I don't know how many times I've said I'm going to make posts about some of my knives on my blog. I thought I better get one up here or people are going to think I'm just fishing for followers.
The Opinel No. 8 Carbone is a good knife to start with. Opinel knives are a very economical choice for a knife. This No. 8 cost me $16.45 CAD. It'd be hard to find another knife of this quality for that price. I don't think it would take much of a beating and in fact I saw a review on YouTube of a larger model of the same type being put through some abuse and the locking ring ended up with play in it. These knives are meant to be used as a proper knife. They aren't meant for prying or beating on things.
The blade of the knife is 3.35 inches (8.5 cm) and is made out of XC90 carbon steel. It's the perfect size for a paring knife. In fact that is why I like this knife. They make an excellent camp knife and they are cheap if they get lost or damaged. They fold so the edges aren't banging around during transport. You still have a sharp knife when you get to camp. If I was camping I would bring the larger No. 12 model as well to handle bigger tasks (stay tuned for a future post on the No. 12).
The only other feature to mention is the locking mechanism on the knife. Opinel uses locking rings on all their folding knives from No. 6 to No. 13. Knives smaller than No. 6 I guess are deemed too small to justify a lock. The lock is a ring with a slot cut in it. When slot is aligned with the blade it allows the knife to open or close. When misaligned the knife stays in the position it is in. Simple.
Here are some pictures of the knife with the lock in various positions:
Closed but not locked.
Closed and locked.
Open but not locked.
Open and locked.
You can see how the ring and or hinge could become damaged if you put excessive side force or even excessive force in the normal cutting direction.
This knife is a carbon steel model. That means you have to be careful not to let the blade rust. I just make sure it's clean and dry when I'm not using it and I'm fine. I like that the carbon steel is tougher. The spine of the blade is able to be made thinner on the carbon steel model than the stainless one. Being tougher the carbon steel doesn't need the extra thickness. For anyone that doesn't like the idea of worrying about rust, Opinel makes a stainless steel model of most if not all of their carbon steel model knives. If you do get a stainless steel model the blade will come in Sandvik 12C27M stainless steel.
I like the opinel knives. They are simple and well built. The No. 8 doesn't seem flimsy or cheap and if you take care of your knife I'm sure it could last a lifetime. It's a welcome addition to my collection.