Opinel fail, Victorinox 1.

[cbl51]

Everytime I carry another knife but a SAK, I get a lesson why Victorinox is the largest knife maker on earth.

I have loved my Opinel's. They are light in the pocket, and cut exceedingly well. For the past few years they have been what I've carried most, along with my love of SAK's. But yesterday, I had a huge fail with my Opinel.

I have experimented with linseed oil, vasoline, mineral oil, all trying to give the Opinel some water resistance. The vasoline smeared in the joint seemed to be best, then hit with a hair drier to melt the stuff into the wood. That helps, but not cures. Well yesterday we went kayaking, and I took some water in my lap, and my shorts got wet. Not biggie I thought. We paddled another hour or so downriver until it was time to stop for lunch. By that time, the Opinel sitting in the wet pocket could not be opened. I tried the 'Savoy knock, tapping it, rapping it, and no luck. The darn thing was locked shut on me. I ended up using my little Victorinox bantam at lunch.

Of course, now I am rethinking my love of Opinel's if it can swell shut, even after linseed oil and gasoline on the wood around the joint. On the other hand, I've never had a Victorinox fail on me. If it's just a kitchen knife, I have them at home. I guess Victorinox has moved into first place on my pocket knife carry. At least I can open it when it gets wet, and it comes with a few tools. I've carried a Vic SAK in one form or another for most of my life. I've never had one fail in any way.

Maybe I need to go get a Victorinox tattoo like Ashley did, to remind me not to dally around with those 'other' pocket knives out there.


Live and learn.

[enki_ck]

I like Opinels for food prep. If you cut into hard vegetables like celery root it's nice to have some thing locking. Bigger 111mm or 130mm locking SAKs are also good but the thinness of the Opie blade gets extra points from me in food prep.

The tightness around the pivot can be fixed easily. Take a popsicle stick or something similarly thin and wrap a bit of sandpaper around it (400 grit or higher maybe). Then sand the area around the pivot a bit to make it open easier. Make two or three passes and check. Repeat if necessary. It helped with my #8 Opie a lot.

[lowtech]

Or you could get an Outdoor-Opinel. It has a Plastic Handle.
I have yet to unwrap and test mine, but it looks nice.

I really like Opis for food prep, but I took a 111 Vic with me the last few times i went hiking.
It´s good to have those extra tools when cooking in teh field and I get along nicely with teh blade for food prepping, bread slicing and buttering/fishing Jam out of a glass and so on.

Reminds me that I should doi at least a Day Hike soon.

[kkokkolis]

I clean my Opi with soap and water and it becomes stiff every time. After 5-10 openings it's loose again.
The outdoor has no problem at all. If I had the tools I would put the Jardin blade to the Outdoor handle.


Ἄφοβον ὁ θεός, ἀνύποπτον ὁ θάνατος· καὶ τ’ ἀγαθὸν μὲν εὔκτητον, τὸ δὲ δεινὸν εὐκαρτέρητον.
Φιλόδημος Γαδαρεύς

[Steinar]

Natural materials and serrations are two of the most overrated things in the world when it comes to knives.

I have lots of knives, but when it comes to folders, those from Ibach are my main work horses...

[comis]

I too have to agree that serration is probably a little overrated, especially when sharpening an outdoor knife.

I was planning to get an opinel with a wooden handle, but from reading so many users' complains about the blade getting stuck--I just have no idea what kind of wood is the best for ease of maintenance.(this is way off topic) 

And yes, come to think about how many products SAK has produced over the years, they are really quite reliable with pretty amazing QC.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

I do like Opinels, and I even like the fact that you have to care for them, but for day in, day out use in all weathers, nothing beats as sak IMO

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[sawman]

I can't speak for something I've never owned, except to say I admire Opinel and have wanted one for a long time and plan to get one eventually.  I know Vic is quality and will continue to buy those as well.

[kirk13]

I can't speak for something I've never owned, except to say I admire Opinel and have wanted one for a long time and plan to get one eventually.  I know Vic is quality and will continue to buy those as well.

 
C'mon Sawman,they're cheap as chips!

[sawman]

I can't speak for something I've never owned, except to say I admire Opinel and have wanted one for a long time and plan to get one eventually.  I know Vic is quality and will continue to buy those as well.

 
C'mon Sawman,they're cheap as chips!

Do they make the outdoor version without the serrations?

[kirk13]

Not as far as I know,but it would be a straight forward mod to drop a no.8 blade in 

[Syph007]

Not as far as I know,but it would be a straight forward mod to drop a no.8 blade in 

Ive wonder that too.  I like the look of the outdoors one, but not serrations.

[sawman]

Not as far as I know,but it would be a straight forward mod to drop a no.8 blade in 

Ive wonder that too.  I like the look of the outdoors one, but not serrations.

