OPINEL No.06-No.09 Premium Woods, Stainless Steel Folding Pocket Knife, Made in France (No.08/Oak)

Where 100 plus years of history and robust design meet superb simplicity and quality. I’ve carried my share of other much more expensive brands. Those are all in a bottom drawer now in favor of my Opinel! It performs just as well as my other blades. Zero disappointment with Opinel. About the price, they could charge much more for these knives. But do not. Mine is used daily for mostly tough agricultural work. It holds an edge well. The blade locks securely with a beautiful and simple ring. The overall balance and natural feel of the wood gives the handler great confidence at the task. I have large hands and the #8 fits well yet small enough not to need a belt sheath. I chose olive wood because…. Well because it looks awesome.

I love the quality level of this knife. It really is a must have piece for the knife conniseurs out there. I don't recommend this as your first or only knife. This is one you buy when you have already built an established collection and want to start adding more "artistic" pieces and pieces with heritage. This knocks that out of the park. Excellent price, superb quality and feel. Very light weight as well and does come super sharp. The walnut is exquisite. I really enjoy using the locking mechanism on the knife as well, it's simple and just works. No matter what size hands you have Opinel makes a knife for you, I personally have smaller hands and while this knife does fit great I could see why the #07 would be delightful as well.

When I ran across Opinel I was intrigued. French, designed in the 1890's and the design hasn't changed. I had to have one! I saw the Bubinga wood special edition and bought it. Even though it cost twice as much, these knives are ridiculously inexpensive. This worried me, until I received mine in the mail! First impression: This is a really nice knife. It is light. The wood is finished fairly well and the Bubinga is a beautiful wood. The blade is stainless steel and is fully polished, quite thin, fairly sharp out of the box. The blade is tight and I am looking into ways to loosen it up, there are lots of improvements on YouTube. The locking mechanism is of inspired design and well put together and it works. It is a simple design and I love that. I have large hands and this No. 8 is barely big enough to fit my hand, but it does. The handle just sort of fits. Overall I could see why Opinel hasn't changed in 120 years, it was a simple and inspired design. A closer Look: For a knife in the $20 range this is a great deal and there is no down side. But there is room to improve in the finish of the wood, my personal opinion is that the factory finish is just fine, for a knife in this price range. But I sanded it down with 220, 320 and 600 grit sand paper and put several coats of Tung Oil on it and it really brought out the depth of the wood. WOW! The depth of the Bubinga came out and the knife looks 100% better. A quick and simple upgrade for those that like a high quality finish on wood. Sharpening and edge holding: I used my Lansky and put a 20 degree edge on it and stropped to a mirror finish. It sharpened quickly and took a very good edge. It reminded me more than anything else of a Victorinox Swiss Army knife in how it sharpened and the edge it took. Haven't had a chance to use it much yet but looks like it should keep an edge well. In Summation: I really like this knife! It is a beauty! I am buying more. I would recommend it highly. UPDATE: It has been about a month since I purchased this knife and I liked it so much I have now bought 5 more of various wood types, sizes and designs! As I said, they are all really nice knives. I have refinished all the handles, and in one case stained the standard wood handle a darker more pleasing shade. They all look great and my love of Opinel knives has only increased with my familiarity!

Opinel No. 8, Stainless Steel, Olive Wood I recently discovered the usefulness and versatility of pocket knives, and decided I wanted my own. I didn’t want one that was too expensive but also not cheaply made; enter Opinel. What great value for money. I chose the more rust resistant Stainless Steel over Carbon Steel because I don’t think I am diligent enough to maintain a carbon steel blade to prevent rust and also don’t care for that taste on food if I were to use it at camp. The Olivewood is beautiful and smooth in your hand. I am tall and have large hands for a woman, it fits perfectly in my hand. The size is compact enough for me to put it in my handbag or pocket. There are useful size guides out there on the interwebs, there are many size options, but the No.8 is a good everyday use size. A lovely feature of the Opinel pocket knives are the patented Virobloc locking ring that secures the blade in the open or closed position, and for their specialized children's models like Le Petit Chef, a rounded blade tip, a finger ring to ensure correct hand positioning, and a finger guard. P.S. We live in an extremely humid area and the wood expanded a bit the first day or two I had it and the blade had trouble opening, but a tiny drop of WD-40 in the hinge did the trick. I am quite impressed with this pocket knife and highly recommend it. P.P.S There is a lovely little book; The Guy's Guide to Pocket Knives by Mike Yarbrough if you don’t know where to start with pocket knives, and there are a few PDFs of "Nessmuk" George Washington Sears books on the interweb that also give interesting information on knives. Thanks for the tip Dave Whipple (Bushradical on YouTube)

