Opinel?

longbow50

longbow50

Joined
Jul 12, 2002
Messages
3,291
Any fans of the Opinel out there? This will be my first, so which model and blade material is best for all around use in the bush? I want a locking blade, I don't plan on chopping with the blade, but most other chores deligated to a folder will certainly be in it's future.
 
Opinel knives are generally the furthest thing from what one would consider a "survival" or "fighting" knife. now, most of their models are carbon steel with a few offerings in Stainless. The handles are wooden and all of them come with a locking collar ring that locks the blade open, or closed.

As for the blades, they're one of the best knives I've ever seen. The blades are thin yet relatively sturdy, and take an amazing edge. The only drawbacks are that you have to take extra care of the carbon blade and you need both hands to open the knife.
 
Opinels are great knives for money! all of them I know in france had an Opinel as first knife! I recently buyed a number 8 to my son and at the same time I took a number 9 for and stucked it in my Bug Out pack. as extra knife!
another great inexpensive folder that can be RAZOR sharp, the DOUK-DOUK!
Try a medium or large douk-douk in your pocket for 2 or 3 days and you will allways carry one! Fred Perrin learned me about the Douk Douk and once he showed me a good trick! As he said, a Douk-Douk is so inexpensive that it doesn't matter if you ruin it, so if you need a fixed blade, take a multi tool and press the handle together so you have an improvised fixed blade :D
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Set/2292/doukdoukrev.htm
 
Longbow,

I agree with Olivier. Great, great little knife for the money. Apart from an old Spyderco, I mostly use Opinels (No.8) for EDC. Whenever I break one, I just throw it away and pick a new one (I have a whole box of them).

Make sure you get a carbon steel one. The Opinel stainless is far from adequate, but the carbon steel is great. That's the kind of knife you'll want to keep dry, though. Not only because they rust, but also because the wooden handle will bloat and pinch the blade, making it hard to open/close. Whenever the handle gets wet, just let it dry for a few days and it'll come back ok.

I like to cut fat things (butter, dry sausage, etc.) with my Opinels regularly. This coats the blade with a fat film that prevents rusting. I usually drill a hole in the back of the handle and put a length of paracord to carry it around my neck.

For survival/bush use I always have a sturdy fixed blade, but my EDC opinel actually gets most of the job done, in the bush or elsewhere.

Buy a few of them. Sacrifice one for the sake of testing. You'll see that they actually are tougher and a lot more reliable than most people think... and you'll know exactly what they can endure.

I've tried to modify one for one handed opening. I just cut away a little of the handle to expose a part of the blade. When the opening is smooth (handle very dry), I can open them one handed easily.

Cheers,

David
 
MM, thanks for the info. I don't mind a little extra blade care. Have you tried putting a petina on the blade? Wonder if it'd help some to keep the rust at bay.

Oliver, thanks for the tip about the Douk Douk. It looks like a great little blade. As soon as I finish here, I'll do a search for them. Thanks again.

David, good info on the Opinel. I wondered about the stainless version. I don't do much around water anyway, prefering to stay the drylander way.
 
LBow,

You won't be dissapointed. The thin, full flat grounded blade really makes Opinels incredible cutters and slicers. They hold an edge well, but but better yet the geometry makes them perform even when pretty dull.

I've tried to paint the blade (corrostop & the like), coat it with epoxy, etc. I stopped that. Actually when you put some fat on the blade and then cut acid stuff with Opinels (say a lemon or onions), the blade turns black. This "black stuff" (I don't know what this is) acts as a good rust barrier.

The main problem with these knives is the handle that will swell when soaked with water and pinch the blade (either open or closed).

To prevent that, I once bought a very large Opinel (about 12 inches long blade... Huge folder :)), took out the wood handle and power grinded a part of the blade into a full tang handle. That was one of the best fixed blades I ever had in my life. I lost it in a (stupid) bet.

Cheers :)

David
 
oliverplomion said:
Opinels are great knives for money! all of them I know in france had an Opinel as first knife! I recently buyed a number 8 to my son and at the same time I took a number 9 for and stucked it in my Bug Out pack. as extra knife!
another great inexpensive folder that can be RAZOR sharp, the DOUK-DOUK!
Try a medium or large douk-douk in your pocket for 2 or 3 days and you will allways carry one! Fred Perrin learned me about the Douk Douk and once he showed me a good trick! As he said, a Douk-Douk is so inexpensive that it doesn't matter if you ruin it, so if you need a fixed blade, take a multi tool and press the handle together so you have an improvised fixed blade :D
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Set/2292/doukdoukrev.htm
Click to expand...

