Opinel?

celtic11

celtic11

Joined
Dec 28, 2012
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611
Im thinking about spending a few bucks on an Opinel. I don't know anything about them, but I found out about them on this site and I just think they look kind of cool. I was thinking about getting one to keep in my lunchbox so I could have a knife for any food cutting I need done at work?

Anyways, what's with all the numbers and what are the differences in them? Is there a specific one I should be after?
 
The number represents the size of the knife--the bigger the number, the longer the blade. I think the #7 or #8 is most common. Great knives and hard to beat for the price! Excellent addition for your lunchpail, imo... :thumbup: Now you will have to choose between stainless (Inox) or carbon steel...

Good luck! :)
 
#7 is nice for pocket carry; since the knife handles have a round profile, the larger models tend to be a bit bulky for pocket carry.
#9 would be great for lunchbox, or even one of the Opinel paring knife models.
 
IMO one of the best values. An opinel was my first knife. My dad brought it home from france when I was 7 or 8.
 
Great cutters. I have a 9, and it's a really useful size, in my opinion. It looks like the 9 is about the size of a large Sebenza, and the 7 is about the size of a small Sebenza. Can anyone confirm this?
 
Yea those sizes comparing to Seb are about right. The twelve and especially 13 are behemoths but look fun
 
celtic11 said:
Im thinking about spending a few bucks on an Opinel. I don't know anything about them, but I found out about them on this site and I just think they look kind of cool. I was thinking about getting one to keep in my lunchbox so I could have a knife for any food cutting I need done at work?

Anyways, what's with all the numbers and what are the differences in them? Is there a specific one I should be after?
Click to expand...

For a lunchbox I'd go with a No.9 in stainless. :) As timberweasel mentioned, the numbers represent the relative size of the knife (though technically it's the size of the collar used on it.) Wonderful knives--I carry either a No.8 Carbon standard or a No.8 Stainless pruner on a daily basis.
 
Opinels are great knives, I EDC a #10 and find it to be very easy to carry. However the #10 is a pretty big knife unaltered, and is my work knife. (I have sanded/cut down the handle so its smaller than the stock model) I have loved the #8 as a general pocket knife, and personally would not go smaller. the #9 is I feel the best all around size, but thats for me, maybe not you.

For a lunch knife SS would likely be my choice even though I don't have any myself...all of mine are carbon because I like the patina.

I would go with the #10 w/corkscrew if it were a lunchbox knife...but thats just me.

The only other thing I will say is go ahead and sand the handle down to something your hand likes, give it a stain of some sort, and use it a lot. It will be Your knife, and look different than mine.
 
Bob W said:
#7 is nice for pocket carry; since the knife handles have a round profile, the larger models tend to be a bit bulky for pocket carry.
#9 would be great for lunchbox, or even one of the Opinel paring knife models.
Click to expand...

I recently ordered a few carbon Opinels in sizes 6, 8 and 10 and a couple of their carbon paring knives and have been surprised to find that the folders are better slicers to me, even though the paring knives have slightly thinner blades.

I modded a #8 for kitchen duty


IMG_6775_zps864f8834.jpg
 
Only thing I don't like Opinels (or any folders) for is regular kitchen duty. Just too messy cleaning out the collar and blade recess.
 
roosterscrow said:
I recently ordered a few carbon Opinels in sizes 6, 8 and 10 and a couple of their carbon paring knives and have been surprised to find that the folders are better slicers to me, even though the paring knives have slightly thinner blades.

I modded a #8 for kitchen duty


IMG_6775_zps864f8834.jpg
Click to expand...

How did you stain or coat that? Is it slippery?

I've been edc'ing no8 for the last week or whatever and I've found it to do everything I need a knife to do very well indeed. I used it yesterday to cut a bunch of paracord and at a restaurant to cut up my dinner. I'm sure I used it for other things as well.

Two things. It wasn't sharp when I got it, but they are very easy to make exceedingly so. Also, I have some Dupont liquid lube that dries very quickly and leaves behind a film of teflon. Applying this to the lock and pivot has made the knife a very smooth opening and locking knife.
 
opinels.jpg
These are the the No.8 and No.9 in carbonsteel, the slimline in stainless and the No.8 in stainless. I "modded" the stainless 8 (with sandpaper and another Opinel) for easier pocket carry. I carry this one a lot when I don't want to take an expensive knife for fear of theft or confiscation.
For a lunch box knifw I'd go with stainless, 8 or 9.
 
Strigamort said:
How did you stain or coat that? Is it slippery?
Click to expand...

I have found that the beech wood of the standard models doesn't take wood stain evenly and I'm not a fan of the Polyshades stain/varnish all in one, look. So what I did with this knife was to spray the handle with flat black paint and then hit it with a couple coats of lacquer. I found out the hard way that applying a gloss paint doesn't dry hard enough and it marks up and if you try and apply clear lacquer over a gloss enamel paint there is a chemical reaction and the whole thing gets soft and gooey. For my last mod I stained the handle with blue food coloring and then lacquered it. I like the way it turned out but haven't taken a photo yet. I'll post it here, soon as I do.

It just gets light duty granny knife chores, but I haven't found it to be slippery at all.

As for kitchen use, we're a vegetarian household so there are no nasty meat mush and juices gumming up the works. That 8" chefs knife does 99% of the kitchen cutting needs and all of the messy ones.
 
I find the #6 to be a bit small for apples, and slicing big cheese. I have one in the slim handles.
 
What do you mean by the number is the size of the collar? I thought the number was the size of the blade in centimeters.
 
simioh said:
What do you mean by the number is the size of the collar? I thought the number was the size of the blade in centimeters.
Click to expand...

Just comparing my ruler with some online specs... it may seem like that for a few sizes by coincidence, but no.
For instance the #6 has a blade of 2-7/8", which is close to 7.5cm. The smallest size is the #2, listed at 1-5/8", which is about 4.5cm. The largest, the #12, has a 4-3/4" blade, which happens to be in the neighborhood of 12cm.

Even if, those of us in the states don't know what a cm is anyway, so they're just random size numbers for all practical purposes. ;)
 
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