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How many own an Opinel?

I've got a carbon 8, stainless 8 in oak and a carbon 6. The carbon 8 sees the most use, by far. Love these knives for basic edc type chores.
 
stoffi said:
I just received my No. 8 Garden Knife and I absolutely love it!

It wasn't sharp at all though, just one big fat burr along most of the blade.
The lock didn't function very well either, but I oiled that up and now the blade gets locked in quite nicely.
There's still some blade-play though, but I'm sure it will get better over time, as it wears in.
I can see why people like these blades, but I had to start tweaking mine straight out of the box, which was sort of a minus.

Now I wanna get a regular No. 8 Carbon and a No. 2 as well!
Click to expand...

A lot of them come either not fully sharpened or have the sharpening bleed out near the tip. Only takes about 5 minutes to get them screaming sharp, though, so it's no biggie. I usually touch them up when doing inspections since it takes so little effort.
 
Not only do I own a bunch of Opinels, I have the unique ability to smell an Opinel thread from up to 2 miles away.;)
Just a sample of the collection.
opinels.jpg
 
I like their Chef's Knife too. It's shaped like a medieval belt knife and chops wood better than you'd expect a sharpened feather like it to do. And the grind is still a full-height convex just like the little guys.
 
I had ignored Opinels for years, but took a (cheap) chance on a stainless #6 in olive wood for a back-up knife intended for a "micro" ES kit. It seemed like a lot of bang for the buck, and was a pretty little thing in its own way.

I ended up buying a bunch of their paring knives for cooks in the family, and all are amazed at how well they work in the kitchen with minimum upkeep. Sadly, one member of the clan who has been conditioned to dull knives did find her gift to be as effective on her forefinger as it was on vegetables, but she is healing up nicely.

(!)

So far, I consider them to be good tools at a great price.
 
Until last week, I owned two, a #6 and #7. Then a friend sent me this for Christmas:


Opinelboxedset.jpg



The big one is almost a machete!
 
yea iv only got a no.8 carbon. pretty much agree with what everyone else has said; cheap, strong, lightweight, and sharp. very very very sharp. good for ppl not used to carbon blades to see if they like them.
 
They are excellent, timeless tools. My Sebenza may be more precise, but actually I enjoy my Opinels more, they really have soul.
3 remarks:
- be careful with the thin tip. I seem to have a talent to bend them.
- the quite big #12 is a fantastic outdoor food prep folder
- the luxury one with blonde horn handle is as distinguished as a laguiole, it's that chic.
 
Yeah, I went and picked up three more: Two No. 8's and one No. 6 (gifts). None of them had an edge and although I'm pretty good at sharpening, I must say that I didn't think that they were particularily easy to sharpen; but OK, I did convex them. Really nice knives!
 
a #5 and a #9, in stainless...i only buy them in stainless...

i'm considering the corkscrew model, and a sheath for the #9.
 
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