Opinel knives

>>34050225
Carbon
And then force the patina on it
No. 8
8 is small enough as is and can barely get a full grip. I imagine the 7 wouldnt even fit my hand.

>>34050294
Is the no. 8 comfortable to carry in the pocket?
I have smaller than average hands.

>>34050307
I don't carry it, but I imagine so.

>>34050225
Carbon stinks, and obviously you can't use it for food. You can just get several sizes and decide what fits best later, they're dirt cheap.

>>34050225
I got a no. 8, stainless, olive handle with my name engraved and I love it, been thinking about getting a carbon blade for it though just cause I like the look. But I do use it for fishing and food on occasion too so the stainless is nice for that

I carry it every day, and for general pocket knifery it's pretty great, looks nice, and is very light

>>34050307
I'm a big guy(4u) and I was worried about the 9 being too big for my pocket every day and went for the 8, honestly the 8 was smaller than I thought it would be, but it's still not small. They are super light though, so I notice it less than over knives i've had in the past

>>34050294
Next one I am getting is a no. 9

What's the fuss about these types of knives anyway? Do the blades on those things even lock?

>>34051167
See the metal thingy under the blade? you turn it after opening.

>>34051167
They have a ring you twist. I was skeptical about not having a lock like a regular knife, but after you get used to it it's fine. It's pretty rare I even use the lock honestly

>>34050225
Get a stainless number 8
It's also pretty comfy to carry
I sometimes carry a stainless number 9

>>34051167
They're good(ish I guess) looking knives at a super low price point
Also it has a metal ring around the base which locks the blade
They're okay. I wouldn't call them best edc blades for everyone as in if you need a good strong blade these are just too thin
But say you need a cutting tool every now and then they're pretty good for that

>>34050225

CARBON!! Dont you dare to buy a stainless Opinel.

Put mustard on the blade, wrap in paper towel and leave it over night. Rinse and enjoy the sexy patina

No.8. Its just a regular knife size that will fit small hands too. Also the differences between each numbers are SMALL

>>34050307
Is the no. 8 comfortable to carry in the pocket?

Opinels in general weight next to nothing. I dont even notice them in my pockets.

I got an opinel just to see what its like. It has some sharp edges so I am worried about carrying it in that it will tear a hole in my pocket. The fit of the blade is very tight, it takes a certain amount of force to open/close the blade, so you dont have to worry about it folding closed on you when using it.

>>34051380
>Put mustard on the blade, wrap in paper towel and leave it over night.
really? cover it with mustard? and just on the blade or all metal parts?

>>34051444
not sure if the internet is fucking with you?

me too anon, me too.

>>34051116
Many chefs would disagree with you
>>34051380
>CARBON!!
I liek you. I used apple cider vineger and an orange to patina mine.
>>34051444
Just the blade. I tried to patina the ring but it must be stainless. You could also use vinegar, fruit, or pretty much anything that's acidic.

>>34051444
>>34051473
With the price it's not really a big deal if he's fucking with you.

I had never even heard of Opinel before until I was given one as a prize at the Blokus Polooza in Ottawa in 200...7ish. I guess it's as big in France as Victorinox is in Switzerland, and perhaps buck is to the USA...

It came wicked sharp, best out-of-box sharpness I've ever seen. Period. And I've owned just about everything from the B-Naked to the Inkosi.

The price on these things is insanely low for the quality - I definitely recommend it!

In my experience, stainless steel is very hard to sharpen. I have read it may be because the alloy of chrome and vanadium makes it resistant to abrasion.

Carbon steel is often recommended if you want a quality blade.

>>34050225
Theyre not expensive you could get both. The one I carried for a bit was the No 6 carbon. I have both the stainless and carbon, I'd get the stainless for every day carry though I did carry the carbon one. I blackened the carbon one with vinegar or something some time back so I wouldn't have to worry about rust, but if I could do it over again I'd have gotten the stainless for every day.

As for using it for food I think I actually heard some Europeans call them picnic knives to cut cheese and stuff. It's fine for food if you keep it clean.

It IS a very old design and has some drawbacks. Speed obviously but that's not really an issue for 99.9% of the time if you're a normal average Joe. But the locking mechanism is very secure. Youll have zero issues with it breaking, but then again you wouldn't with most lock blades on the market.

