THE OPINEL TRICK

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Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
4,079
1,766
Berlin
You want a locking folding knife in the bush, but a UK legal knife in the Bus?

Watch this video!



If you shorten the Opinel No7 Carbone just a bit, you get wat you want!

:D
 
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Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
4,079
1,766
Berlin
My knives don't do that.

Perhaps you use the inox version, but my is a bit rusty where it touches the wood.
Perhaps the option to lock the ring in closed position came after the inox version.

My old knifes had the ring but not the option to secure the blade in closed position, and never opened in the pocket.

Probably it's necessary to choose the best fitting one if one buys it in a shop.

Probably you have the problem in southern France, because the air is dryer.

I use them mainly in Germany and if I am in France, I use them every day as a kitchen knife, so the handle sucks water.

The first Opinel didn't have this ring, and they sell in France in the larger towns also Opiniel knives where the ring is missing, I have seen that mainly a few years ago, when they got a similar law like Britain now.

Currently I have the impression, that nobody cares and everybody buys the knives with the ring. You can get them everywhere as you know.

A rubber ring around tip and handle surely would be a solution.
 
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Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
4,079
1,766
Berlin
No2 to No5 ???

No 6 is made for children.
No 7 exists for children with a round tip.

Your link shows jokes, no tools.
 

Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
4,079
1,766
Berlin
I called my brother.
He cuts vegetables on the field as a farmer and uses the inox version.

He told me, that the inox version has to be secured in closed position and opens in the pocket if it's not secured.
 

Nice65

Brilliant!
Apr 16, 2009
6,421
2,847
W.Sussex
No2 to No5 ???

No 6 is made for children.
No 7 exists for children with a round tip.

Your link shows jokes, no tools.

The link shows non-locking Opinels no 2-5.

Blade length legal limit here is 3 inches/7.62cm, so the No5 is a sound option. Also these are designed as non locking so the blades are tighter to open and close. Still think it’s better to buy one purpose made than modify something more expensive.

There is absolutely no point in removing the locking ring from a 7, it doesn’t make it any more legal to carry.
 
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Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,293
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
I chrcked, and found that I own one!
Lime green woiden hsndle, rotating lock, a leather thong at the other end.
Sharp and pointy, exactly what a boy needs!

I have never used it.
It now lived in my wine cupboard. We hang and age italian and hispanic sausages there, so I baptized it with a few slices!
Delish!
 
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Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
4,079
1,766
Berlin
The knife I recommend to adult Germans for Bushcraft is the Opinel No8. The handle has the weil fitting Size.

The Opinel No7 Carbone is OK for hiking and bushcraft too. It costs 9,20€.

It has a 8cm blade. If you shorten it 3,8 mm you make it UK legal.
That is possible with a normal file and a simple sharpening stone.

The Opinel No6 has the right handle size for 6 years old children. It is made for CHILDREN.

The No 7 is made for young people and women, but a lot of men prefere it too, because it fits a bit better in the pocket.

As I wrote, the sizes smaller than No6 are jokes, no tools.

But buy what you like, no problem!
 

Duggie Bravo

Settler
Jul 27, 2013
532
124
Dewsbury
I recommend the Opinal knife to my Scouts, the fact that it can be locked shut and then locked open, is in my mind, an important safety feature.
I have had them since I was a Scout, and find it just a useful as a SAK, with the blade strong enough to open cans and still remaining sharp enough to do the job.
I think I can understand why people want to take the locking ring off, but I don’t see the point as I don’t need one as an EDC.


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Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
4,079
1,766
Berlin
If the only risk would be that they confiscate it, I would let the ring where it is.

That's a farmers knife and no weapon, and it costs less than 10€.


In the eighties most German scouts used a fix blade 12 cm sailors model or Scandinavic knifes. But in the nineties they discovered the Opinel and now a days it's the standard knife of the German boy scouts. Some use Opinel No8 Carbone, most Opinel No7 Carbone.

If one in the group, usually the cook, has a Victorinox Compact or Climber that's enough for the whole group. And they usually have a folding bow saw and a Fiskars X7 hatchet for the whole group too.
 

Nice65

Brilliant!
Apr 16, 2009
6,421
2,847
W.Sussex
The knife I recommend to adult Germans for Bushcraft is the Opinel No8. The handle has the weil fitting Size.

