Opinel No.06 Carbon Steel Folding Pocket Knife with Beechwood Handle

Fantastic little knife. Sharp upon arrival, but not quite shaving sharp. That is easily forgiven and fixed. This is my first Opinel as i had always questioned the security of the locking mechanism, but now realize that my doubts had no basis in reality. Have not given this knife any use yet because after playing with it for a few hours, I tore it down to it's 5 elegant and well made parts. The ferule and locking ring are anicely crafted heavy gauge stainless steel. The blade took a nice even and dark charcoal colored patina after two rounds of being immersed in hot white vinegar for about 2-3 minutes each round. The beech handle is lightweight, but strong and the wood grain is tight and is responding well to being shaped with my Dremel tool and sandpaper. I am gradually adding finger grooves custom tailored to my hand for two different holding positions. The knife and handle are small so having a custom tailored grip should work out well. There is not much wood there to begin with, so I am being cautious about how much material I am removing. I can already tell that it has made a great improvement even though I am only about 80% done with the contouring. I have no doubt that even though this knife is small, that it will work both as a utility pocket knife and, in a pinch, as a filet/small game knife if used deliberately. After much research, I have settled on using a Danish oil applied slowly over multiple days to finish the handle with a final beeswax treatment once the Danish oil has fully dried. Will post pictures once my project is complete. Could not be any happier with this $9 purchase. I got a great knife and a rewarding simple project that is easy to get a good result with. Even if I did not have the time and desire to modify this knife, I would still give it 5 stars as it came from the factory. My next purchase will be the folding slim #15 filet knife with Bubinga wood handle.This is also a knife that is pretty much legal to carry concealed in a pocket almost everywhere in the U.S. I'm sure that there are a few jurisdictions or particular places where carrying this may not be legal for some or all persons, but this knife will be safe to carry for most people in most places and has a very non-threatening appearance.Update: added pic of my torn down knife with partially completed handle which has had factory finish sanded off, been partially re-contoured and given a light coat of Old English dark scratch cover/oil(as a test and to keep it from absorbing any moisture and swelling as I finish the project. I am also considering using some India ink I have on hand as opposed to spending more $ for Danish oil than I have on the knife itself...lol. I think a black "ebonized" handle separated from the now black blade by the stainless ferrule and lock ring will provide a striking finished appearance. I will likely do several "inkings" over several days, follow with whatever furniture oil I have on hand and a final touch of beeswax. Gonna keep this project a micro budget, low resource impact one.Update March 7 2016: Finished my simple knife mod project. I added a few more contours on the right and left sides and top of the wood handle to facilitate two different grips for different tasks. The knife now fits my hand perfectly. I applied and wiped off some generic black dye I had on hand and then treated with some Olde English Dark wood scratch cover stain and oil. After doing so the knife was quite dark, almost black. The Old English left a nicer finish and did not remove any of the dye. I recently purchased some Lavender essential oil and I was curious what effect that might have so I used an eyedropper and put about 10 drops on the handle and rubbed it in. To my surprise it removed a good deal of the black dye, but not all of it. I rubbed in a bit more and rubbed off all the remaining oil and dye that would come up. It left me with a beautiful dark brown stain with black grain highlights. I left dry overnight and then did 2 light treatments with ordinary mineral oil and let that dry overnight. I the heated the handle gently with a hair dryer and rubbed on some Sno-Seal beeswax which quickly melted. I buffed it hard with a cloth and paper towel until not stain or finish or beeswax wood come off. Great knife to experiment with. I cannot wait to get my next Opinel. I probably will not be doing any mods on the already slim handled #15 filet knife but I might look at a #7 or a #8 as well as the smaller non locking blades. Just buy these knives and enjoy them and give them as gifts. You CANNOT go wrong for the money. Added more pics!

Obviously some people (myself included) love this knife party for its old-fashioned design. But let's face it: These knives would never be as popular as they are if it weren't for the price. Modern features, such as automatic blade locking, blades that open with a positive "snap," etc., make this knife's design seem decidedly outdated in comparison.However, those modern added features come at a cost. If you're after a quality, VERY sharp blade for low cost, this is simply the best deal you'll get (or at least the best I could find).Here's what I love about the knife:* The blade is extremely sharp. It wouldn't shave hair off my arm like my Mora Companion did out of the box, but somehow it actually seems sharper when it comes to actually cutting. It sliced a tomato with just the slightest (less than a 1/16th of an inch) sawing motion to cut the skin. Pruning small branches is like cutting butter. It sharpened a stick with unbelievable ease and smoothness. The blade feels and acts thinner than it actually is (meaning it is stronger than it looks), probably because the entire width of the blade is beveled at apparently the same angle, from the spine right down to the edge.* The whole knife is very lightweight and sleek in the pocket. I don't even know it's there.* The locking mechanism works better and easier than I expected from the photos. It locks the blade both open and closed, and although it has to be done manually, it's easy to twist the collar. It holds the blade open or closed plenty effectively for anything such a knife ought to be used for.* The look and feel is cool. The wood handle has a nice feel and is comfortable to use. The blade is nicely machined and looks well-finished.* Did I mention it's SHARP?With all that said, there are some things I find less appealing:* The all-wood handle makes me hesitant to use the knife for some tougher things that I assume the blade could handle. Maybe it's just me, but I don't have enough confidence in how the blade attaches to the handle to use it for mcuh more than "normal" slicing tasks.* The blade has absolutely no "snap" to it when opening or closing - not even equivalent to an old penknife. It's just a blade on a swivel, and therefore lacks any tactile positivity when opening or closing the knife.* Although the locking mechanism surprised me at its effectiveness, it's only effective if you remember to do it. Although it will doubtlessly become habit with time, I still prefer an automatic lock.It should go without saying that those nitpicks completely disappear when one considers the cost of this knife. Sure, I could (and hopefully someday will) get a $45 Buck pocketknife that will have the modern features I like with a quality blade. But until then, I'm confident that this knife will excel at anything a non-tactical pocketknife should ever be asked to do.Bottom line: If you're after a sharp, quality blade on a budget, this is your buy.