Probably the biggest problem is that they don't like to get wet.The blade is sandwiched between 2 pieces of wood inside the steel lock ring. When it gets wet, the wood swells and squeezes the blade. This makes it difficult to open or close. At times very difficult. You might be able to mitigate this by getting it really super oily or something so water cant penetrate the wood. Not sure if oil would make it swell this is just an idea. Using it in the rain, dropping it in the puddle, using it fishing, all things that could make the wood swell but not permanent though, the wood goes back to normal after it dries off after a while. Just something to be aware of. For all I know it may resolve itself over time as you wear down the wood some of opening and closing it. But I don't know I didn't get it wet again after the first time after I saw what it did to the knife.
It's not a bad knife. I'd still totally use it for every day but I got other knives and the Opinel have found their way into a drawer somewhere. It's design is the best thing about it, classic looking. The knife is actually displayed in the NY museum of modern art.

>>34051526
And if these types of knives interest you, you should take a look at Svord peasant knives from NZ. They don't have a locking mechanism but are basically a super old school design with a polypropylene handle and high carbon steel blade. No problems getting them wet and inexpensive.

>>34051557
I collect cheap knives. Svords aren't bad. They work and I don't care if I lose it.

>>34051565
I like them. Nice looking or ugly ones, doesn't matter.

>>34051565
>>34051604

I also have multiple cheap knives on hand because losing them is inevitable for me and it's good to have backups. I only lose a Victorinox every few years or so but I almost always have at least 1 more in the glovebox of my car or in my desk

i would get just a mora 511

>>34051644
>losing them is inevitable
maybe if you had a more valuable knife you would care enough not to lose it?

>>34052841
I'm not getting this argument. Just because something expensive doesn't you'll never lose it. And just because it's cheap doesn't mean you're out to lose it.

The difference is if you do lose the cheap one or if it gets stolen you're not really going to cry about it. And the price you pay is you get to keep some money and you're probably not going to try showing it off to everyone.

>>34053746
People who have nicer things tend to take better care of them. '95 Nissan Sentra vs a brand new Maserati, a Hi-Point vs a vintage Colt Python. If you own an opinel (which is a great knife!) you will not care for it like you would a $400 Sebenza.

Carbon...its the sharpest knife I own just keep it dry or youll get a petina on it. I like the crazy petina on mine.

>>34050225
If you are new with opinels the only choice is a stainless number 8. If you like then buy a carbon if you want as they are really cheap.

>>34051477
Chefs sanatize their knives constantly, though. For general purpose use, stainless makes a better blade material because there's nothing you can't use it for and it requires very little maintenance

>>34050225
>Should I go for stainless
You should never ever go for stainless.

>>34054357
Opinel carbon, but you need something to sharpening it to the carbon-steel level. Without you should buy a normal one.

>>34050225
They're so cheap you could get both.
That being said, I'd get a carbon, take of the blade, and complement it with a stainless Mora .

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Here's my forced patina. I used vinegar, mustard, and lemon juice on different parts of the blade. I was going for a nice tiger stripe patten but I like how it turned out

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>>34055016
And the other side.

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>>34050225
When it comes to inexpensive knives, I honestly prefer pic related. It's a superior Japanese design with a laminated steel blade that allows for a harder edge than other knives. It also be easily and quickly opened and closed with one hand.

>>34050225
I have a No. 9 carbone, I like it but some would find it a bit big in the pocket. No. 8 would do you fine.

>>34050225
>>34050294
This, patina helps protect knife. I suggest you use mustard or an apple to put a light one on, then just let it get more over time. Make sure it doesn't turn to rust.

>>34055114
This is just a collectors item or a slightly classier knife in comparison. It's not cheap either, unless you get a super small one. It's not a superior design, no lock. You just gotta hold onto the tang for the "lock". You might as well go up to a svord peasant knife if you like a friction folder held open by tang.

>>34055114
>muh nipponese steel folded a thousand times

Kys

>>34055390
>It's not cheap either
Mine was $14, comparable to the Opinel and less than the Svord. Do you expect them to just give the knives away?

>You just gotta hold onto the tang for the "lock"
So? It takes more force before the blade starts to close with that than it does to get the blade to move on my swiss army knife. That mechanism > basically all folding knives without a locking mechanism that requires manipulating a separate piece to unlock the blade. Also, the only thing that can be opened and closed faster and easier is a double action switchblade.

>You might as well go up to a svord peasant knife
Except the tang on the svord peasant knife is almost as long as the fucking blade, which is great if you want to have it open in your pocket but not so great otherwise.

