Opinel downsizing

quattromori

quattromori

Joined
May 7, 2011
Messages
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Here again...it seems that lately you guys are stimulating more and more topics...the truth is that I really enjoy sharing my thoughts with all of you (and possibly that my shifts at work have been quiet lately...) :p
I could easily post this thread in the general knife discussion, but I'm sure you all know why I'm posting it here. You can buy a beer in a pub or in a street market: it would still be beer, but sure it wouldn't be the same... :rolleyes:
I always liked Opinel's, and I know I'm not the only one here. It was the first "non Sardinian" knife that I discovered after Victorinox, and I still think they're awesome, for a number of reasons that I'm not discussing here, since we all know them.
Even now that I'm reducing the number of knives I own and use, I know an Opinel will stay in. But, lately, something unpredicted is happening to me. For quite a long time I carried a #8, and it served me pretty well. Finally, I gave it away, and when I went to buy a new one, they didn't have a #8 at the moment, so I thought I might get a smaller one, and bought a stainless #7. I found that I was more than fine with the size of it, and used it even more than the old one. Then I lost it in mysterious circumstances, so a few months ago I bought another #7, this time in carbon steel. It took a nice patina (with use), and I'm happy with it, but lately I realized that I use it mainly for food, and I have to admit that I'm not a fan of the metallic taste that carbon steel gives to food (especially some kinds of fruit), so what I will do is give it away, and get another stainless one.
Last sunday I walked in front of the place where I bought all my Opinel's (wish they sold some American knives too), and there's a nice Opinel display in the window (in a wooden case most of you might have seen). I took a look at them, and decided that I'm going to get a #6 (will buy it tomorrow).
I wonder if I won't just find myself carrying just a keyring Opinel some day.....
Fausto
:cool:
 
I'm noticing a similar tendency in my tastes, in gravitating to smaller knives. I bought three No. 08 Opinels a short while back (2 stainless, 1 'carbone'). I've used the Walnut-handled stainless one the most, almost entirely for food use. More than once now, when slicing & quartering apples, I've managed to poke myself in the hand with the tip of the blade. It's just long enough to protrude from the apple when I'm making the first cut to slice the apple in half. Being that I've drawn blood 2 or 3 times in this manner, I've given some thought to using a slightly smaller blade for this task, at least. I think a No. 06 would do well for that. I still love the No. 08's size in general, for just about everything else I do with it.

I can relate to not caring for the 'flavor' of the carbon blade, on fruit especially. After I'd sharpened the carbon & stainless blades, I played around with some grape-slicing to test the edges a bit. The carbon blade's 'character' can really ruin the taste of what were some really tasty grapes, otherwise. It even turns the juice to a deep blue color, which looks interesting, but doesn't taste very good. ;)
 
I'm not sure why, but I found that my Opinel's deal with more fruit than my other knives, so maybe that's why I noticed the "carbon taste" more than with my other knives.
I have no explanation for it, but it seems that fruit calls Opinel (or is it the opposite?); I find that if I'm carrying my Opinel, some fruit will pop out of nowhere asking to be peeled or sliced.
Doesn't happen that much with other knives (even if I carry them for an equally long time).
I don't know if this subforum has anything to do with it (I feel that it has alot to do with it actually), but when I joined this forum I used to carry knives in the 8-9 cm range (blade length).
Then I tended towards the 3".
Then I discovered this section.
Now 3" seems a long blade. :D
Fausto
:cool:
 
The old axiom about 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away' never really helped me. But, since I've discovered the joys of slicing fruit with some of my favorite knives, my fruit intake has increased ten-fold. Collecting knives has proven very good for my health, aside from the occasional blood-letting 'incidents'. :p

After the Opinels, my most recent purchases were a '65 - '69 Case 62055 'Cigar' medium jack, and two vintage Case peanuts (1970 in stag, and a yellow 1940 - 1964, both mint). I'm not sure if I'll adopt those two as true 'users' yet, so I'm contemplating getting a current-gen CV yellow Peanut too. I'm still sort of amazed that I've taken an interest in the Peanuts, especially. Thanks in no small part, to many in this forum. Think some guy named Carl might've had something to do with that. ;)
 