I don't care for serrations either, nor do I own any serrated knives...

[Syph007]

Not as far as I know,but it would be a straight forward mod to drop a no.8 blade in 

Ive wonder that too.  I like the look of the outdoors one, but not serrations.

I don't care for serrations either, nor do I own any serrated knives...

A have a few fully serrated blades... they are called saws!  

[lowtech]

As blades are swapped easily on Opinels, I might feel tempted to try that out and show it off.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

The blade on my outdoor is a lot thicker than a regular number 8, about 2.7mm I believe

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[sawman]

The blade on my outdoor is a lot thicker than a regular number 8, about 2.7mm I believe

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

So it can't be done...  Damn serrations 

[ducttapetech]

I guess you can widen the pivot point or mod the blade itself.

sent from Ducttapetech's mobile device

[ducttapetech]

I mean shim the pivot point.

sent from Ducttapetech's mobile device

[AimlessWanderer]

The only Opinels I have is a saw (virolock type) and a couple of No 6's. I do quite like the Opis for occasional use, but I pick my moment. I don't think the issue here is a failure on behalf of the Opinel ..... just that it's not the wisest choice for kayaking 

[Zed]

I love Opinels (Al's fault not kirkys ) but i agree with Al as there not the best knife when wet, my #8 sized up when it got wet on a camping trip,it wasnt the handle though it was rust on the blade  just the character of these cool old knives 

[tattoosteve99]

You could always change the wood to something that is stabilized or that has been sealed. As far as the blade goes, well carbon steel rusts, but a very good black oxide treatment should help

[KiwiMark]

I haven't disassembled my Opinels or anything but I do have some beeswax melted into the wood around the pivot so it has SOME water resistance.  I'm not sure how they would go with a real dunking but there are ways of carrying a knife so it doesn't get wet - otterbox, sealed bag, camping trip in summer nowhere near water, etc.

I like Opinel knives and really love how sharp I can get that carbon steel.
I have #4, #6 & #9 standard Opinels as well as a #8 stainless with walnut handle.
If I cut a tomato or potato or lemon with my #9 carbon steel Opinel my main thought is "wow, this thing can cut!"

But then again I do keep my Victorinox SAKs really sharp and they are VERY weather/water resistant.
Victorinox stainless steel is very stainless and also very easy to sharpen.
I have a Cheese Knife, Trekker & One Handed Trekker for when I need bigger knives and my great little Rambler for when I need a keyring tool.  I also have several others in between like my Ranger, Explorer, Farmer, Cadet and of course my Cybertool.
If I use one of my Victorinox blades to cut a tomato I don't really find it lacking in cutting ability, no matter how well others cut the Victorinox blades are still totally usable for most tasks!

Where I think Opinel really loses out is when you go camping and need to open a bottle or can and just having a knife on the tool in your pocket isn't quite enough.
My Victorinox Ranger has 2 sharp blades but it also has so much more - saw, file, awl, chisel, scissors, pry tool, screwdriver, bottle opener, can opener, corkscrew, hook, tweezers, toothpick, etc.  What does the Opinel have?
I also added a small eyeglasses screwdriver into the corkscrew and a stainless steel pin in behind the corkscrew (even though it didn't come with the pin it did have the hole for it and I bought a parts box with scissor springs, pins, toothpics, stainless steel pins, etc).
Opinel knives are quite nice, but Victorinox SAKs are so much more!

[comis]

I know Opinel has different choices of wood for the handle, is one particular kind of wood more stable than the others.  I was planning to get one with stainless steel and Olive(traditional, not survival)

One more vote to darn serrations.  If the survival ones don't have the serrations, it could be a good choice.

[pfrsantos]

I clean my Opi with soap and water and it becomes stiff every time. After 5-10 openings it's loose again.
The outdoor has no problem at all. If I had the tools I would put the Jardin blade to the Outdoor handle.

x2! I recently bought an Opinel Jardin. Love the blade for precision cuts but the handle feels a little unbalanced (at least compared with the "regular" nº8).
It would be awesome to have that blade with the traditional handle...
 

[Etherealicer]

I know Opinel has different choices of wood for the handle, is one particular kind of wood more stable than the others.  I was planning to get one with stainless steel and Olive(traditional, not survival)

One more vote to darn serrations.  If the survival ones don't have the serrations, it could be a good choice.

Olive should be fairly water resistance. I have a olive soup bowl and I have never noticed it to change when wet.

[comis]

I know Opinel has different choices of wood for the handle, is one particular kind of wood more stable than the others.  I was planning to get one with stainless steel and Olive(traditional, not survival)

One more vote to darn serrations.  If the survival ones don't have the serrations, it could be a good choice.

Olive should be fairly water resistance. I have a olive soup bowl and I have never noticed it to change when wet.

Thank you for the input, I probably will get it pretty soon.