Opinel Tradition Knife, Beech handle, Carbon Steel, 8.5cm, #8

Je suis un usager des couteaux Opinel.La qualitée est toujours présente.Je suis entierement satisfait de mon couteau et du service ultra rapide et précis.Je me promet d'acheter encore chez Paulsfinest.Richard

My go-to knife. I’ve had one in my pocket for several years running. I absolutely love them, and the carbon steel is soooo much better than stainless. I know they say stainless can be just as good, but realistically only in knives in the $300 and up range - that’s not a practical knife for everyday use. This knife, at under 30 bucks and with beautiful edge properties, is the way to go. Sharpens easily and stays sharp. Wish the No 9 was offered, but the 8 is a good compromise between fit in the hand and fit in the pocket.
Only caveat is don’t go swimming with these knives or leave them in damp clothes (really shouldn’t with any pocket knife). They will rust and bind. That being said, you can always dry them out and oil them again, as I have done more than once after accidents at the lake or in the rain.
Absolutely the best knife I’ve ever owned.

Its shockingly light. I mean its like nothing in the hand. Fantastic edge out of box. Holding edge so far. Havent sharpened yet. Very thin blade so definitely not a lever. But what you get for the money is really surprised me for the better. Got one for the wife (stainless for her multi day hikes in the back country). Plan to use my ceramic hone... but it just keeps that edge...

The knife was sharp out of the box, but got touched up a bit on a ceramic rod (a bit of a secondary bevel). I've only used it for little tasks, and have been impressed that there are no marks/patina on it so far. There seems to be a bit of an oil coating on the blade. Maybe it just needs some more time, and a few more lunch-preparations. It's the right price for any knife "experiments": to try to sharpen some carbon steel instead of stainless, to clean it up and try to force a patina on it, to try to carve the handle. I plan to do a bit of whittling to open up the area around the thumb notch in the blade.

I find myself using this in the kitchen instead of grabbing a kitchen knife. You want to find things to slice. Very sharp. I've seen this on a lot of Best Knives type reviews and it always struck me as odd. And now I get it.