- Opinel No. 8 · Drop Point3.23″ blade · 0.067″ spine · 1.69 oz · ~0.85″ tall
Opinel No. 8
The Opinel No. 8 is a 3.23" drop point folder in Sandvik 12C27, full flat ground. The handle is Beechwood, secured by a virobloc collar lock. Its Virobloc Collar lock is rare here — only 2 folders in the catalogue use one.
- Blade
- 3.23″
- Weight
- 1.69 oz
- Steel
- Sandvik 12C27
- Price band
- Budget
Low-profile daily cutting where a tactical folder reads wrong
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Specifications
Manufacturer-published figures, cross-checked against knifecenter, knifeworks.
- Blade length
- 3.23″
- Spine thickness
- 0.067″
- Blade shape
- Drop Point
- Grind
- Full Flat
- Steel
- Sandvik 12C27
- Overall length
- 7.64″
- Closed length
- 4.33″
- Weight
- 1.69 oz
- Lock
- Virobloc Collar
- Deployment
- Manual
- Handle material
- Beechwood
- Country of origin
- France
Why a drop point
The default hunting and EDC shape, and the safest general answer. The spine curves down to the tip in a convex line, which keeps the point low and strong and leaves plenty of belly for skinning. It is hard to make a drop point bad at anything.
Every drop point here →About Sandvik 12C27
Morakniv and Opinel's steel. Modest edge retention, excellent toughness and grain, sharpens on anything including a river rock.
1-5 is a relative ranking drawn from published composition and hardness, not a lab measurement. Higher is better on every axis, and no steel is a 5 across the board — edge retention and toughness pull against each other. All Sandvik 12C27 knives
What owners say
Drawn from 299 owner discussions of the Opinel No. 8 since 2024. The opinions are theirs. The specifications above come from the maker.
What owners like
- The thin blade slices really well: one owner who touched up their stainless No. 8 says it cuts really well and beats their Benchmade 940-2 and Spyderco Para 3 in many ways except opening and closing, and another knife user says the thin blade slices really well.
- Sandvik 12C27 is easy to bring back to sharp: the same owner found it easy to sharpen with reasonable edge retention, and a new olive wood owner reports it arrived razor sharp.
- Stainless is the version owners keep for food: one prefers carbon steel everywhere except their Opinel, because they cut sandwiches with it outdoors and does not want to oil the blade each time, and another keeps their stainless No. 8 for camp cooking.
- It reads as a tool rather than a weapon: one owner uses it as an office knife for mail, packages and apples without anyone reacting, another knife user says it looks less out of place than many knives, and another notes the Opinel and a Swiss Army knife get a pass around people who are nervous of knives.
- Prices stay low: owners report paying about 10 euros in Europe, under $20 delivered for an Inox in 2026, and $16.99 for a marked-down No. 8 bought with a matching fork and spoon set.
- Owners report long service: one carried theirs daily for four or five years before replacing it and says it still is not worn out, and another has used theirs for about a year breaking down boxes, cutting invasive plants and cutting fishing line out of things.
- The plain beech handle is easy to modify: owners have added pocket clips with drilled holes or recessed nuts, cut nail nicks and pinch cutouts, drilled lanyard holes, reshaped handles and painted them, and one calls it cheap and basic enough that they did not feel pressured to get it right the first time.
What owners flag
- It takes two hands to open and close: one owner says opening and closing is the one area where their Benchmade and Spyderco beat it, and another who has had a few says it is not great as an everyday carry because it takes two hands to open and close.
- The thin tip breaks: one owner snapped the tip twice in four or five years of carry, another's came back from a borrowing friend with a snapped tip, and one owner broke the wood handle.
- There is no pocket clip: one owner hated having it loose in their pocket until they fitted a clip themselves, and another's clip mod was so they could stop carrying it in a sheath.
- Carry laws can rule it out: a chef notes a non-locking alternative is legal for them to carry in the UK where their No. 8 is not, a German hiker read that the UK's 3 in limit would make their No. 8 illegal there, and another owner is pretty sure it is not legal to carry in the state they are in.
- Finish is basic: one owner of a laminated birch No. 8 found the edges unsanded, the locking ring somewhat hard to move and the blade a bit hard to open. Another owner who paid $8 to $10 years ago says it is not worth the current $20 unless you find a good price.
Food and light office cutting come up most in owner posts: apples and avocados at work, sandwiches outdoors, cooking on camping trips, and opening mail and packages, sometimes alongside a Swiss Army knife. At 1.69 oz with a 3.23 in Sandvik 12C27 blade, one owner calls it a folding paring knife, and another says pulling it out at the office draws no strange looks.
A thin blade that one owner rates better in many ways than their Benchmade 940-2 and Para 3 comes with weaknesses: the tip can snap, and one owner broke theirs twice; it needs two hands to open and close; and it has no clip. Owners add clips and pinch cutouts themselves, one finds the stainless blade easy to sharpen, and one tester read a No. 8 Inox at 56.6 HRC.
One buyer asked whether to get the No. 6, 7 or 8 and carbon or stainless, and one owner who cuts food with it chose stainless so they never have to oil the blade. Another keeps it for food prep beside a Benchmade for general cutting, another knife user would rather carry a one-handed folder day to day but calls it the quintessential picnic knife, and one UK chef notes its lock rules it out for carry where a non-locking knife would be allowed.
Should I get the No. 8 in stainless or carbon?
Owners who cut food with it lean stainless: one prefers carbon for almost everything but keeps their Opinel stainless so they never have to oil it after a sandwich, and another keeps a stainless No. 8 for cooking. One carbon fan says it stays sharp and slices nicely, and suggests a drop of candle wax on the joint and wiping acidic juice off the blade.
Can I add a pocket clip to an Opinel No. 8?
Owners have. One drilled two holes and tapped in a bent wire clip, holding it by tension, and saw no splitting; another press-fitted nuts into the handle, chiselled a flat for a Benchmade deep-carry clip and used M2x16 screws. Both are owner experiments done at their own risk.
Is the Opinel No. 8 legal to carry in the UK?
Two owners believe not. A chef who keeps one in their pocket at work says a non-locking alternative is legal carry in the UK if they leave work with it, unlike the Opinel, and a German hiker planning a UK trip read about the 3 in limit and believed it made their No. 8 illegal.
What should I do about a snapped No. 8 tip?
One owner whose friend snapped their tip was advised to regrind it to a shorter blade, which suits the thin No. 8 well, or simply replace it since they cost around $20. Another owner who broke their tip twice in years of carry kept using the knife.
How hard is the Opinel No. 8 Inox blade?
One owner with a hardness tester, checked against verification blocks, measured a No. 8 Inox at 56.6 HRC. Another owner describes the stainless blade as easy to sharpen with reasonable edge retention.
Features
- Virobloc Collar lock
- Full Flat grind
- Under 2.5 oz
- Made in France
- Stainless blade
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