By the way, I believe opinels are a perfect example of Super Normal Design: https://medium.com/startup-notes/c1d22838572a
I slightly bemused by the āalways have a knife with meā crowd. The times I need a knife (when away from home) are tiny indeed. Yes, overnight camping. But day-hiking? No. What would I want to cut? Walking around the city? No. Riding my bike? No. Skiing? No. Kayaking? No. Photography outings? No. Shopping? No. Eating out? No. Trip to the coffee shop? No. Business trips? No. Commuting to and from work? No. At work? No.
You get the picture. Just what are all you knife carriers doing that you encounter things that need cutting on such a frequent basis that it warrants carrying a knife?
gosh darn it Jason, you are bad why dont you think of the poor poor children? Knives are bad, okay. a kid in a school used one for assault in Pennsylvania this week. you should get rid of yours, and work to ban all knives! We MUST protect our children from danger!
i am sorry, I am being snarky here. tired of all the anti-anything people out thereā¦ this is a great knife. my current favorite is an old 2 blade Case & Sons pen knife that belonged to my dad.
While researching the Opinel prior to purchase, I swear I came across a surprising number of reviews focused on its suitability for things likeā¦ Business meetings. As in, āgreat to pull out during a meeting to cut your apple,ā etc.
Yes, they are handsome. But food provided at meetings is typically already bite-sized; it brought to mind an image of a dude elaborately checking his watch, in order to ācasuallyā flex his arm.
Iām going to guess that for many itās more of an identity/aesthetic ā or just conversational ā thing. Maybe having a handy knife gives a sense of preparedness and utility, even though itās not strictly necessary. And having a āsecretā item on oneās person that is known ā perhaps only to the holder ā to be unique or of higher-than-average quality can be a real talisman. I own a number of one-off neckties, from a brand that like, .003% of people have ever heard of, and wearing them makes me feel much better than when I wear a mainstream one. Literally no one that I meet is likely to have any clue (other than a vague notion that the tie looksā¦ good or somehow better), but I know. Itās kind of like having a superpower.
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If youāre into wood carving, Opinel sells a version with an unfinished handle.
I got one for Christmas and have been narrowing down design ideas. Looking forward to vacation at the lake this year. Thatās the only time I have the free time to whittle.
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Iāve carried knives and not carried knives over the years. I donāt think having one is absolutely necessary, but they do come in handy at times. Iād say 80% of the use I get out of having a knife is opening packagingābut then Iām a fairly non-outdoorsy lawyer type. (My knife came in handy last week, for example, to open well-taped bankersā boxes of documents when we were taking a deposition at another firmās offices.) And while I donāt use it every day, I get enough use out of it to make it worthwhile to have one in my pocket so long as it doesnāt take up too much space.
Iāve had an Oppy No. 8 since forever, in the bottom of my bag (it shares space with a Leatherman now). Never had any trouble or suggestion of trouble from UK official types. Donāt be cowed: Mr Pointy is a trusty friend. 
I dunno how I feel about Benchmades. My brother swears by them. But the steel doesnāt seem any better quality than the cheaper knives he carries and heās broken three or four of the damned things despite very light use. The Gerbers he owns have made it through multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan unphased, but the Benchmades donāt seem to last 6 months stateside. And theyāre several times the price.
Iāve been using a heavily modified Opinel as a reed knife (saxophones, clarinets) for about 30 years, and itās never let me down.
I wouldnāt call it necessary, but youād be surprised how often a knife comes in handy once you start carrying one. The vast majority of the time youāre just gonna use it to clean your nails or open boxes or some such. But for those every once in a while things its much nicer to have a knife sitting in my pocket than to find myself searching or wishing for a way to cut or pry something. Like that one time when my shoe laces got tangled in my bike chain and I ended up sitting bruised in the gutter of a rural road trying to untangle myself for 20+ minutes. Eventually a neighbor spotted me and brought out some scissors.
I also do a bit of fishing, boating, camping, hiking etc. And a lot of cooking at other peoples houses, in my experience other people have shitty kitchen knives so it can useful to have one decent one on hand. So I have specific reasons for carrying it other than avoiding the occasional inconvenience or accident.
All of mine Iāve had for 10 years. One has been ran over by a lawn mower (a smooth gouge in the handle for the mini-griptilian) but required no repair. The only one that ever needed to go back was the 3550 - an āautomaticā (switchblade) when a spring came loose.
Obviously this is just my personal experience but Iāve been happy with them. I do need to sharpen them but use a little field sharpener that Benchmade sells (or used to sell?). I donāt feel that the amount or frequency of sharpening is unusual, though.
Anyway, Gerber isnāt bad. But KNOWING that regular folks have good jobs at a good place that makes good thingsā¦ I will always buy a Benchmade.
I was not a daily knife carrier until a few years ago when my daughter and I spent the summer hiking and backpacking in Scotland. I got so used to having a knife in my pocket that I couldnāt go back to not carrying one. I use it constantly, cutting open boxes, as a clay tool, in my garden, etc.I have had and liked the Opinel, and I always have one in my food pack when I camp, but I have switched to a slimmer āgardenersā knife for daily use. I just donāt like the lumpy butt problem with the Opinel.
I recenlty bought what seem to be a knockoff of the design for just 4ā¬ a couple of weeks ago (9cm long closed). Mine is labelled āMaurerā on both the handle and blade and I canāt find any such knife company online. Iāll keep my eye out for an original now.
I bite my nails, to the point where I cannot pickthings like coins up off the floor, or open packets without a knife. Itās great for trimming my nails, too.
The conversions to one hand opening are nifty. The tricky bit is maintaining the temper while drilling a hole
@jlw sezā¦
If you were to search my closet you would find an Opinel No. 8 pocket knife in each and every outdoor coat.
Yes, but have you given each of them a name?
Holy crap the instant I saw that I was all, āHeeeeeeey thatās the knife my dad has used since my very early childhood when outdoors.ā I didnāt know it had special significance in the wider world. Always considered it ājust some knife.ā Naturally, heās an engineer.
I almost choked with the āone and every pocketā and āinsanely cheapā because the provided Amazon link only has sellers with it for 62.00. I thought that perhaps my scale was skewed by a tight budget and Boing Boing readers were just a wealthy bunch. Luckily I went to the Opinel site where the much more reasonable (and, yes, āinsanely cheapā) price of 14.95 was available.
Apple Slayer, opener of packages.
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http://www.ampro.co.nz/products/opine/SERIE-COUTEAUX-CARBONE_size.jpg
I have a No. 7 and itās a great knife but if anything, too large. I canāt imagine carrying a No. 8 around, thatās just over the edge of way too big IMO!
I think I might like a No. 5 or even a No. 4ā¦ Iād probably be happy with a 3 but sometimes you do need a bit more size (although I also have the āclassicā tiny size Swiss Army knives, and theyāre quite useful too).
Also mineās purpleā¦
(jackhammer jill for scale)ā¦ because Iām not a fan of the really light-colored wood they use. But the modding idea makes me think, I could probably sand one down (or get the unfinished one) and stain it a darker color.
But also, Iām in the āwhat do I really need this for?ā campā¦ I rarely use it. But it does cut a mean apple.
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