Opinels

From Top to Bottom: Opinel Numbers  9, 6, and 5

I've seen Opinel knives starting to show up in lifestyle merchants, places like Archival Clothing, and the Kaufmann Merchantile - sometimes with little explanation about why these knives are good, or little in the way of reviews. Well I've had Opinels 20 years, so this is a long-term review and some thoughts.

The French version of the block-corner store is the Tabac, and when I was visiting that country in  1992,  I invariably remember that along with the newspapers, magazines, and tobacco, would be a display of these wood-handled pocket knives, set in a red velvet flocked tray.  This was my introduction to the Opinel knife. Seriously affordable, I think my No5. was 30 francs or a little more than $5.00 dollars.  I purchased it and a No6.

The Opinel brand starts in the 1890s, but similar pocket knives go back much, much further, to at least the late 1500s, chiefly seeming to be a product of various Arabian and Middle Eastern countries, migrating repeatedly into Europe through trade. By the 1600s  familiar pocketknives are regularly produced in cutlery centers, Toledo, Sheffield, Solingen, Aveyron, etc.  Most of these were of moderate to considerable quality, with numerous hand-operations required for production, and as a result carried something of a price.

In 1890 or so Joseph Opinel created a pocket knife suited for mass production - with techniques first pioneered in the United States - and largely automated handle shaping and finishing, resulting in knives of extremely low cost, but of quite reasonable quality. Distribution through peddlers and consignment in Tabacs- resulted in high sales, which further increased purchases and drove economics of scale - with sales growing to hundreds of thousands a year. The Opinel quickly eclipsed its more expensive Laguiole knife brother.

Opinel No6 with the Viroblock collar rotated to lock the blade

The classic opinel knife has a wooden handle of varnished beech, with no liners. The handle is capped by a ferule, through which the rivet that secures the blade is driven and peened. In Opinels #6 and up, a locking collar - the virobloc is clamped over the ferule. This twists so as to lock the blade into the open or closed position.  In the No5 and smaller opinels only the friction of the handle keeps the blade into open or closed position, and care must be taken to only apply force back and against the edge, or else the blade might just close onto your fingers. I tend clamp-grip the No.5 between my fingers and thumb, out of the way of the blade's travel. That said, even the locking models are not intended for excessively stout work, and care should be taken to keep forces applied to the handle to a minimum.  I will also hold the blade only, by the sides, for fine work.

The Opinel blade is thin -  a bit over 2mm thick, and while latest models can be had with a stainless - inox steel, the classic knives use a high carbon steel. While requiring some maintenance, this steel is both easier to sharpen and arguably cuts more effectively than stainless.  The Carbon or "Carbone" steel blades will take on a patina- (the so called 'stain' that stainless steels avoid) with use- especially when cutting acidic fruits or vegetables, this has no effect on the cutting power of the blade though. I lightly coat my blades with olive and/or vegetable oil, to keep them from rusting. My No5, is in my pocket every nearly day, and I use it frequently in peeling oranges. I'll keep the blade dressed in the orange-oil from the peel, which has some anti-rust properties.

The large No9. Makes a great light camp and cooking knife, perhaps the only one needed while out in the field. (Do the heavier cutting chores with a hatchet or camp-saw) All Opinels prepare vegetables with aplomb, their thin flat ground blades chop slice and peel, my No9. has seen weeks of use in this role. All opinels are very light, making them perfect for bike camping or hiking.
Sharpening. It took me forever to become good at sharpening, and my Opinel no5. holds a special place in my heart as it was the first knife that I was able to resharpen to a hair-shaving edge. I would always use stones, but never get a truly sharp edge. After much internet research, especially at youtube- I picked on the technique of drawing the knife along the stone- (I use a Smith's Tri-Hone-6) as opposed to pushing. I'll use the fine-stone to set the edge with alternating strokes to each side. Then to finish, I will use the scary-sharp method (again, learned on the wonderful internet) which involves using extremely fine grit sandpaper (I use 2000 grit) laid on a cheap mousepad. With light alternating circular draws over the paper, the blade will then become literally shaving sharp.   I've found that I can touch up the edge by stropping in a similar motion on the rough cardboard back of a legal pad.

When I recieved my Workcycles Kruisframe from the freight company, the only knife I used in the unpacking was my diminutive No5. I then cut the cardboard shipping container into quarters, to toss in the recycling stack. The blade literally cut through about 18 feet worth of corrugated, and with a stropping on the back of a notepad, is just below hair-shaving sharp.  When I get around to it, I can sharpen it back up fully. Not bad for a 20 year old, 30 franc knife.

Hopefully this review has given some background on Opinels, a little flavor, and an idea about the knives. You can pick them up for very little from various merchants on the internet. If you've never experienced a carbon steel knife, or want a economical but good knife to learn to sharpen on, it would be hard to go wrong with an Opinel.