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#OMG - I've turned into that weird Opinel guy....what the heck!!!
- Thread starter cchu518
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- Oct 1, 2002
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- 1,821
Get a #6. Perfect size for me anyway. I got one in Olivewood. Always seems to feel warm.
If you want the smallest Opinel that will excel at those tasks, I would recommend the N8.
I own a Wave and my wife has the Wegner equivalent to the Cadet and I have an old Ulster Camper. My son has an Opinel N 6. I find the N 6 to be less knife than the both the Wave and Cadet. It's primary advantages is in its small size and non-existent weight. I find the handle much too small for cutting brush and making feather sticks though and the blade too small for food.
I think either the N 8 or N9 will work fine. I prefer the additional belly of the N9 in the kitchen and the extra width of its handle when cutting brush. But, the N8 carries smaller and will do what you've listed
If you've not tried an Opinel before, I will be curious how you find the Opinels convex blade compared to the Scandi and flat and hollow grinds you've tried. I find it's noticeably better with wood.
Start with the 8. It's a $20 experiment. If you want more or less knife, you can move up or down later without breaking the bank. Just gift the 8.
Speaking of gifts.....
Merry Christmas all!
You know, these have never really crossed my mind before, but after reading this....I've ordered a couple....
I couldn't decide between carbon or stainless, or between the 8 or 9. So, I've ordered the 9 in carbon and 8 in stainless. I think I'll end up using them for food prep / cooking. Can't wait until they arrive now..
I couldn't decide between carbon or stainless, or between the 8 or 9. So, I've ordered the 9 in carbon and 8 in stainless. I think I'll end up using them for food prep / cooking. Can't wait until they arrive now..
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2013
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- 73
Hey how do you guys go about sharpening them? I have a 2-sided stone that's medium and finebut i can't seem to get them proper sharp
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2009
- Messages
- 139
The blade on an Opinel #6 is 2 7/8" long, plenty long for food prep unless you are carving a Christmas goose. 
The blade on an Opinel #8 is 3 1/8" long, not a whole lot different than the #6 but the #8 is has a bigger and more robust handle, very comfortable and a better hand hold. The blade stock is thicker but still quite thin. Both the #6 and the #8 are stiff enough to carve wood and thin enough to stand for a folding paring knife.
The #6 weighs 1 oz and the #8 1.8 oz, not quite twice as much. Both of them are excellent hiking/backpacking knives. I carry a #6 to backup my thin ground, special run for A. G. Russell Dozier that goes with me on every wilderness outing. We don't do freeze dried foods, dry some of our own and take some fressh foods and really do it up when in a car camp. I don't need anything other than the Opinel #6 and the Dozier but I do carry the SAK Classic as a manicure tool and it's very useful scissors.
It is hard to find a blade that will cut better than a fully convexed Opinel. I saw a beautiful #9 in a little outdoor shop in Kanab, Utah this last fall, carbon blade and that bigger size. It was tempting but I have not gotten one yet. I prefer my Opinels set in Olive wood and their 12c27 that is just as tough and gets just as sharp and holds an edge equal to their carbon. I can't really tell the difference in performance other than the patina on the carbon looks cool and the stainless is less worry on one of our two-week backpacking trips.
I don't mod them much, like the way they look. Only thing I do is polish off the logo with 0000 steel wool and oil and on the #8 I tapped out the pivot pin, drilled out the handle and blade with a #31 bit (.1200") and drove a piece of stainless 1/8" stock (.1250") through it all to make a very robust pivot that I did not peen so when it gets wet and swells, it will not bind in the collar. You can't make the blade bind. I like the lines of the wooden handles just the way they are, clean with nice angles and sweeping lines.
The blade on an Opinel #8 is 3 1/8" long, not a whole lot different than the #6 but the #8 is has a bigger and more robust handle, very comfortable and a better hand hold. The blade stock is thicker but still quite thin. Both the #6 and the #8 are stiff enough to carve wood and thin enough to stand for a folding paring knife.
The #6 weighs 1 oz and the #8 1.8 oz, not quite twice as much. Both of them are excellent hiking/backpacking knives. I carry a #6 to backup my thin ground, special run for A. G. Russell Dozier that goes with me on every wilderness outing. We don't do freeze dried foods, dry some of our own and take some fressh foods and really do it up when in a car camp. I don't need anything other than the Opinel #6 and the Dozier but I do carry the SAK Classic as a manicure tool and it's very useful scissors.
