Opinel lock

I put a bit of dry teflon lock lube on the Opinel and it's back to being it's stubborn sticky self... crazy. It doesn't seem to like dry lube at all.

The knife seems to require way too much break-in and is very sensitive to lubrication.
 
“The best traditional knife” sure sounds like a load of crap. Just sounds like another cheap throwaway knife to me.
 
Jsega51 said:
“The best traditional knife” sure sounds like a load of crap. Just sounds like another cheap throwaway knife to me.
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The steel appears to be decent (about what you'ld find on a good French kitchen knife), but the knife design leaves alot to be desired. It's basically a peasant knife with a weak, fiddly lock.
 
joeradza said:
Jsega51 Jsega51 F FireDragon76
You are both entitled to your opinions but as to a cheap throwaway knife, it has existed far longer and satisfied far more knife users than the majority of folders in existence.
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A super quick search yields results for $15 shipped. That’s cheap as far as knives are concerned. Now, if that knife breaks, is it worth sending it off for repair, or do the Opinel knife users just toss it and buy a new one? If it gets lost do they search the heavens looking first or just chalk it up as a quick loss and buy another?

I am not speaking against their utility. I was commenting on the remark that they’re the best. To me, a cheap throwaway knife, exactly what the Opinel is, isn’t the “best”.
 
Jsega51 said:
I am not speaking against their utility. I was commenting on the remark that they’re the best. To me, a cheap throwaway knife, exactly what the Opinel is, isn’t the “best”.
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But it may be the best cheap throwaway knife ever made. ;)
 
Jsega51 said:
A super quick search yields results for $15 shipped. That’s cheap as far as knives are concerned. Now, if that knife breaks, is it worth sending it off for repair, or do the Opinel knife users just toss it and buy a new one? If it gets lost do they search the heavens looking first or just chalk it up as a quick loss and buy another?

I am not speaking against their utility. I was commenting on the remark that they’re the best. To me, a cheap throwaway knife, exactly what the Opinel is, isn’t the “best”.
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That depends on what your definition of "best" is. If it were not for my beautiful Laguiole, I'd be carrying an Opinel most of the time, over my Case, Buck, GEC, Victorinox, etc., knives. So I guess for me it's second best. Awesome design and cuts like the dickens.
 
Jsega51 said:
Oh there’s no need to really open this black hole lol. It’s simply an “ask 10 people, get 10 different answers” sort of deal...

BUT, looks certainly play a part in choosing a best knife, and I happen to find the Opinel is quite ugly! :p
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I understand. I find it beautiful. Whereas most modern knives look grotesque to me. To each his own!
 
Jsega51 said:
“The best traditional knife” sure sounds like a load of crap. Just sounds like another cheap throwaway knife to me.
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I sure love mine. I have about 7 of them. I had a few more that I gifted.

I have none of the new one way locking rings...

If I'm camping, fishing, hiking or generally out doors I'll most likely have one.

I own a double handful of GEC, a few Queen, S&M, Case, AG Russell, Schrade, Buck, Old Timer, etc. I've still enjoyed my Opinel so much!

It is my go to yard knife, garage knife, etc.


I can't think of a knife I've bought at anywhere near as cheap that I have enjoyed more!

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My new Opinel number 8 was much easier to lock and unlock after I worked a dab of petroleum jelly into the space under the locking ring. Like mineral oil, it will never go rancid and displaces water.
 
From the late seventies until well past the turn of the century, I didn’t know anything about knives. I bought SAKs because they were handy, and Opinels because they were cheap and cut like the dickens. They also had a brilliantly simple locling system that worked well enough and helped keep the price down.

I was vaguely aware that there were lots of kinds of slipjoints, or “jacknives”, as I called them, like the knives I could barely remember from when I was a kid. There were also these newfangled knives that could be opened with one hand. I consciously stayed away from all these knives, because Opinels were all the knife I needed. For consideratios of price, weight, cutting ability and elegantly effective design, Opinels were clearly the best.

SAKs were handy, but never in my mind the best, at least not after the appearance of the Leatherman. SAKs have been rehabilitated, and now have a place in my pocket. Opinels, are still clearly the best. An Opinel is one of three knives in my pocket every day, and because it is the best, it is the one I reach for first when there is cutting to be done.

I have lost a few Opinels, but I have never broken one, and never had to throw one away.
 
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