Opinel Drawbacks

P

pogo

Joined
Jun 8, 2005
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686
I have 10 Opinels & love the fine cutting steel blades! However, this knife has 2 serious drawbacks. 1) I was river rafting this summer & got real wet, the Opinel was locked/frozen closed & useless as a knife. The secound problem I have had is that the lock can become disengaged & it did on me. Use the Opinel with extreme care is my motto now!:eek:
 
The Opinel wood can swell if it gets wet or damp. I've never had one become completely useless, but I can see it happening if was wet enough. Once it dries out, it's good as new.

Can you elaborate on how the lock became "disengaged"? I've read of people removing the locking ring intentionally, but never heard of one failing during normal cutting chores.

I'd like to add a third drawback, when working in the desert sand can get into the ring, making it difficult to twist.

Also, in the past the knives didn't lock closed. So if loose enough, the blade could come open on it's own in your pocket. Since the new versions lock closed, I don't think it's an issue any longer.

-Bob
 
The Opinel can be weather proofed a good deal if you take the time in a couple of different ways. I like to kayak and I like Opinels, so I have in the past sanded them down to get the factory finish off. Then a days soak in linseed oil, let seep for a week and keep buffing with a rag. Linseed oil does a fair job.

The last couple of years I've been taking off the locking ring and using Helmsman Spar Urathane on the whole knife. Drive out the blade pivot pin abd take the blade out, to really do a good job. I also sand out the blade groove to leave more room for the closed blade. I get a couple coats of the urathane on ALL wood even around the blade pivot. When dry, re-assemble and it will stand up to alot of wet before getting hard to open. If I know I'm going kayaking, I take a toothpick and smear Vasoline in around the blade pivot, wipe off the exsess from the outside of the knife and its good to go.

Water is the one Achillies heel of the Opinel. If I'm going to get really wet, I'll just carry my sak.
 
It's pretty easy to treat the handle to avoid swelling, like Jackknife said. I gave my Opinels a few coats of liseed oil and never had problems again (the place where I live is so humid that Opinels can be almost imposible to open on a regular day, no need for water!).

The lock can disengage accidentaly, that's true. It happened to me a couple of times.
 
They are cheap enough to just throw out every time they get wet, lol...of course there is no reason to do that, just saying how affordable they are...
 
They are throw-aways, get more of them.
Consider getting a good knife to take on rafting trips.
Your choice.
 
you know...they sell liquid rubber used for handles on tools, like hammers...you could use that to coat the wood handle and you would be good to go...
 
I disassembled mine. Then I made a copy of the handle in G10 backed with titanium liners and put the blade in it. Next I took out the blade and replaced it with a 154CM blade cut and beveled to match and heat treated by Paul Bos. After that I installed a thumb stud and inserted a liner lock to replace the ring. Finished up by drilling a lanyard hole and it was set to go.

After that, I admitted that the whole story was BS and waited to get kicked off the forum.

:D
 
lol, I was about to ask why you still called it a opinel, lol...I wonder if a simple thick layer of polyuerathane (spelling?)would fix the problem?
 
Lavan said:
I disassembled mine. Then I made a copy of the handle in G10 backed with titanium liners and put the blade in it. Next I took out the blade and replaced it with a 154CM blade cut and beveled to match and heat treated by Paul Bos. After that I installed a thumb stud and inserted a liner lock to replace the ring. Finished up by drilling a lanyard hole and it was set to go.

After that, I admitted that the whole story was BS and waited to get kicked off the forum.

:D
Click to expand...

Does that make it a "faux-pinel"? :D
 
The main concern I have with Opinels is that I have to consciously remember to engage the lock when I pocket them. I made the mistake of subing a friend's Opinel for my EDC a couple of months back and it opened in my pocket.
For someone who is forgetful like me and used to having a blade with a spring, the prick I felt when reaching into my pocket was a reminder to stick with my laguiole.
 
if it was covered in the rubber stuff then I dont think any water could gte to the wood, so it would not swell up...
 
JGarth said:
They are throw-aways, get more of them.
Click to expand...

Just because they're inexpensive and feature simple construction does not mean they're "throw aways". Opinels are well-made knives that can last an extremely long time if properly cared for.

Obviously, due to their wood and (often) carbon steel materials, they are not particularly well suited to rafting trips, though as others have pointed out, issues caused by moisture can minimised using some simple methods. This is not a fault of the design, it's simply not the environment that an Opinel was intended to serve in. :thumbup:
 
You think they are throw-aways? :eek: Opinels are most certainly NOT throw-aways! All you have to do is prepare them and use them intelligently. :jerkit:
 
I think he just meant if your havign a problem with one you don't have to sweat it, just toss it and get a new one since they are so affrodable...Of course if you can fix the problem easily you would since they are good knives worth putting a little work into...

Labor of love! a little care and effort can take you a long way with an opinel...
 
I have an Opinel no. 7 and 12. I carry the no.7 fairly regularly. Great steel holds an edge and is easy to sharpen. However in stock configuration i have occasionally had difficulties opening it in high humidity weather.
However inspired by a few mods i've seen here i recently decided to mod my no.7.
Basically i stripped the finish and reshaped the handle. The handle portion is more Laguiole shaped now and with the sides slightly flattened. Firstly i relieved the area of the handle around the nail-nick area, then evened it out gradually to the back and the front. You no longer need to use the nail-nick to open it, you can pinch it open by grasping the blade between thumb and forefinger. Actually i can open it one handed now.
I also put a patina on the blade with lemon juice and then refinished the handle with a few coats of tung oil. Oh yeah i drilled a hole in the end and put a SAK ring through it.
Works great and there are no more difficulties opening it in high humidity.
http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/...knives/?action=view&current=opinelno7moda.jpg
http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/.../?action=view&current=opinelno7modopenedb.jpg
 
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