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Pros: Blade Material, Blade Sharpness, Handle Feel, Handle Material, Lock Ease of Use, Lock Type, Overall Quality, Weight
Cons: Ease of Opening, Pocket Clip, Sheath
Opinel No.04 Carbon
INTROThe Opinels I've owned so far in order of purchase are:1. No. 07 Carbon2. No. 12 Folding Saw3. No. 06 Folding Peeler4. No. 03 Carbon5. No. 04 CarbonREASONS FOR PURCHASING THE #04 CARBONThe No. 04 is the size of pocket knife I find myself using the most. I can make the No. 03 work, but it's a bit too small for general-purpose use in my experience.Also, I've been trying to put together a tool kit that adheres to the gray man philosophy as closely as possible, and the No. 04 fills that niche perfectly due to the following:- Its blade length is legal in the most amount of places while still being long enough to adequately perform various tasks.- Pocket knives that lock are illegal in some places, such as the United Kingdom. There's no need to worry about that since the Opinel sizes No. 05 and under lack this feature.- It has an innocent appearance compared to more common tactical folders in use today.Basic Opinel models are among the most affordable on the market.Opinel's carbon steel blades are very sharp and easy to resharpen while holding an edge longer, unlike most knives I've used that are typically preferred by the masses in the modern era.The Opinel No. 04 is extremely compact and lightweight, allowing it to disappear in one's pocket, where the user doesn't even know it's there until they need it.USAGEI mainly use a knife for cutting string, processing food, and whittling, and if you ask me, the Opinels easily outperform contemporary counterparts when it comes to doing those jobs thanks to their blade geometry and very ergonomic handles. I've never come anywhere close to needing to use my knife to pry open a door, stab an oil drum, dig a foxhole, or split wood, like how so many people try to do, thereby misusing and abusing their tools.CONSThe only real disadvantage of the Opinels is that the wooden handles will swell, making them difficult to open and close. However, this can possibly get a little better over time as the wood itself acclimates to one's local environment along with normal break-in from constant opening and closing. Plus, there are other solutions to help with that problem, such as oiling the joint with something like olive oil on a regular basis. Opinels can become too hard to close when exposed to copious amounts of moisture. When that happens, all you have to do is leave it out somewhere safe to give it time to dry.CONCLUSIONAll in all, I highly recommend the No. 04 in carbon steel in addition to a number of other Opinel products.