>>34051116
Yeah I mean people only used it one food until the invention of stainless. Or and for decades after that. And currently.

It's just just slightly more maintenance in that you have to wipe it down now and then. I love carbon, most of my knives are carbon. Everything I use on the line and in prep is carbon EXCEPT for my primary chefs knife because I have to fuck with acidic food too much during service

>>34050225
No.8 stainless, it's a beater knife you don't want to worry about maintaining it.

Don't bother with the walnut handle, it's absolute bottom of the barrel wood.

>>34052841
>uncle used to say this same thing
>tfw watched uncle drop 1k+ sunglasses over the side of the boat
>only wears cheap sunglasses now

The water was also only a little over 20 feet, but the lake floor muddy and they were black, so trying to get them back sucked freediving. Never found them.

>>34055114
Pain in the fucking ass, still my favourite knife. It's coated in some bullshit to accent the edge between the two metals, and to make the knife shinier. It's at least 5 hours of work to unfuck the knife from the factory, but after that it's great.

It rusts if you look at it wrong though, and gets even worst after you clean the finish off.

>>34050307
I carry a No. 9 daily in my pocket. It's fine.

>>34050225
Cheap plain knife. This knife is just a 4chan meme. If you never came on this site you would never have heard of this knife and you wouldn't be missing anything.

>Will it cut stuff
Yes

>>34058260
Not a meme just a good all around knife, the meme knives are benchmades and spiderco ;^)

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>>34051321

They're fun to customize. I do a batch of three or four every year or so.

>>34058100

This. The walnut they use is shit. If you want something better than the standard beech, get olive.

>>34051526

I get around the water problem with marine grade varnish.

When I customize an opinel I take it completely apart. One of the things I do after that is take a folded piece of 80 grit and sand out the inside of the part where the blade attaches. Then I stain it and brush satin finish marine poly inside and out. I never have problems with water.

I don't take it swimming, but briefly washing the knife and drying it doesn't cause mine to stick.

>>34050225
The stainess is nice, it's Sandvik, takes almost as sharp an edge as the carbon.

>>34051644
Drill handle; install lanyard. Attach to belt. Voilà

>>34058372
That's pretty cool
The most I've done to mine is add a lanyard hole and convert it into a drop point

>>34051444
Anon so, high carbon steel darkens very easily so usually people like to make patterns by putting mustard or stabbing it into things. Just look opinel forced patina or opinel patina

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>>34050225
Pic related is my stainless Opinel 6 in walnut. It weighs almost nothing and is perfect for eating with. Chopping apples, poking grapes and olives, slicing cheese, even spearing sardines out of their tins. It can do food prep in a pinch. I wouldn't use it for anything else, though. It'll cut adhesive tape on a package, but then it'll be dirty. Anything heavier duty than this and it feels like it's going to break, and I have KABARs for that.

I would definitely get the stainless, and avoid larger Opinel knives.

>>34051167
They blades are honestly better than some knives I've paid 10x as much for. Not necessarily in materials, but it's just one of the best blade geometries you could want in an edc knife. None of that "WE NEED OUR KNIVES TO BE 3/4 INCHES THICK BECAUSE THE BUSHCRAFT GUYS ON YOUTUBE WANT IT" nonsense

>>34050225
Opinels aren't worth it desu, they're really hard to open. You're better off buying a Mora or Victorinox knife.

>>34061968
That's true, but the alternatives you're suggesting are no better off. A fixed knive with a rat tail or some nail clipper, seriously?
A good yet cheap folding knife with desirable modern features would be a Ganzo or Sanremu.

>>34061977
You're acting as if those brands don't have multiple types of knives.

>>34050225
people complaining about Opinels ITT because they aren't tactical meme knives that flick open in 0.023 seconds and can't be used to baton wood don't know what Opinels are for and probably shouldn't be touching knives at all

Me and my dad got on a international flight with an opinel in our carry-on bags. They let us board because we are total hillbillies AND these knives are what a hillbilly carries normally, I don't think any other knife would have resulted to such a clemency.

They're hella classy and useful.

Ive got a 9 inox and a 6 carbon.

I always round out the bottom of the handle, grind to drop point, and polish the blade. Takes about 3 hours.

Don't much care for the inox, I find it squishy and not as easy to sharpen. The carbon is always razor.

9 is good size for cooking and eating, 6 is great for pen knife general edc. I use it to eat also.

Everyone who likes classic knives should have one.