No. 8 Pruning Knife

I'm a mycologist who always has a mushroom knife on me, and I realize Opinel sells a variant of this knife with the mushroom brush on the end, but I dislike carrying knives with brushes in my pocket because the bristles poke my leg and fingers. I leave the brush ones for my "okay, I'm going mushroom hunting" field kit. This knife, though, is the best mushroom knife I've found to keep in a pocket every day because it's super light compared to other brushless folding hawkbills. Seriously, the wood construction makes it surprisingly light, so it doesn't weigh on the pocket at all. The curve on the hawkbill is perfect for digging under a mushroom to extract it with the base intact (for identification or specimen collecting), to cut right at the base of the stem (for foraging to eat), or for bringing the knife towards you to cut through a cap or stem (to check for cross-sections or for staining/bruising reactions). It's plenty sharp enough for that too, and the locking mechanism is easy to lock and unlock with one hand (while carrying a hand lens or more mushrooms with the other). With this knife I'm always ready for an unexpected mushroom that I come across.

great design and craftsmanship, nice little pruner

At first I thought, wrongly, this was too large for whittling or carving. I don't have either bandsaw or jigsaw so It actually worked perfectly to "hog" off excess edges with the flat edge and used the curved pointy edge to refine. I could then use a couple other Opinels and other tools to detail and finish off. Maybe not conventional but darn workable. The sharpness of Opinel's are it's strongest asset, and they're easy to sharpen and strop back up. The caricature evolved from a block of wood 4"H. X 1"Sq.

Trusted brand. Quality tool.

I purchased this specifically for harvesting sunflower seed heads from my giant sunflowers. It works great for this, and i am sure it will become a "go to" tool for harvesting a lot of things. Blade is super sharp. One moment of inattention and i sliced my thumb open pretty good ! User error, and nothing to do with the ergonomics of the knife.

The knife I got was obviously used, hence the loss of a star. The tip was blunted and it was dull and stained.. A few minutes sharpening and it was shaving sharp. Opinel is a good brand, and this was no exception. Simple, lightweight, and performs well out of its price range

Small and didn’t cut like i thought it would. For me it was a waste of money

Perfect for trimming house plants

Zum Gemüse beschneiden ist es super geeignet.

Good gardening knife. Easy to use and sharpen. Used for pruning and pricking out.

Pratico coltello

Una garanzia top

I have been using Opinel knives for 30 years for camping, hobbies and gardening. The quality of the wood for the handles and the steel for the blades is just superb - to the extent that those knives that haven't been stolen by jealous colleagues are still in my toolkits and are still as useful as ever. The locking ferrule is genius in its graceful simplicity and a piece of engineering elegance. Have hardly ever needed to sharpen any of these blades unless I have severely misused them. This latest purchase looks as good as any I have ever owned in the past. Why have I never had this style of blade from Opinel before? I had a similar style from a different manufacturer but tended to favour the trusted and familiar Opinel knives and never really had a problem with the straight blades but I am working now with very soft stemmed flowers and the curved blade is better so I thought I would look for an Opinel option. The blade is just joyous, I have been honing it (wiping with oil) before it's first use but it will undoubtedly perform perfectly. The handle feels a little rough but I remember fondly the other knives feeling exactly the same when they were new so can say with confidence that it will not be long before this handle too will adopt the soft, smooth and reassuringly familiar feel of it's counterparts in my kit. These truly are knives you can pass on to your kids in time to come. And to cap it all - they are ridiculously cheap! All will be well, ...if you have an Opinel.