The Opinel No7 Carbone is OK for hiking and bushcraft too. It costs 9,20€.

It has a 8cm blade. If you shorten it 3,8 mm you make it UK legal.
That is possible with a normal file and a simple sharpening stone.

The Opinel No6 has the right handle size for 6 years old children. It is made for CHILDREN.

The No 7 is made for young people and women, but a lot of men prefere it too, because it fits a bit better in the pocket.

As I wrote, the sizes smaller than No6 are jokes, no tools.

But buy what you like, no problem!

I wouldn’t use an Opinel for bushcraft but why would you take off the locking ring? It’s fine because it’s being used with good reason. Removing the lock doesn’t make it legal for EDC here, but it does make it a lot more dangerous.

I you’re completely missing the point. For a knife to be carried legally in the UK without having any justification to do so it must be non-locking, and below 3 inches of cutting edge. So removing the locking ring from anything over 3inch/7.62cm is pointless regarding legality. A small non locker to open parcels or a packet of biscuits is very handy. The handle size doesn’t really matter for simple tasks. Should us Brits need something a little more capable, then we can take a longer bladed lock knife because we have good reason to do so. And it can be a one handed opener. :headbang:

You seem a little stuck regarding certain items for women and children. I saw that in your sexist “How much can a woman carry?”. Why do you insist the #5 and #6 are for children and women?

Have you ever used a Spyderco Grasshopper, Bumblebee, Bug? All small, fine for everyday tasks.
 
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Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
4,079
1,766
Berlin
Sorry, You didn't read what I wrote or you aren't able to understand it.

I think it's better if I stop communicating with you, because that doesn't help anybody and unfortunately it is for me everything else than a pleasure.
So, please don't wonder why I will stop answering you.
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,293
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
One thing I do not like with the Opinel is the very pointy tip.
It is a weak point. Although I never, ever baton, I have broken many tips off Carbon knives.
It will not lessen the usefulness much, but it is irritating.
 

Duggie Bravo

Settler
Jul 27, 2013
532
124
Dewsbury
One thing I do not like with the Opinel is the very pointy tip.
It is a weak point. Although I never, ever baton, I have broken many tips off Carbon knives.
It will not lessen the usefulness much, but it is irritating.

The pointy tip is useful when using it to pierce the lid of tin cans, you can then open them.

I had to have the tip point reground on mine, I handed it to the chap, saying, “be careful it’s sharp”
He replied, “it will be when I ow”


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z_bumbi

Tenderfoot
Apr 22, 2016
94
46
Linköping, Sweden
I have allways hard to understand why scouts of today is so focused on the less safe folding knives insteed of using a fixed knife. A small victorinox or multitool i can understand but with anything for carving, ropework, food prep etc my first pick is a fixed blade knife. For those with smaller hand a Mora carving knife junior is perfect as a starter knife. For somewhat older kids they can learn to oil a handle and/or stain it as part of the knife training.
 

Duggie Bravo

Settler
Jul 27, 2013
532
124
Dewsbury
I have allways hard to understand why scouts of today is so focused on the less safe folding knives insteed of using a fixed knife. A small victorinox or multitool i can understand but with anything for carving, ropework, food prep etc my first pick is a fixed blade knife. For those with smaller hand a Mora carving knife junior is perfect as a starter knife. For somewhat older kids they can learn to oil a handle and/or stain it as part of the knife training.

I think it is a combination of things:
Unless you know where to shop there are aren’t a lot of places that sell fixed blade knives.
For food prep etc then the scout group will provide the knives, so the scout doesn’t need to own their own.
Parental concern, with all of the publicity around knife crime, many
assume that it is all sheath knives, zombie knife etc, rather than the kitchen knives which are easy to get hold of.

With my Scouts, the group own 10 fixed blade, plastic handled mora knives, to teach the skills, because as has been said they are safer as they won’t fold back on their hands.
Cubs (8-10.5) can bring a penknife on camp, but it is handed in and only allowed when that is the activity.
Scouts can bring a penknife or sheath knife and providing I judge they are competent and safe keep it on them to use as needed, if I don’t judge them safe then it is as per the cubs. Only one scout has had a sheath knife and that was my sone, I bought it when he moved to Scouts. Most of them get a penknife and just use that all the way through.




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