Dogstar, I assume you do own one Opinel. If you don't have any Opinel, get one (be it a #6 or a #7). I bet that, when you will start reducing your knife collection, the Opinel won't leave that easily...
David, you know, now you got me thinking...you might not be the only one who's being strongly influenced (or brought back to reality, as he probably would say) by that guy named carl on this forum :D
In general, I have always wondered about the real need for a "long" blade (4" or longer). But it's weird that I'm going through the downsizing process through Opinels, since even a #8 is way lighter that probably any other knife I've had. My guess is that it's due to the availability of the same knife (cause it's exactly the same knife) in such a stepped variety of length...it sort of makes me think "it's the same knife, one cm less won't change the features of the knife, etc..".
Anyway, tomorrow I will get my #6, and soon enough I will be posting here saying that I'm not missing the extra length of my "old" #7. And maybe that guy named Carl will get in and say "you are just beginning the path of enlightenment..." :rolleyes:
Fausto
:cool:
 
Fausto,
I'm in total agreement with you about Opinels as food knives, they work so well (slice sausage or fruits cheese). I don't care for carbon blades on food at all - there's also the possibility of oil getting in the mix too. Fruit can take on a really unpleasant taste from carbon so I also opt for a stainless Opinel. I have a No.6 in Bubinga wood and it's an EXCELLENT pocket food knife, I have a fillet version too in the same size but with a slimmer swept handle. Apart from guarding against damp, an Opinel is more or less maintenance free (sharpening of course) and the 6 offers very light pocket carry.

I'm also interested in Opinels with more unusual handles. This Bubinga hardwood has a nice dark tint and seems very tough. I've heard of Opinels in Ebony or Blackwood but not seen them, I do have a long fillet folder in Horn though, fine striped blonde colour.

Hoping to get another French knife a Chambriard Le Compact. Much more complicated than an Opinel but these knives are remarkable slicers-outstanding food knives, many different handle choices. They are easy to open, the spring being very well balanced but very tough to shut, as it should be.

Regards, W
 
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I find the #6 to be the perfect Opinel size. Most people seem to recommend the 7 or 8, but I've always loved the six. Even coming from a guy who usually carries a Spyderco Military around.... I find I don't miss that length on the Opinel.
 
I have seen a couple of Opinels with different handles: walnut and ebony.
Walnut is nice, but it doesn't blow my mind.
Ebony looks awesome. Unfortunately, the only ebony handled Opinel I've ever seen was a #8. As far as I know, they don't make an ebony #7 or #6, otherwise I wouldn't doubt about getting one.
Never saw the horn handled ones. The trouble with "unusual" handles is that, of course, they don't offer the whole size series in every handle material, and the "chosen one" seems to be the #8. Which, I'm afraid, has become too long for me.
Fausto
:cool:
 
Guys, are the walnut handled Opis less prone to swelling than the standard beechwood models?

-- Mark
 
Yes the No.6 is an impressive but credible small knife

Around 9.2cm closed with a 7cm blade and only 31g.
 
I'm EDCing a #6 carbon with beechwood handle. If the wood swells too much from humidity, I put it in a 170 degree oven for about an hour, then turn off the oven and let it cool without opening the door. I also have a #6 stainless with walnut handle which I carry if I'm going to be using it for food. Walnut is not as sensitive to humidity as beechwood. For me #6 is the perfect size for pocket carry.
 
mnblade said:
Guys, are the walnut handled Opis less prone to swelling than the standard beechwood models?

-- Mark
Click to expand...

One of the reasons I've liked my Walnut No. 08, it's seemed to be a lot more stable, with regard to humidity/swelling issues. I feel like I have a good basis for comparison, as I bought my three Opi's all at the same time. The 'carbone' model's beech handle has been very reactive to humidity changes, whereas the walnut seems to have remained very consistent. It's a bit strange, because Opinel varnishes the beech handle on the 'carbone' models, presumably to protect them from such variation, but the optional woods on the stainless models are unvarnished. I left the Walnut 'as is' for a while, then started using some vegetable oil to treat the handle on it, just to see if it would bring out the color & grain a little. Didn't really notice much change with that. I've since sanded down and sealed my Walnut No. 08, using Watco Danish Oil. It's all the more rock-solid now.
 
