All About Pocket Knives

My two very favorite pocket knives are Victorinox made sak's, and the French Opinel. I love them both, for different reasons. But of late, I've wondered what the difference in edge holding is between the two. I know that Opinel uses a Swedish stainless that is supposed to be pretty good, but I don't know what Victorinox uses. The sak mystery steel.

Has anyone here ever done any side by side tests of edge holding between Opinel and Victorinox?

I use both and opinel seems to hold its edge for me better then either saks ( victorinox or wegner).

On different note does any body upgrade the blades on sak's?

Also opinel carbon steel holds better edge the thier stainless.

I carried a climber for about 6 years and found it didnt hold a edge too well but pretty easy to sharpen, im still pretty new to opinel and so far only got there carbon steel version's ,but TBH i prefer the carbon for edge holding , im going to buy a opie #5 in SS to try against my #5 edc carbon so ill do a review soon,

Yeah, the sak steel does sharpen up fast and easy.

My two favorite knives are the Opinel number 6 and the Victorinox bantam. I love how light the bantam is, and with the blade and combo tool, it's still only one back spring thick. But in day to day use, it doesn't seem to have the edge staying power of the Opinel. Both are a bargin in today's cutlery world. Maybe just carry both?

I think ill order a SS opinel #6 and compare it against the carbon version , my only little complaint so fare about my #5 is i noticed last night a little nik on the blades edge down near the bottom, i rubbed it down with a stone and resharpended the whole blade and now its gone with a very slight down turn to the lower part of the blade, i have to say i prefer my locking versions of these knives but uk laws prohibit locking blades ill do a comparison post once the SS #6 or 5 arrives, might even go for a 7 as dont have a 7

well i got my inox#8 yesterday and its sweet, sadly no SAK to test it against as gave my last one a way to a friend a while back, ill test it though against my #8 carbon opinel

I have read the steel specs for Victorinox before on this website;

http://www.sakwiki.com/tiki-read_articl ... rticleId=2

Darn, thought it was member protected. You will have to sign in to see that article on that website. Otherwise I might could just cut-n-paste to here?

Victorinox steel is often compared to 1.4110 or 12C27. It is sometimes specified as 1.4110. As quoted from the Victorinox 2008 Salesman's Brochure:

C 0.48-0.60
Cr 13-15
Mo 0.50-0.80
V 0.15



For quick reference:

Steel C Cr Mo V Mn Si
Victorinox 0.48-0.60 13-15 0.50-0.80 0.15 0.45 0.60
12C27 0.6 13.5 0.4 0.4
1.4110 0.60-0.75 16-18 0.75 1 1


“According to Derek Jackson's book, "Swiss Army Knives: A Collector's Companion," the blades register RC 56. He lists other Rockwell levels for various other tools as well. For Instance, wood saw, scissors and nail files at RC 53, screwdrivers, can openers and awls at 52 and the corkscrew and backsprings at 49.”