Just ordered my first Opinel

B

Bob6794

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Apr 21, 2013
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I just placed a order for my first Opinel, a carbon steel #6, as it should be more pocket friendly than a #8. I have to chalk this knife purchase up as another one from being on the traditional part of the forum :D. This is my first carbon steel blade, and Opinel so if you have any advice on knife care it be greatly appreciated. And lastly since I have to wait till Friday for it to get here feel encouraged to post some pictures of Opinels to hold me over.

Now I think I wait and see how long till Pinnah shows up, last few days of me digging up some old posts on Opinels I have seen his name pop up a lot.
 
Hey that's great. I love my Opinel #6 and I've recently made it my apple knife at work. I'm sure a few others will have better advice, but here's a bit of what I've found (and picked out of the brains of forum members):

Opinels take an awesome edge, although in carbon you will probably need to touch it up fairly frequently. The good thing is sharpening it is super easy to do. Since they're already convex the sandpaper and mousepad method really brings out their best.

The carbon steel patinas very quickly and very well. I mentioned I use mine to cut my lunch/snack apples at work; the patina forms almost immediately and after a few weeks the blade has taken on some great colour.

Grit can (and probably will) get under the locking collar, which can make it a pain to use. Five minutes on Youtube will teach you how to take the locking collar off with a small screwdriver and it's a good idea to keep it clean and lubricated. Some people like to leave the collar off, but I'd injure myself so I put it back on :)

Opinels are great inexpensive knives. This one wont be your last. Enjoy! :)

Also since this is your first carbon blade, you may want to invest in something to protect the blade from corrosion. I think people use mineral oil. I tend to use food safe "Inox" myself.
 
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Opinel #6 with an olive handle was my first Opinel. Great size. Lightweight and perfect for pocket carry. I say that but I rarely carry mine. I like pocket clips.

Funny story, I got my Opinel #8 for a dollar. Someone didn't realize what they had and thought it was cheap junk.

They are already a great value, but for a dollar I feel a little guilty.
 
Congrats, Opinels are great for food prep. Use my #8 every day just for that. Got an awesome faint blueish patina on my carbon blade =)
I don't oil it a lot, since I'm using it everyday, and food often put some oil to it. I do wipe it dry each time after use. I used to use olive oil, but I haven't oil it for a couple month now, and it still haven't rusted on me.
 
I just got a #7 myself. It's a very nice knife; you'll be happy with yours. Welcome to the world of carbon steel, and traditionals in general. If you want my thoughts on the Opinel and some similar knives, read the Peasant Folder Roundup.

Don't worry about the steel rusting on you. Cut some fruit with it and let it build a patina. Just make sure it is dry when you store it; you'll be fine. If you're in a hurry, wrap it in a paper towel soaked in vinegar for 20 minutes. No need to rush, IMO. You'll probably get some other sizes, but the #6 is very pocket friendly. It's also a very easy knife to sharpen; needless to say it takes a keen edge as the legend goes.
 
Congrats on your first Opi. I have a no. 8 carbon, and a no. 6 in Inox with a walnut handle. A lot of guys mod theirs to no end, but I'm a stock Opinel kind of guy. Honestly, I treat mine like they owe me money, and they keep coming back for more. I've sharpened each on the bottom of a coffee cup (also on proper sharpening gear, of course), I've got them soaking wet (no noticeable swelling on the 6; some on the 8 but it went away after a day). I've dropped 'em in the dirt while cutting open mulch bags in the garden and just blew the dirt out then tossed it back in my pocket. Nothing comes close to even making this French dudes flinch! They just keep coming back for more. And I really really appreciate how light they are. In your pocket, you can't even tell the no. 6 is there.
 
ah the No. 06! perfect gentleman's size. If you take to whittling you can bring the handle down really thin and it opens just like a toothpick. I'll try to get some pics up of mine. Everyone who sees it (mainly non knife nuts) want one after I flash it.
 
I got my first Opinel recently myself. I was generously gifted a #8 in one of the Pay-It-Forward threads. I have carried it constantly for about a month now and am still amazed by the simple but very functional design. Here it is as it sits today.

