A quick opinion piece on what I like and don’t like about this classic knife.
For a video review see below the text review.
The classic Opinel knife, for the uninitiated, is a simple folding blade pocket knife in, most commonly, a beech wood handle. They are available in locking and non locking variants and a range of sizes from 3.5cm (#2) to the mammoth 22cm (#13). Blade choice is carbon or stainless steel and both have advantages and disadvantages.
This review is based on my experience of the size 6-8 knives, those probably most commonly used. With a twisting collar to lock the blade.
Stainless versus carbon steel Opinel
I have owned both a couple of carbon steel and stainless Opinels and on balance I prefer the carbon steel version. It sharpens more easily, and you can make it super super sharp. The carbon steel version does require a bit more care, packing away wet will rust it quickly versus the stainless version. It is ultimately more a question of personal preference but I find a razor sharp carbon steel edge suits the character of the knife best. The stainless version is still a great tool and seems more readily available.
Opinel Knife characteristics
Do not buy an opinel with the expectation of a thick, heavy sturdy blade for splitting logs or heavy duty wood carving. This is a thin bladed knife, easily made very sharp. The wood handle is well designed for comfortable cutting. It has a fine, sharp point. It is well suited to general purpose culinary tasks. Great for peeling a potato or cutting an apple as well as fine and flexible enough for filleting a fish. There is a precision in the fine and sharp blade suited to sharpening a pencil or opening a package without risk of slicing the contents. Notably Picasso used a #5 Opinel for sculpting.
What the Opinel is not good for are grunt tasks. Prying the lid off a paint tin, or hacking through a sapling.
The locking collar used on sizes 6 and above knives is a simple but effective construct and does the job. The collar and locking ring are in stainless.
When do i carry my Opinel versus Leatherman or Victorinox?
Owning all three of these popular knife brands my choice on the day boils down to what I am doing. The leatherman is the heaviest, but features proper tools (pliers and screwdrivers) so is ideal as an ad-hoc toolkit when attending to DIY, boating or tinkering generally. However in use cases where the knife is the most useful tool, i.e. cutting cheese, buttering bread, whittling sticks, it’s not the best. Whilst it has a sharp blade the offset of blade edge to the leading edge of the handle and bulky metal square handle, as necessitated for the other tools, render it functional but not a pleasure to cut with.
The Swiss army knife (Victorinox) is a great all purpose camping tool. Corkscrew, bottle/can opener, nail scissors and a blade make it versatile and effective for covering all bases when camping. However it is difficult to clean, with the various tools and niches a trap for food particles. It also has a stainless blade which is less easy to keep razor sharp.
The Opinel is the lightest of the bunch. The choice for multiday hiking trips where weight matters (size #7 is 36g) but I still like to carry a knife, to cut string, whittle an extra tent peg or slice some salami. As I don’t hike/trek with cans or bottles, openers for these are not required, so the weight of the Swiss army knife is not worth having.
Is it legal to carry an Opinel Knife in the UK?
Quite simply it depends. UK law reads:
It’s illegal to:
- carry most knives or any weapons in public without a ‘good reason’
- sell most knives or any weapons to anyone under the age of 18
The exception to these 2 rules are folding pocketknives that:
- have a cutting edge no longer than 3 inches (7.6cm)
- are not lock knives (they do not have a button, spring or catch that you have to use to fold the knife)
All Opinel’s above #6 exceed the 3″ limit and also have a locking collar, so the simple answer to the legaility question depends on the “good reason”. If you are walking around London with an Opinel #7 in your pocket you would likely have commited an offence. If you are hiking in North Wales with camping kit, or bushcrafting in a wood you arguably have good reason.
If you really want to carry an Opinel for day to day use around the city you are best sticking with a #5 non locking variant or smaller.
Opinel Knives are available from a range of retailers including Amazon: https://amzn.to/3X6ZuRP