• Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I hope that you all have something to be grateful for this year and for many years to come

  • The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is available! Price is $250 ea (shipped within CONUS).
    Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/

  • America has reached 250 years, and I am grateful to be here, in the best country in the world. Thank every one of you who helps make this country a better place, those who have gone before and risked it all, and those who've paid the ultimate price to make the United States what we are today.

    Happy Birthday America! Let Freedom Ring for all time!

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...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top