They are great!...I first discovered these great knives in High School in the 80's, my history teacher was a knife nut and was found of giving awards for good grades, boys often recieved Opinel's (can you imagine a teacher doing that today!). I recently found one at a T.J. Maxx clearance store for 5 bucks, and have been using it alot...they will take a wicked edge and hold up REALLY well. You will not be disappointed!
 
Yeah, Opinels are real nice! Very sharp, they take to a stropping very nicely (I think they are slightly convex ground). Nice fuzz-stick maker! I have a #9 that I have been using quite a bit in the outdoors, good knife to take along in your pack!
 
for a nice patina on carbon steel blades, degrease thoroughly and then cut a few citrus fruits, soak in orange juice, or cut a few raw steaks... you will most probably have to touch up the edge afterwards.
 
Another vote for the Opinel.

Although in all honesty I think it gets a lot of respect due to the fact that you pay POS money but get a knife you really grow to like. It is an 'honest to God' bargain. :)

I reckon if you look hard enough you could find something that would soak into the wood and either prevent or severely reduce the swell and blade pinch when in a damp or wet enviroment. How about really thinned down Marine grade varnish?
 
I own two Opinel. A stainless n°10 and a high-carbon steel n°12. I really like the Opinel, it is a cheap but well made knife and in France you can find it everywhere (it is often the young man first knife). ;)

Opinel%20a.jpg
 
The Opinels are great wood working knives for light work, the cutting ability is extremely high and the handles comfortable for extended work. They can however stick as noted when the handles swell, the grips are not secure if you hand is anyway greasy, and the blades really easy to bend or break so overall versatility is limited. However they do somethings very well and are very nice to have in many situations.

For fixed blade versions, there are not a lot of fixed blades ground as thin, the A. G. Russell Deerhunter comes to mind as the obvious choice. The Spyderco Temperance is a radically different blade shape, however the cutting ability is also *very* high, and the blade a little more rugged, though I would still be careful of batoning due to the tip. The Swamp Rat D2 blades should also be solid light cutting blades.

-Cliff
 
Thank you all for the great info.

Cliff, thanks for the advice on the quirks and limitations of the knife. I'll keep them in mind.
 
Cliff Stamp said:
the blades really easy to bend or break so overall versatility is limited.
Click to expand...

I've never seen an Opinel bend, but it's true that they break easily, especially the tip when you drop the knife on a hard surface, or even the whole blade when you apply some fair lateral pressure (I'd say 40-50 pounds for my No.8's).

They certainly can't be considered as tough blades. Thin stock and good slicing ability, alongside with good edge retention don't mix well with general toughness... especially not for a less than 10$ folder...

The stainless version is a bit tougher, but edge retention is awful.

I'd like to try a similar blade geometry with a top notch (and pretty resilient) steel... That would kick ass !!!

Cheers,

David
 
THe thin bladed Opinel makes for an excellent knife. Though a simple lock, it is not prone to accidental disengagement and is fairly strong.

I reprofile the blades on mine quite a bit, as I don't care for the upswept point. A also refit the handles to fit my hands perfectly.
Opinel%20001.jpg



Basicly the only folder that comes close to Opinel performance is the Swiss Army knife.


Moine said:
Make sure you get a carbon steel one. The Opinel stainless is far from adequate, but the carbon steel is great.
Click to expand...

I disagree with this statement. I have used otherwise identical carbon steel and stainless Opinels side by side many times, on different materials, mostly cardboard and scrap wood. The edge holding was near identical, and I noticed no difference in edge chipping or roll.

The carbon steel is very simple (1075 IIRC) and is easier to bring to a high polished edge.
 
I have not broken on Opinel, but have lots of stainless blades with similar geometry. If the blades are really thin you get high flexes even with steels which are normally horrible in that department, D2 for example. It would be surprising to see a plain carbon steel break without significant bending at that thickness. I have readily bent SAK for example and they take large bends before they break.

In any case it is kind of a moot point as the forces we are talking about are so low that even an adolescent could generate them, so regardless of the extent of the plastic deformation region, the required force for ultimate tensile failure is going to be low. But this isn't really a weak point of the knife, you can't expect significant strength in a blade that thin regardless of the steel or heat treatment. There simply isn't enough material there, which is of course why it cuts so well.

-Cliff
 
Opinels are knives, not pry bars. I have the drop point and one of the big ones, maybe 12"oa, both carbon steel, and they are the sharpest knives in my collection.

Simple elegance, show me a better knife for twice the price.

The only thing bad I have to say about Opinels is that they are French.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top