So, this is a great and very interesting thread for this Opinel fan!!

First comment to make is that I don't think the size difference between the 8, 7 and 6 is that massive in terms of blade length. We're talking about 3 4/16", 3 3/16" and 3 2/16" according to the Opinel site. These are tiny differences compared to putting my Opinel #8 up against my Ulster Camper (2 5/8") or Schrade 5OT (2 3/4"). I'm not saying that a little 1/16" bit here and there doesn't matter, but in scheme of things knife-like, I think 6, 7 and 8 are more alike than they are different. Putting this another way, I think the difference moving up to the 9 (3 9/16" and a thicker blade) is more noticeable.

Second point, I find that for food prep, I don't want to go anywhere under 3". I use my Ulster Camper and my 5OT for food prep every once in a while - or I try to - and I hate it. As a backpacker and general cheap eater, my knife needs to be able to scoop stuff like peanut butter out of jar and spread it around a bagel. And, I need to be able cut veggies on board. Doing either of these things with a blade under 3" with my big hands is terrible.

Third thing... I get the problems with poking things with the Opie's clip blade. I'm glad my Buck 110 is a clip blade, but as a rule, I don't like them for general purpose use. It's the one thing I don't love about the Opinel blade. But...

I stumbled across this old thread the other day...
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/817090-Opinel-mods

... and it's got me thinking about doing a little blade reshaping on my #8. First move will likely be to convert it to more of a drop point, which given the slight degree of clip on the stock blade, isn't that much of a stretch.

If I get more ambitious, I may try to modify an Opinel to get my preferred spear point shape. I'm probably in the minority on this, but the spear point is far and away my favorite blade shape for non-hunting/fishing use.

Am considering modifying a #7 Junior Scout into a spear point.
No-7-Opinel-junior-my-first-opinel-1.jpg


Would also consider trying to modify a larger #9 to get the extra width but I don't understand how the folks in that other thread are closing up the blade grove in the handle when they cut down a long handle. Any ideas on that?
 
quattromori said:
...I took a look at them, and decided that I'm going to get a #6 (will buy it tomorrow).
I wonder if I won't just find myself carrying just a keyring Opinel some day.....
Fausto
:cool:
Click to expand...

The Opinel no 6 is a nice knife. I like nos 6-8 for totin' around... and no 10 for around the house. I do have the opinel no 2 and 4 keyrings but they are just too small and awkward for me to get much use out of them. I think you made a good choice with the 6.
 
L.Richard,

That's really cool and no, I hadn't been aware of that.

I'm going to have to think more about the choices. I'm looking to recreate the blunter, slightly asymmetrical profile of the spear blades like you see on the classic BSA and "Camper" style knives from the US (e.g. Ulster, Imperial, others...). With that gardening knife, I would need to start the curve down to the blade side just forward of the nail nick. Looks like I'd loose a fair bit of length. I'm wondering if I would end up with a longer (preferred) blade if I just started with the #7 Scout? Either way, good winter projects.
 
Got my new #6 today. In the end, I found out that I liked the looks of rosewood better than walnut (the contrast between the satin stainless blade and the darker handle just looks better to me), so I went for it (the rosewood #6 also came with a simple sheath. I'm still deciding if I will treat the wood somehow, or just leave it as it is and just oil/wax the pivot. I will take some pics soon.
So far, the "missing" cm passes unnoticed. Well, maybe not really unnoticed, but not an issue for sure Actually, the difference between blade length is a bit bigger than what Pinnah pointed out (between the #8 and #6 there's more than half an inch); there's more or less one cm extra for each size number. But the great thing about Opinel is that the size choice is so wide that you can just decide by handling the two subsequent sizes if you have any doubt. That's what I did this morning. So, as I suspected, I going down the size path.
About the blade shape, I find that the drop point suits the slicing abilities of the Opinel better than a spear blade, but that's just personal preference. I was grown up cutting and slicing food with drop point blades, so I guess it's also a matter of habit. The only time my Opinel made me bleed is when I managed to get it real sharp (thanks to David and other forumites for helping me with my freehand skills). I have to say, I was sort of happy that I had cut myself.
Fausto
:cool:
 
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