Opinel No.8 review: the everyday folding knife anyone can carry
Not every wilderness knife needs to baton logs. Sometimes you just want a light, elegant folder to slice cheese at a trail lunch, whittle a stick, or open a package — a knife a first-timer and a seasoned guide are equally happy to carry. For a century, that knife has been the Opinel No.8.
New to knives? Read our complete guide to wilderness knives — tang, steel, grind, and the jargon decoded, plus what a blade actually does in the bush.
The verdict
The everyday folder for everyone. The Opinel No.8 is a French classic: a shaving-sharp stainless blade, a warm beechwood handle, and a simple twist-lock collar that makes it safe to use, all for the price of a nice lunch. It folds flat and light for a pocket, a pack, or a picnic basket, and it does the everyday cutting — food, cordage, whittling, packages — that most people actually need a knife for. It is not a hard-use survival blade, the wood handle can swell when wet, and the edge needs occasional touch-ups. But as the knife anyone can carry and enjoy, nothing has more charm or value.
What it does
The Opinel No.8 is a folding pocket knife of beautiful simplicity, essentially unchanged since the 1890s. It has a roughly 3.3-inch Sandvik stainless steel blade that arrives very sharp, a comfortable beechwood handle, and Opinel’s signature Virobloc collar — a rotating steel ring that locks the blade open so it cannot fold on your fingers, and can also lock it closed for safe carry. There is no spring, no pocket clip, and almost nothing to break; it is light, slim, and folds to a smooth wooden baton that disappears in a pocket or the top of a pack. It excels at the everyday jobs most people genuinely use a knife for outdoors — slicing food and cheese at lunch, cutting cord and tape, peeling fruit, light whittling and camp chores — and it doubles as a charming, giftable EDC (everyday carry) knife off the trail. The stainless version shrugs off moisture better than the carbon model, making it the low-maintenance choice for most buyers.
What verified buyers say
With well over a thousand verified-purchase ratings, owners return to the same warm themes:
- Legendary value and sharpness. Buyers call it shaving-sharp out of the box, a timeless design that is comfortable, safe, and remarkably affordable — many buy several for gifts.
- Perfect light camp and picnic knife. Owners love it for food, everyday cutting, and camp use, praising how light and pleasant it is to carry and hold.
- The lock inspires confidence. The Virobloc collar draws praise for making a simple folder genuinely safe in use.
- Easy to re-sharpen. Several note the edge dulls a bit faster than premium steels but comes back with just a few strokes on a stone.
Worth knowing
Know what it is and is not. The Opinel is a light-duty everyday knife, not a survival or batoning tool — do not pry or hammer with it. The beechwood handle is its charm and its one quirk: wood swells when it gets wet, which can make the blade briefly stiff or hard to open until it dries (a tiny bit of the pivot worked loose, or a light sanding, prevents it). There is no pocket clip, so it rides loose in a pocket or a small pouch, and the edge, while keen, benefits from occasional stropping. The stainless model handles moisture well; the carbon version takes a scary edge but demands drying and oiling. For its purpose — a graceful, affordable, genuinely useful everyday cutter — these are footnotes, not flaws.
Who it is for
The Opinel No.8 is for everyone: the day-hiker who wants a light knife for lunch, the camper who wants a charming whittler, the traveler who wants an affordable EDC, and the expert who happily drops one in a pocket for everyday tasks and hands another to a first-timer. It complements rather than replaces a fixed blade — carry it for food and light jobs, and reach for a Morakniv Companion or a full-tang Garberg when you need to carve hard, baton, or rely on a survival knife. For the most demanding, buy-it-for-life fixed blade, see the ESEE-4.
Specs at a glance
Type: folding pocket knife (~3.3″ blade) · Steel: Sandvik stainless · Lock: Virobloc rotating collar · Handle: beechwood · Very light; no pocket clip · Best for: everyday carry, food & light camp tasks
The Verdict
The Opinel No.8 is the everyday folder almost anyone should own: sharp, elegant, safely locking, and cheap, perfect for food and light tasks on the trail and off. Just keep it out of survival duty and mind the wood handle when wet. Need a fixed blade for carving and camp work? See the Morakniv Companion. Need to baton and rely on a survival knife? Step up to the full-tang Garberg or the buy-it-for-life ESEE-4.
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