have my coffee.

The Opinel will slice and dice well above its weight class. I've yet to see any fillet knife, no matter that cost, that will do a fish like my number 12 slim. We do a lot of stir fry and Asian cooking, and the Opinel will slice translucent fish slices and as thin slices of vegetables for the wok as any of my other knives.

Opinels for getting the job done.
 
Jolipapa said:
It reminds me of a colleague who had swapped his Dyane's engine for a GS one. He was outpassing everything on the highway until the cops confiscated the car.

The next car sticking to the road like a 2cv was the winged Chaparral (2E/2F) . A slightly higher pace though! 😉
Click to expand...
Not seen a GS for decades...great to go in but rust while you watch :eek:

Other 2CV oddities, despite being 'primitive' it had a 4 speed synchro box (many much more exp. British cars didn't) independent suspension and fwd. Saw a FOUR WHEEL drive version on the Net, Sahara I think, seemed to have an extra petrol tank under the driver's seat....

www.autoweek.com

The Citroën 2CV Sahara 4x4 Was Just Crazy Enough to Work

When it comes to strange solutions to automotive problems, no one has mastered the art of lateral engineering solutions quite like the French.
www.autoweek.com www.autoweek.com

The versatility of the Opinel is undeniable, it also has an addictive aspect like potato crisps, have one you want more :D I'd like another No.6 in Olive or Ebony, wish they did Juniper:cool:

Here's my latest, the Oyster. No Oysters here and can't afford them but it makes a wonderful prying tool.;)

wUdOCsA.jpg
 
Will Power said:
Indeed! And to imitate de Gaulle " Vivre L'Opinel! Vivre L'Opinel...libre!" Afterall, a working knife is what a real knife should be :cool:

Click to expand...
I was there (big sista had settled near Sherbrooke, plates still sported "la Belle Province" then) when he spoke and to say the least it did not please to our beloved cousins... I paid it the tough way... not my best souvenir!
To be positive, it helped me a lot learning "English", happily she was living near the Vermont border.

Will Power said:
joeradza joeradza Not sure Alan, I think it could be edged without trouble but don't know about the hardness or tempering of the blade. great item I find.
Click to expand...
I think so too, because you don't pry to open the oyster, rather squeeze the blade inside and go cut the muscle.
That was my first Xmas job when I was a pupil.
 
lonestar1979 said:
Theres no mistake with any Opinel or Victorinox,they cut way better than 99%of knives on market with consistant quality control,and decent steel!
Click to expand...

I think that 2d to Victorinox, Opinel may be the highest production knife company in the world. With an annual production of a bout 15 million knives a year, thats a lot of cutlery!

Especially since they only employ 180 people at the factory in France.
 
Will Power said:
I think it could be edged without trouble but don't know about the hardness or tempering of the blade. great item I find.
Click to expand...
I hope to follow up with Opinel about this because in their description of the knife they say,
“The padouk wood handle is resistant to swelling, and utilized for its ability to hold up well in humid or wet environments.”
Living by the seashore, I‘ve always avoided Opinel because of the handle swelling
 
I love opinel , victorinox.and MaM..their edge geometry is superb,simple basic steels that take scary sharp edge easily and keep it for decent amount of time and are very easy to sharpen on anything,from bottom of plate to whatever....and price is decent.Havent used any of my spydercos and other similar overpriced stuff for years now, ,because these thin blade knives just work better for any task...btw grabbed no8 opinel in inox few days ago..for about 11$
 
thisisallen said:
I hope to follow up with Opinel about this because in their description of the knife they say,
“The padouk wood handle is resistant to swelling, and utilized for its ability to hold up well in humid or wet environments.”
Living by the seashore, I‘ve always avoided Opinel because of the handle swelling
Click to expand...
- would their No8 Outdoor Knife possibly fit the bill for you……?

EFB8A32A-ABC9-4C5F-90E3-448A119A0FFC.jpeg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top