Opinels: What purpose do they serve?

They're amazingly good slicers, due to how thin they are—and yet I've never had one break on me, or heard of them breaking under normal use. ("Normal use" not including pounding it through a log.)

After her Cybertool, they're my wife's favorite knife. She's not a "knife person," and just likes the fact that they make short work out of any task she applies them to. To be honest, I look at an Opinel, then look at a Hinderer or a ZT, and have to wonder...
 
The combination of a thin but sturdy blade with a very handfilling handle makes the Opinel one of the best everyday utility working knives ever. Add the dirt cheap price (everybody can enjoy this excellency), the lock ring (some simple and efficient added safety), the low weight (among the lightest, by far...) and the quality of steel and wood used (12C27 or 1075, massive beech or exotic woods...)... What is there not to like ? Well, what I don't like is : even the N°8 is too bulky (the round handle...) to carry all day in a jeans pocket and the Slim line's blade is way too long and flexible to be of any use other than filletting fish or slicing ham. This said, I have two regular N°8 in my rotation (a walnut and an ebony handled) and I just love them. It's a back to the roots and back to my first days into knives thing, too.
 
I use a No.6 in Bubinga/Inox and find it suitable for all pocket-knife tasks that I come up with, smaller than the usual No.8 it is not bulky at all day in day out.

While we're on Opinels, what is the blade shape really? Cross between Clip and Drop-Point?

Thanks, Will
 
Will, it's called a "yatagan" blade (inspired by some turkish sabre). I could translate that by a "skinner blade with trailing point", perhaps. Best of two worlds : belly for slicing, nice pointy tip for stabbing... good allround utility.
 
herisson, thanks for the explanation, a sabre sounds just like it. All I know is, for slicing foods it's in premier league and yet can be carried in the pocket!

Regards, Will
 
I really enjoy an inox no. 8 for cooking and food prep while camping and hiking. Its so lightweight you won't notice it, the stainless is quite stainless, and that thin edge slices so well. But they work great for everything. The 6 is perfect for pocket carry.
 
What purpose do they serve?

For most of the rest of the world, and those folks who are not obsessed knife nuts, The Opinel serves as a low cost cutting tool. For those who don't buy a Victorinox SAK, the Opinel seems to have the market secured. Since Opinel is the worlds second largest knife factory, it seems to reason that people all across Europe and the mid east, and even North Africa and North America, who don't want to spend a lot of money on a knife, pick the humble Opinel. The Opinel is known as a great cutter, and for most people that is exactly what they want out of a knife. Cutting up lunch, or cutting some material on the job, or just a sharp tool for the car's glove box, how much knife do most people want or even need? The Opinel fills that niche jet fine. If some French farm worker, or Moroccan shepherd needs a knife, he's not going to care abut much else than if it works. And Opinel's have a very long history of working very well. If it breaks or gets used up being sharpened on a rock, then it's no biggie to go get another one next time they are in town.

The Opinel fills the same mission the the plain wood handle Mora does; a no nonsense tool that works well.
 
I don't have a single knife that slices as well as the Opinel, I'd add that nothing I own holds an edge as well either.
 
As others have pointed out....
They cut. And you'd be hard pressed to find a production folder that actually cuts better than an Opinel.
Emotional factors, and aesthetics, are more personal things, so some people may love them, and others don't.
Price has little to do with it (to me personally): I'd still own and use an Opinel for 5x their price...but I've handled Opinel knives since I was a kid.
Price might be a factor if you're just curious about trying one though.
Be prepared though: you might discover one of the best price/quality purchases of your life (and I'm not referring about knives only).

Fausto
:cool:
 
supratentorial said:
I must admit that I don't really understand general questions like "Opinels: What purpose do they serve?". Yet general questions seem to be popular on the internet and usually get the most replies. Perhaps that's why they are so common. But I don't really know how to respond correctly. They're pocket knives (well... the giant No 13 won't fit in most pockets though) and will perform most of the functions that one requires of a pocket knife. I enjoy using Opinels and have a dozen or so. Great knives. Timeless design. Great value.

Here are a few of mine...
Click to expand...

opinel-unusual_zpsw1aquvrl.jpg.html


Can we talk about this thing for a second?? It's beautiful, and I don't fully understand what it is...
 
I think I have purchased about 8 of them. They are inexpensive. When I am making fuzz sticks for fire building or carving swords for my kids, the Opine is the go to. They remove wood at a good clip. The only thing that would make mine better is if they all had Ebony handles!
 
Spiggles, that's a drop-dead gorgeous Opinel! :eek::thumbup::thumbup::eek:
Do you have any more pics of it you're willing to share?

- GT
 
One thing that hasn't been covered and I love about mine is that they are the only traditional I know of that locks closed. For this reason, it's the one I pick up for Christmas morning, birthday parties or any time there will be little kiddos running around - locking it closed gives me a little extra peace of mind.
 
I spent the weekend in Portland, Maine, two Augusts ago and ran into a display of Opinels, nos. 6 - 8, for sale in one of the hipstery clothes shops there. You know, the kind that sells mostly made in the USA clothes and accessories. Anyway, I just mention it so no one is surprised if they start seeing all the cool kids carrying Opinels.
 
A lot to learn off this forum. I read this thread about Opinels and couldn't help buying a #7. It got here today, and I'm very impressed to say the least. I got it to shave easily, then cut up 8 cups of rhubarb into little pieces, and it sliced paper like it hadn't been used. Earlier, I washed it off after getting grit on it from a fairly coarse stone when I first got it, and the water swelled up the wood, and it's really hard to open and close. What's a good way to treat the joint to prevent this?
 
Spiggles said:
Does one need any more reason than cutting?



Spiggles
Click to expand...
I just paid an ungodly amount for some speck slices. That looks insane. Are you south of Germany or what?
 
idahoguy said:
A lot to learn off this forum. I read this thread about Opinels and couldn't help buying a #7. It got here today, and I'm very impressed to say the least. I got it to shave easily, then cut up 8 cups of rhubarb into little pieces, and it sliced paper like it hadn't been used. Earlier, I washed it off after getting grit on it from a fairly coarse stone when I first got it, and the water swelled up the wood, and it's really hard to open and close. What's a good way to treat the joint to prevent this?
Click to expand...

Mineral oil to saturate the wood so water beads off and doesn't sink in and then just use it. You can get the USP kind or just use baby-oil and deal with the lavender. I figure if it's good enough to lather onto a newborn baby's skin in a mass quantity, then it's probably something that I don't need to worry about when it comes to residual oil rubbing off on my apple slices.
 
it serves a strange purpose; when you go hicking or camping it plays the game of the cuckoo, slowly taking the place, one by one, of all your other knives ;)
 
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