I bought my first Opinel maybe 15 years ago, and I’ve been a fan ever since. I only recently became aware of Nontron from some posts here. I was intrigued, but hesitated because of the price. I finally decided to pick one up last week, and it just arrived today. I have… mixed feeling about it, so I thought I’d share my thoughts here.
I bought a No. 25 with the clog shaped handle. I was fairly certain this size would be a bit big for my liking, but it was the only one available in carbon steel, which I definitely prefer, so I went for it.
Pros:
The overall finish feels more refined than an Opinel. The wood is smooth and polished, and the blade has a near-mirror polish. (I don’t actually like polished blades all that much myself, but it does make the knife feel a bit “nicer.”)
Although the No. 25 is a bit large (comparable in size to an Opinel No. 9), it feels slimmer in hand than an Opinel because of the smaller ferrule and tapered handle.
The knife is also surprisingly comfortable in hand when open. The No. 25 is probably the perfect size in this regard, as it just fits my hand really well.
The action is very smooth (although I think there’s a con in the construction that makes it that way, which I’ll cover in a second), and the blade seems like it’s ground fairly thin. Not Opinel thin, but thin.
Cons:
These first two are (hopefully) just issues with the knife I received. Maybe some of you who are more experienced with Nontron knives can say whether these types of issues are common or not.
The blade on this knife has some pitting on the mark side, deep enough that I can feel it with my fingernail. I wouldn’t consider this a deal breaker (I was planning on carrying this knife and letting patina develop, part of the reason I went for the one model I could find with carbon steel), but for the price it’s a bit irksome, and takes away from the more refined finish I mentioned in the pros.
The second issue is more bothersome for me, and may prompt me to return this knife and/or exchange it for another. The tip of the blade is both rounded and blunt, and the bevel near the tip on the back side of the blade looks like it was sharpened twice at different angles. Could I fix these things with a bit if sharpening? Sure, but at this price point, I shouldn’t have to.
This pic is looking down at the edge. You can see from the light reflected just how blunt the tip is.
I mentioned the smooth action as a pro, but I’m not sure how I feel about the way that they accomplish this. There is a white plastic sleeve that is fitted between the wood of the handle and the tang of the blade at the pivot. It works fine now, but I question how well it’ll hold up long term. It feels like fairly flimsy plastic, and I’d have to think the friction of opening and closing the blade could cause problems over time. (I also wonder when they started doing this, as I can’t imagine this is something that dates back very far or would be found on older knives.)
My final con is the price and availability. This knife was $89, which makes flaws like the pitting and rounded/blunt tip harder to accept. I was also only able to find these at one US-based retailer. You could order from France, and the prices are a bit less, but the shipping makes the total cost pretty much the same, if not more.
I’m not entirely sure yet what I’m going to do with this knife. I might see if I can exchange it, as I think I might actually like the knife if it weren’t for the issues with the blade (particularly the rounded/blunt tip).
