Opinel obsession.

[cb51]

I used to like all kinds of knives when I was younger. I collected Randall's at one time, but then got burned out on them when they really didn't live up to the hype. Same with some other customs, and somewhere along the line I got very cyclical. After I sold off all my customs, I just used whatever was on the production market. SAK's, a Buck or two, and an Opinel I picked up at a Hudson Trail Outfitter store in Kensington Maryland in 1982.

Over the years, I would use the Opinel, then go to something else. Then I'd come back to the Opinel. Then I'd go to something else. Then I'd come back to the Opinel. This cycle kept up for years. Finally I just went with the Opinel. It's rare to find another knife that will slice and dice with a sharp Opinel. I used to just get the carbon ones, and sand down the horrible orange finish and restain and reshape them, and give them as gifts to non knife carrying people. They seemed to like them. That's one of the good things about Opinel's, they are so low cost to buy.

I ended up with just Opinel's mostly, in all kinds of sizes. I went to the stainless ones after 2001, when Opinel went to Sandvik 12c27 for the stainless blades and took the RC up higher than the carbon blades. Now I don't bother with any other knife for the most part. No matter what I try, knife wise, I always come back to the Opinel. My kitchen knives are Opinel. my folding saw is an Opinel. my pocket knives are Opinels. My wife carries an Opinel in her purse.

For some reason, I just love the funky old time design of them, and fool proof lock. Although I have to admit I snug up the pivot pin and use them as a friction folder, and rarely use the lock.

I wonder if I need professional help?

 

[Threeband]

I have an Opinel around here somewhere.

Little carbon steel thing with about a 2 3/4" blade. I think it's a Number 6.

I really like things that are ingenious and simple.

I'm very much a low-tech, old school sort.

 

[llkoolkeg]

Any of you familiar with the Citadel line out of Thailand/Cambodia? High-end Japanese-style differentially-tempered blades put together like tanks with tight tolerances, e.g.

 

[Threeband]

The Opinel is not a prestige item, like some of these $200 knives that enthusiasts carry to cut string and open packages.. It is incredibly simple, basic, cheap. A piece of wood, a blade, a rivet, a stamped ferrule, and a stamped collar that twists to lock the blade. No spring, no liner.

We're talking about a $7 knife.

http://www.amazon.com/Opinel-Carbon-Steel-Folding-knife/dp/B000UGYWQM/ref=pd_sim_hg_1

 

[cb51]

The Opinel is not a prestige item, like some of these $200 knives that enthusiasts carry to cut string and open packages.. It is incredibly simple, basic, cheap. A piece of wood, a blade, a rivet, a stamped ferrule, and a stamped collar that twists to lock the blade. No spring, no liner.

We're talking about a $7 knife.

http://www.amazon.com/Opinel-Carbon-Steel-Folding-knife/dp/B000UGYWQM/ref=pd_sim_hg_1

That's what I love about it. It's so cheap, simple, yet more effective at what it does than many of the higher dollar knives I've owned in the past. and I love how I can sand down the handle and shape it and stain it whatever I like. And being so cheap, It's easy to share the love by giving them away.