 
Congrats on your incoming knife, Bob :-)
I too am waiting for my first Opinel to arrive. I found myself having to order one to represent this famous company in my collection. May yours be all and more than you expected :-)
 
Thanks for all the advise, it will come in handy. And thank you for the link Pinnah it has a lot of good information on modding an Opinel, I thought I was going to have to do a lot of searching to find out all that info. After reading that file it makes me want to mod the knife already and I have 2 days till it gets here, good thing I sprung for the 2 day shipping. Now I just have to fight the urge to make plans for it till it gets here. It's nice to hear I am not the only one waiting for one to arrive, it looks like we might have a few more potential fans of Opinels pretty soon.
 
If it wasn't mentioned. I reshaped the tip as I kept poking myself with it. Also I received mine as a throw in to a sale. When I first took it out of the box, I thought, "oh, its one of those quaint French knives that the forum people keep talking about." I refused to believe that it could be sharper than something on a Ti framelock which is what I bought. I proceeded to run my thumb across the blade. I then proceeded to drop the #9 and run upstairs from the kitchen as my thumb was bleeding profusely. Careful those first few times playing with it!
 
BF made me get my first as well. No8 in stainless. Went with that because I wanted to use it for some food prep once in a while. Love it. Just need to get around to sanding the edges.
 
I am going to be picking one up as well to fill the role of a knife Im not scared of losing.

I am really thinking about getting a No.12 and cutting it down about half on each end and doing some custom work to it to make it more of a norse seax design.
 
Merovingian said:
I am going to be picking one up as well to fill the role of a knife Im not scared of losing.
Click to expand...

This is one of the greatest aspects of an Opinel, imo. I own my Opinels. They don't own me.

Not that I like to loose things. But I find a particular freedom in using things like this when I sort of pre-understand that it has a limited lifespan. The other closely related issue is sharpening and blade loss. I sharpen my Opinels. If the blades wear down too much, I'll replace it. Charming? Yes. Satisfying? Yes. But at the end of the day, they're users for me.
 
Those who get into modding their Opis will find several threads here on BF by searching.

And the links below also show examples. These sites are in French, but the photos are clear enough. The French really get into these things!

http://michel.montlahuc.free.fr/opinel4.htm
http://forum.neoczen.org/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=4780&sid=1c43c437c77809677716acec62f69220
http://opinel-passions-bois.blogspot.com/

And Opi sells a version of the knife with a handle that is only minimally shaped, so you can start almost from scratch.
 
Did you get your Opi yet? Here's my 6. its slimmed down and fits perfect in the hip pocket of my jeans or my shirt pocket. As far as carbon steel care. Its not a huge deal. I just stuck mine in an apple for a half hour to build up a pretty patina and then just oil it with mineral oil from time to time. I keep a little bit of oily rag in a ziplock in my bag for when I'm out. It makes a great and inconspicuous steak knife when you're at a restaurant.

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pinnah said:
This is one of the greatest aspects of an Opinel, imo. I own my Opinels. They don't own me.

Not that I like to loose things. But I find a particular freedom in using things like this when I sort of pre-understand that it has a limited lifespan. The other closely related issue is sharpening and blade loss. I sharpen my Opinels. If the blades wear down too much, I'll replace it. Charming? Yes. Satisfying? Yes. But at the end of the day, they're users for me.
Click to expand...

This aspect just makes it funner to modify and play with it. If I lost any of my Opi's I'd still be heart broken, but I'd probably get over it by getting another.
 
Opinels are are a super value. They offer all or most models in either carbon or inox (SS) steel.

The #6 is kind of small imo. Not tiny but small enough to limit it's usefulness. The #8 is to me a more adequate knife. And the #10 is blast. I keep a #6, 8 and 10 in my kitchen in the food prep area and use them daily. I have other knives for edc's.

Sharpening is relatively easy and fast in part because of the steels and in part because of the simple blade geometry. I am using a Lansky and I am not by any means what I would call a talented knife blade sharpener. The only real consideration in sharpening is not to go too steep on the angle or you will be continually rolling the edge - or chipping it. The Opinels that I have had experience with have thinnish blades that can't support long tapered edges.
 
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