Yeah but no lock and it's rather bulky (width) for a keychain knife compared with some of the other options?
I am working on a Carbone 7 right now... I think I botched the file work on the back, but I figured its too late to stop, I'll file deeper and see if it straightens out. I also made the fish tail handle more of a birds head shape, removed the stain/poly, slightly thinned out the handle, vaselined the slot (dirty boy) and hinge and then sprayed the raw wood down with cooking spray, and threw it in the oven at 350 for about 30-40 min. I sprayed it a few times, as the wood seemed to suck it up. BTW.. By baking your Opinel, it opens and closes much more easily, and darkens the wood. I will take pics and upload them to my Flickr page, Sriracha2, but I can't post until I get a better machine.
Old picture, there's a #9 and #10 now as well. They are mostly Carbone - the #2and #4 are stainless. Once you have one it's hard to stop.
Sometimes I have to ask myself why I keep fooling around with Opinel's. I'd had a love/hate relationship with them since the very early 1980's. They are finicky, prone to water swelling, you have to work on them when you get them since they are not really ready for use. They are funky. I have better knives around that will perform almost as good in cutting, without all the finicky drama of the Opinel. Having said that, I seem for some reason to always have one or two around, and I do use them. I'm not sure why. They remind me of my old air cooled 1966 VW beetle. It was funky, needed a lot of fiddling with, had plenty of faults, and there were better cars around. I'm not sure why I held onto it and kept driving it long after most people would have given up on them. Maybe because, if we look at a knife as just a cutting tool, the Opinel does have a lot going of fit. It out cuts many knives costing much more money. It doesn't seem to matter if it's breaking down a cardboard box or free hand slicing a cucumber by holding it over the salad bowl and just fanning off nice thin slices like magic. No cutting board needed. I love my SAK's, and my Northwoods stockman that is my favorite non SAK knife. And a Victorinox SAK has a nice thin flat ground blade that slices as good as an Opinel, yet will tighten or untighten screws both phiilips and flat, open cans and bottles, punch holes in leather or drill a starter hole for a wood screw. The SAK has scissors that sometimes is needed because a knife blade really doesn't do in some kinds of cutting. The SAK is a fine example of a functionally flawless work of art in a sterile way. A Victorinox tinker is twice the cost of an Opinel number 8, but it is easy three times the knife without any finicky quirks. Like a modern Honda civic or Toyota Corolla compared to the old rear engine VW bug. So why do I keep on fooling with Opinels? Other than they do cut really great? And they are a funky old time knife, needing fine tuning and maintenance. I hate to think I am developing a split personality, on the one hand reveling in the sterile purely functional examples of modern technological production, then on the other hand enjoying the 1800's semi crude old fashioned Opinel. But then on the other hand, knives are way cheaper than drugs or booze, so why not engage in having a little knife collection just for the sake of variety? Modern functionality. Old school and old world charm and funckyness.
My No. 8 seems to be the knife I grab for food prep anymore, especially for cutting vegetables. I have other knives that would work just as well, but I enjoy using the Opinel.
I usually only take it when out camping/hiking or for use on holiday.... There is rarely ever a sharp knife in any SC apartment I have stayed in recently )
My first Opinel was a No.7 I believe, I bought when I was a teen... I remember the tip broke off in a log!! Unfortunately I think it got mislaid... I always appreciated the simplicity of the knife and how it felt in my hand... Also the carbon was easy to keep sharp... After a couple of years without one, I could resist the urge no more... Eventually got a No. 8 as pictured in my post above...
Just buy a no 6. For MY EDC it's more than equal to the task. Is the Knox equal to Victorinox Stainless Steel? Yes.
