Opinel-thin blades

C

Carboniferous

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I've never been a fan of blades more than 0.1" thick, which means I've never been a fan of most production knives, and I typically just carry an Opinel because of how well it cuts. The steel on the Opinel is certainly serviceable but I miss the edge retention I've experienced with some higher end stainless steels, even stuff like VG-10 is a big upgrade.

I'm having trouble finding production knives with high end stainless steels, VG-10 or above, with blades that are 0.1" thick at the spine or less. So far I've only really found Spyderco with a few offerings like the Delica that are just under 0.1" thick and the Kershaw Leek in ZDP-189 (Sandvik is a fine steel, sharpens up easily and great grain structure, but lags behind VG-10 in edge retention in my experience). Anyone else have any suggestions/experiences with knives that fit the bill?
 
I hear a project coming on.... :D

how about buying a Stainless Mora and "convert it" into a folding knife?

Remove the polymer handle, cut the tang down, drill it for the pivot and round it behind the pivot point? Can make the handle out of your favorite wood or antler?
 
I would love to see Opinel offer a premium steel option. Perhaps if enough US customers asked...?
 
Don't forget that the Leek can also be had in D2 with the composite version, and there are S30V versions floating around out there too. The Boker Urban Trappers have a .10" thick VG-10 blade, and are very nice knives besides as ultra-slim, ultra-light flippers. Spyderco has the Dragonfly2 as well as the Delica, both available in VG-10 or ZDP-189. If you're carrying an Opinel, I assume you don't mind going clip-less, so you could pick up the Spyderco Air with M4. One of my favorite slicers, the Spyderco Chaparral, clocks in at .078" thick CTS-XHP, and that's a full flat grind over a broader blade than an Opinel. As a side note, many Spydercos still slice very well despite being thicker that .1" at the spine because they tend to have a broad blade with a full flat grind, which makes the angle of the blade much more acute.
 
Kind of funny how knives get touted as having the latest and greatest steel and then companies offer it to us in blades that are way thicker than need be that barely showcase the performance difference. We need more Opinels on the market, design philosophy-wise.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Kind of funny how knives get touted as having the latest and greatest steel and then companies offer it to us in blades that are way thicker than need be that barely showcase the performance difference. We need more Opinels on the market, design philosophy-wise.
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No, we need more quarter-inch thick, eight ounce tactical folders festooned with beads and skulls! And more three hundred dollar "multi-tools" shaped like animal crackers to go with them!
 
brancron said:
No, we need more quarter-inch thick, eight ounce tactical folders festooned with beads and skulls! And more three hundred dollar "multi-tools" shaped like animal crackers to go with them!
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Whoops! Silly me--I must have been delirious or something for a second there. Thanks for setting me straight! :D :D :D
 
But how can one be a tacticool bad-ass with a knife that only - cuts???
 
I felt the OP's pain myself and recently picked up a 1x30 from Harbor Freight:

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This Enlan is still a little thick at the spine, but it's one hell of a slicer now. Just getting warmed up :)
 
pinnah said:
I would love to see Opinel offer a premium steel option. Perhaps if enough US customers asked...?
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I gotta say I like having a knife that patinas so I wouldn't be down for a high end stainless. Now if we're talking about something like M4, that would be a serious cutting machine and I would buy one in a heart beat. I'd pay the higher price for that.
FortyTwoBlades said:
Kind of funny how knives get touted as having the latest and greatest steel and then companies offer it to us in blades that are way thicker than need be that barely showcase the performance difference. We need more Opinels on the market, design philosophy-wise.
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I agree and I've never really understood knife makers like Bark River and Busse always producing small edc and backpacking knives with a 3/16 inch thick spine. Every once and a while a 1/8" thick knife gets offered. 3/32" is almost unheard of from higher end makers near as I can tell. A 3-4 inch fixed blade at 3/32" thick made out of SR101 and some nice wood handles is a dream of mine. I doubt I'll see it though.
 
Bussekin Scrapyard did make some nice thin slicers in the Scrapmax Elmax series. My 460 is .095" at the spine and flat ground to a thin edge. Keep in mind that spine thickness does not necessarily mean that a knife will be ground thin at the edge. I had a Leek that was thicker at the edge than my Endura although the Endura had the thicker spine. As mentioned, you can always thin them out or there are several guys on the forum that can do it for you.

This Gayle Bradley has been thinned out and will out slice my Opinels.
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Some nice suggestions here, that Boker Urban Trapper and the Benchmade 531 both looks pretty nice. I prefer my EDC to be 3" or under, but I might have to make an exception for the 531 at some point, I really like axis locks.

The Scrapmax series also looks like a bunch of nice slicers but I mainly only use fixed blades in the kitchen and already have a decent chef's knife with an opinel for paring duty.

Getting something reground by someone who knows what they're doing is a really good idea. I've briefly thought about doing it myself on a couple of knives, the mini-Griptilian being a good example, but I don't at all feel comfortable doing it myself. That thinned out Bradley looks wicked. It's too bad it's something necessary for so many knives, though. Spyderco seem far and away the best production slicer manufacturer.
 
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It's hard to find production folders in high end steels that have really good edge/blade geometry. My Spyderco Caly 3 ZDP-189 has edge geometry that gives Opinel a run for the money. Although the blade stock is thicker, because it is flat ground over a much greater blade height it slices just as well as an Opinel. It is a significant improvement over my Delica with regards to edge/blade geometry, and ZDP is good stuff.

My older Ritter Mini-Grip in S30V is very similar to the ZDP Caly 3 in that regard. My newer mini-Ritter is not as good in the blade grind.

My Buck S30V Vantage Pro has a very thin edge grind, and a very well executed hollow grind that leaves a very thin profile for a significant distance behind the edge.

Of course, if you are satisfied with the edgeholding performance of the Opinels, and are OK with carbon steel, Great Eastern Cutlery makes traditional folders with 1095 blades and nice thin grinds and thin bladestock. Get a recent production 73, they have blades that are very similar to an Opinel #7.
 
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One reason I believe manufacturers won't make their knives as thin as an Opinel is durability. I put a 45° bend in the tip of my Opinel from just some cutting through some ≈2.5mm twigs. I was able to slowly and carefully 'pry' the tip back to be dead center, however, I would suspect that some of the harder steels would of just snapped with the type of geometry we are talking about. Just a thought.
 
Look at Colt Linerlocks in D2; two models just with different handles. Very thin blades 3.25", come sharp, hone to razor sharpness. I love both of mine. Get one and it will save you a ton of grinding and reprofiling.

forgot to add they are inexpensive, ca $18-20 US. Also look at MAM knives from Portugal; friction folders with blade about the size of Opinels and come in both simple friction and liner lock. Also very inexpensive.

Rich
 
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