The French Connection.

I hope one day to see the oyster shucker model in person as it seems like it would be the perfect light-duty EDC if it can be fully sharpened on the edge. I may not carry my Opinel #8 everyday but I still grab it when going out to the garden or something outdoors. Nice little task knife. Well, little to me...
 
I`m going to go against the grain here, and maybe even speak blasphemous, but I absolutely can`t stand Opinels. Sure they have great value, yes especially for a knife made in Europe. I have a 7, and my experience has been mostly negative.

Back in the day when I was looking for the highest value folder, way before I was into traditionals Opinels came up a lot. So I bought the 7 along with some other knives. At first glance it was(is) a very simple cutting tool. I like the thin blade. Mine came not sharp at all, and I had to spend some time on the strop to get it hair poppin` no problem. Lots of more expensive knives come with worse edges. Then I actually carried and used the Opinel, and especially in the carry departement and for edc tasks I expected more. The original handle is way too thick for me to carry it comfortable. I felt like I had a Cohiba Siglo VI with its tube in my pocket. I don`t wear skin tight pants, and I don`t wear baggy clothes. I wear pants that fit, but the Opi was way too thick to carry it comfortably. In use I had problems as well. I live in a very wet environment. The wooden handle of the Opi doesn`t seem to like it at all, and swells up making it almost impossible to open the blade. So after a few cycles of being wet then dry then wet and dry it was a chore to use the knife, and I put it in my drawer where it still is.

But one thing I have to give the Opinel. It`s a hell of a cutter, and their carbon steel is excellent. I cannot make Opinels work for me, but it seems like most of you can, and all power to you. I also like the modified ones, altough I never had the urge to modify mine.

-Lars
 
Recently I was in Paris and a friend bought some very nice Opinels with horn and stag handles. Very classy!
 
Art_Vandeley said:
I`m going to go against the grain here, and maybe even speak blasphemous, but I absolutely can`t stand Opinels. Sure they have great value, yes especially for a knife made in Europe. I have a 7, and my experience has been mostly negative.

Back in the day when I was looking for the highest value folder, way before I was into traditionals Opinels came up a lot. So I bought the 7 along with some other knives. At first glance it was(is) a very simple cutting tool. I like the thin blade. Mine came not sharp at all, and I had to spend some time on the strop to get it hair poppin` no problem. Lots of more expensive knives come with worse edges. Then I actually carried and used the Opinel, and especially in the carry departement and for edc tasks I expected more. The original handle is way too thick for me to carry it comfortable. I felt like I had a Cohiba Siglo VI with its tube in my pocket. I don`t wear skin tight pants, and I don`t wear baggy clothes. I wear pants that fit, but the Opi was way too thick to carry it comfortably. In use I had problems as well. I live in a very wet environment. The wooden handle of the Opi doesn`t seem to like it at all, and swells up making it almost impossible to open the blade. So after a few cycles of being wet then dry then wet and dry it was a chore to use the knife, and I put it in my drawer where it still is.

But one thing I have to give the Opinel. It`s a hell of a cutter, and their carbon steel is excellent. I cannot make Opinels work for me, but it seems like most of you can, and all power to you. I also like the modified ones, altough I never had the urge to modify mine.

-Lars
Click to expand...

Hey, different strokes for different folks, my man; there is nothing wrong with what you have said there. I'm actually glad to see criticism in this post as well.
 
That was great Carl! I think if I had discovered the Opinel sooner I would have saved more money for stockmans and such and made my friends Sal and Les a little less wealthy, just slightly!
 
Being half French Canadian (the days I'm Canadian I'm quite personable, the days I'm French, well...) I grew up around these knives. Never gave them a second thought when I was young like the Mora fixed blades that were just part of life back then. My Moras and Opinels are real treasures to me now. Honestly if I had to get myself down to just one fixed blade and one folder, as painful as it would be I'd have to go Opinel #8 and Mora.
 
Lars, I found that Opinels really require some work to modify them to suit your preferences. Think of them as a starter kit for a custom.

I do 2 things to help with the pivot. First, wrap a scraper in sand paper and sand down the wood in the pivot area. This should loosen it a bit. Then apply liberal amounts of Vaseline to the pivot. This will help wet performance.

In terms of the handle, they are fat for more control. If you prefer a thinner handle for pocket carry, you can use a sanding block to thin the handle.


opinel #10 by Pinnah, on Flickr
 
I like them all, but one of my favorites is a little #6, it's blade goes 1/2 way through a large apple, just big enough to be usefull, just small enough to not notice in the pocket...
 
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