Great knife. Classic design. Olive wood is very nice grain and color. This in Sandvik steel is a terrific idea. Great quality stainless steel. The lock leaves something to be desired. However many years ago when they redesigned the locking collar, I think they made a mistake. They could have continued with tradition of being able to twist in either direction but now it's one direction and that one is not the better one. I always turned an Opinel collar to the right so that the open gap of the ring is not right under the sensitive part of my index finger. Now, it can only twist to left and that puts the gap right under index finger when using. If they would have continued to allow it to go either way, you could twist to right and have smooth ring section under index (lefty's would twist to left for same result). With this design, only lefty's get smooth ring section under index finger. This was a miss, I think.

We bought this as a first knife for our 8 year old son who is currently working to earn his whittling Badge in Cub Scouts. I was obsessively researching the perfect first knife for scouting - Benchmade Mini-Griptillian, Spyderco Delica 4, Buck 110, Leatherman Wave, Victorinox... And then I happened upon a review for this knife, and I knew this was it. Simple, safe(relatively, with the bonus that it locks in the closed position for pocket carry), and best of all, it is inexpensive so that when he loses or breaks it, no worries! I also liked the fact that it is all about the blade, no other stuff to focus on. Knife safety and knife skills are primary for a scout. The other things like the can opener, screwdriver, pliers, all that is good, but I want my kids to learn about the BLADE. I bought the No8 Carbone for myself, and for him, this Opinel No8 Luxe with Bubinga and polished 12C27M stainless steel blade - it is stunningly brilliant. This knife is lightweight ,fits in his pocket, the lock is bomb proof, and the handle fits his hands comfortably. We have not had to sharpen it yet, as it came cutting paper out of the box, and all he has done so far is open boxes, carve bars of soap, and sharpen a few sticks. I have sharpened my Carbone, and it was stupid simple with a diamond hone which a friend of mine showed us how to use. The Opinel Luxe stands out from the tactical crowd, which is refreshing to me. It is a reminder that this is tool for cutting, not combat - it does not pretend to be anything but what it is - a timeless tool, with superb functionality and a fantastic value. As I understand it, there are more Opinel No8's in the world than any other single knife. There is a reason for that.

I bought my first Opinel No.8 pocketknife while traveling in France as a teenager. This is a pocketknife of long history in France, just the thing to use to cut one's baguette, cheese, sausage, and apple at lunchtime. I very often have a No.8 with me, anytime I expect to be somewhere to cut up an apple or orange, or coffee cake. My Opinel is kept clean, and used strictly for food. Friends seeing this simple, easy to use, excellent slicer often ask to see it, many times wanting one for themselves. The most common Opinel size is the No.8 (the size-number roughly referring to the blade length in centimeters). The 3-1/4" blade of the No.8 is long enough and thin enough to be an excellent knife for slicing. The common beechwood handle Opinel knives are sold in stainless ("Inox") and carbon steel ("carbone"). The stainless is a variant of 12C27, a Scandinavian stainless that takes a very good edge and holds it quite well; the carbon is a variant of C75, a steel that will take an even better edge, but may require more frequent sharpening. Use mineral oil to preserve the steel and lubricate the pivot. Now other premium woods are available in Inox steel: Oak, Walnut, and Olive Wood. THIS knife in Bubinga is one of the Luxury series, and the lowest cost of the much harder to find Luxury models, which include Ebony and Buffalo Horn handled knives. For the Luxury models the blade is highly polished Inox, and a velveteen slip pouch is included with the knife. Bubinga is a very hard, very durable wood, often used by Scandinavian and other knife makers for these important handle characteristics. In this Opinel model the Bubinga has good character and is well polished. While I'll not be carrying this Opinel to cut up my lunch, it will occasionally make special appearances to honor the history and utility of the Opinel pocketknife.

I love these knives! They come sharp, they stay sharp and they are easy to keep sharp. They are just great knives, I have a full set. I will never buy a different knife!