What Cuts as Well (or better) than an Opinel?

S

Scott Free

Joined
Sep 15, 1999
Messages
3,319
My EDC for the last three or four years has been a Benchmade 940. If I know I'm going to need a knife, I also take an Opinel. They cut like crazy and sharpen so easily. I love the 940 for the clip, the one handed convenience and the axis lock. I like the grip comfort and the cutting ability of the $10 Opinel better.

So--what other knives cut like an Opinel? The Spyderco Calipso has a good reputation. Others?

Scott
 
After I reprofiled my Meerkat to 30 degrees it was a pretty good slicer, but not as good as the Calypso.
 
Scott Ridgeway said:
My EDC for the last three or four years has been a Benchmade 940.
Scott
Click to expand...
I just bought a 940 yesterday; great knife.

A SAK sharpened to around 15 - 17 degrees seems to cut just as well or possibly better than an Opinel.
 
I just bought a Fällkniven U2 folder which has a short wide flatground blade. Blade thickness is 0.1" and just behind the edge it is about 0.012". Edge angle is slightly more than 30 degrees included and it was delivered very very sharp. The SGPS powder steel is getting rave reviews but I have only carried it for a couple of days and done some light cutting, so I don't really know yet if they are justified.

It does however, I can tell already, outcut most of my other knives including the Opinel and Spyderco Perrin and Moran.
 
You could even crudely say that the handle of the douk douk cuts almost as much as the blade, especially on small models. It is a pity, cause the douk douk corrects all the main drawbacks of the Opinel. If only they would adjust the handle a bit...

The blade is also difficult to open with wet hands.

But it is so light in your pocket, you don't remember you're carrying a knife.
 
Ouch... the basic price for a douk here is 10€.You may find better places than "c. to go." to buy one.
 
ME AGAIN :D

Also think of scandinavian cutlery in general. They also manfacture knives intended to CUT !
 
Here are some that I think out-cut the Opinel:

Spyderco G-10 Police

Spyderco Vesuvius (aka the Centofante III)

Spyderco Catcherman

Victorinox Rucksack (actually about any Victorinox SAK will cut as well as an Opinel--any about any Wenger SAK)

Schrade Old Timer folders

Happy hunting,
Allen.
 
For pure cutting power nothing beats Spyderco serrations. That's why so many people buy the basic endura and delica, even though they're kinda ugly :) I'd say any spyderco serrated knife outcuts an Opinel.
 
Very few. For the money, probably nothing unless you go to something specialized like a hobby knife, or utility blade which are much more limited in their use.
Some knives I would expect to be similar would be kitchen "utility" and paring knives that are typically very thin, followed by stuff like the large blade on a SAK(measured one of mine at .009" at the start of the edge bevel awhile back), and other production or custom knives with thin bladestock, and wide, thinly ground blades, like the Rinaldi TUK/TTKK, AG Russell Deerhunter, and Spyderco Temperance fixed blade, to name a few. I haven't checked out any of the Scandinavian blades, so can't comment on them.

Thanks for reminding me I need a new OP-8.
 
For the same money, I can't think of any other folder that will cut as well as the Opinel.
I carry bigger, more expensive, folders all the time, but when I have to do detailed cutting, out comes the Opinel.
The rather thin blade isn't very stout when compared to other knives, but when I'm outdoors I always carry a fixed blade, so the Opinel is just back up.
 
An Outdoor Edge Wedge cuts pretty good -- full flat grind and .072" (1.83mm) thick at the spine where it enters the handle.
 
I am not a believer in any knife cutting better than another. IMHO it all depends on how the knife is sharpened and at what angle it is sharpened at. Blade steel and heat treat aside, my Sebenza will cut just as well or better than your Opinel because I know how to sharpen it properly. I could also say the same for a piece of scrap metal. If I sharpen it properly it will cut just as well as well as any custom. Of course it won't hold an edge but it will be easy to resharpen. Your 940 will "out cut" your Opinel if you sharpen it properly.
 
K.V. Collucci said:
I am not a believer in any knife cutting better than another.
Click to expand...
Then you don't understand how a knife works.
Sharpness is only one part of many when it comes to cutting ability.
The grind, shape and thickness of the blade and edge, angle of the edge in relation to the handle, basically every aspect of the blade's construction contributes to, or degrades from its cutting ability.
Equally sharpened, the Sebenza will cut better than an Opinel only when it's got a better geometry, and exhibits less resistance on the cut than a 1/16" blade with a full convex grind, and a much thinner edge.
Which is never.
 
I agree with OwenM.

Moreover :

I could also say the same for a piece of scrap metal. If I sharpen it properly...
Click to expand...
is also wrong.
Scrap metal is made of big grains. Knife metal has to be made of especially fine grain, or it will not sharpen. This is one of the roles of the thermic treatment, among others roles. And this treatment will only work if the metal has constituants allowing this kind of treatment, which is almost NEVER the case, except of course when the alloy is properly chosen, like knife alloys.
(Mechanical, thermo-chemical or laser treatment are options too, but not used on knives as far as I know.)

An Opinel has lots of drawbacks, but no Spyderco and no Sebenza will cut as fast and as easily in soft and mid-hard materials. Some other blades will do, nevertheless.
 
It depends on what you're cutting. Cutting some materials it doesn't matter if your knife is 1/4" thick with a saber grind so narrow the primary grind is practically a right angle, any knife will cut it as long as the edge is sharp. Other materials wedge and drag against the whole primary grind and it makes a big difference.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top