It is hard to find a blade that will cut better than a fully convexed Opinel. I saw a beautiful #9 in a little outdoor shop in Kanab, Utah this last fall, carbon blade and that bigger size. It was tempting but I have not gotten one yet. I prefer my Opinels set in Olive wood and their 12c27 that is just as tough and gets just as sharp and holds an edge equal to their carbon. I can't really tell the difference in performance other than the patina on the carbon looks cool and the stainless is less worry on one of our two-week backpacking trips.
I don't mod them much, like the way they look. Only thing I do is polish off the logo with 0000 steel wool and oil and on the #8 I tapped out the pivot pin, drilled out the handle and blade with a #31 bit (.1200") and drove a piece of stainless 1/8" stock (.1250") through it all to make a very robust pivot that I did not peen so when it gets wet and swells, it will not bind in the collar. You can't make the blade bind. I like the lines of the wooden handles just the way they are, clean with nice angles and sweeping lines.
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2013
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- 7,037
I mostly use a Fallkniven DC-4 to touch it up. The DC-4 is 25 Micron diamond on one side and synthetic sapphire on the other. I really like it! I have bought about 5 of these (in diff sizes) and all the initial production probs have been worked out!
Thanks for all the advice and suggestions! I might just wind up with 3 different sizes for different reasons!
There's a reason the #8 is most common. It's a good starting point I would think. It's just a bit big, but remember that you can mod it smaller.
Take that fragile tip off and make it a drop point then sand the handle down a bit to be proportional and you have the perfect knife to carry at work. You can also shorten it a fair amount more.
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- Jul 2, 2013
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Cool! You kinda described the Garden Knife!!!! One of my Favs!!! (I like that slim "Effile" too)
At first, I find them to sharpen very easily with any stone or approach.
After a while though and as the edge retreats towards the spine with wear, you start to get into the the slightly thicker part of the slight convex grind of the blade. I've found this happens a bit faster than pure flat grinds (some of my Schrades, many kitchen knives) or hollow grinds (my Bucks and Case).
When resetting a well used Opinel, I use my Lansky to create a faux convex. I set a back bevel at 17 degrees, a secondary bevel at 20 and the primary cutting bevel at 25. I've managed to roll or dent edges on both the carbone and inox when setting the primary bevel at 20, but I use my knives rather roughly. I reckon many folks might prefer them more acute. YMMV territory.
I've been playing with moving this graduated, step-wise convex to a more pure convex by a) maintaining the edge with edge trailing strokes on wet dry backed on the wood of my strop board and b) using a modified Lansky rod to put a convexed bevel on the apex. The first is worth it, imo, but jury's out on the second. One thing that the edge trailing "stropping" on wet dry does is that it thins out the convex grind a bit as you go. I'm pretty convinced that if you sharpen regularly and want the Opinel to keeps it's character as you grind off the blade, this approach does it.
The other approach if you don't want to bother with convexing the edge is to just go at directly with a stone. IME, this works fine for a good long time but as you back up into the wider part of the blade, you need to work harder and harder to work the apex up to a burr, as you have to fight through more and more steel.
Hope this helps.
Mine arrived today and impressed so far. They are actually quite pretty knives in the flesh.
Build quality is good and they don't seem fragile at all.
I'm finding the No 8 a bit small for my hands though, the No 9 is just right.
Top = 9 in carbone
Bottom = 8 in stainless
Build quality is good and they don't seem fragile at all.
I'm finding the No 8 a bit small for my hands though, the No 9 is just right.
Top = 9 in carbone
Bottom = 8 in stainless
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2009
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- 139
Keepin' the Opie thread going! Here's a nice field pairing! A Garden Opinel and a Classic Mora
Which Classic Mora is that SAK Guy? Is the the Original Classic or one of the red handled Classics with the paint removed or perhaps one that never had paint? And what # or size. I have a few Moras but none of the wooden handled varieties yet but may remedy that soon. I like the simplicity and the wooden grip seems appealing. Some of them seem to be very light weight, good for carrying when walking.
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- Jul 2, 2013
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It's the now discontinued Orig Classic No. 2 Laminated...it comes with a full tang and an unfinished birch handle! It's my fav Mora!!!
The No. 2 laminated Moras are going away so you better get one while you still can! :thumbup:
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2009
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- 139
I saw that about the discontinuation. Nice size blade. I prefer something 3 to 3.5" I like the idea of a full through tang but have never had a problem with any of their partials even with some rather hard use.
thanks for the info