Who actually got issued with an army penknife?

[solomon88]

Looks like some sort of escape knife with the shape of the blade. Able to cut seat straps safely etc.

It certainly isn't the standard straight blade, looks more like a gardener's pruning knife.

 

[Nimbus]

I added a quick link to the post after my initial reply.
As per that post, if a premier rope maker with 400 years experience say they are rope makers who make ropes that’s good enough for me

I’m long past caring for the silly way the British army has to use different names for everyday items, with the rest of society sticking to common names lol.

But if you were a ‘Snotty Yachty’ you would know that the only rope on a boat is attached to the bell. The rest are Sheets, Halyards, Springers and other such tosh...

<thread>
My (issued) clasp knife is 3 bladed without scales. I’ve only ever used the marlin spike for splicing hawser laid ropey things, it’s not even useful for milk cans because the screwdriver on the other end (which fits Camloc and Dzuz fasteners) rips your palm...

 

[LepetitCaporal]

Opinel # 8

Handle is beech wood

 

[Harryc]

View attachment 532814
Opinel # 8
View attachment 532815View attachment 532816
Handle is beech wood

Nice knife troop.
Standard issue or has to be "purchased" via QM equivalent?

 

[LepetitCaporal]

We have to buy them (9€)
Foyer de legionnaire = PX store
You have the limited editions made from exotic woods and Carbon blades

 

[Dicky Ticker]

My old man had one he was issued which he kept in the drawer in the dresser where he kept all his "useful things" It was a war office issue item (he was war time commission during WW2) and had a knife blade, tin opener and spike on it and had black bakelite grips.

When he died it either went in the skip or one of my siblings knicked it, probably the former

 

[Slime]

We have to buy them (9€)
Foyer de legionnaire = PX store
You have the limited editions made from exotic woods and Carbon blades

I think the Number 8 like you showed is the ideal size of Opinel.
I have a number 6, it’s smaller than I’d like but means the blade is just a bit shorter than the 3 inches maximum allowed for everyday carry in the U.K.

 

[LepetitCaporal]

If you hold a # 8 in your hand ( side ways) and clench your fist, it will not depass the width of your knuckles...or just a bit and it's light
It does the job and the prices are more than reasonable

 

[Stonker]

If you hold a # 8 in your hand ( side ways) and clench your fist, it will not depass the width of your knuckles...or just a bit and it's light
It does the job and the prices are more than reasonable

I agree. Robust, workmanlike, and not so expensive you'd weep over its loss. I have at least two, not sure where #3 is currently. My 3 sons all own a #6, gifted to them by me while holidaying in Savoie when they were small.

Between them, I reckon, my Opinels have probably been used much less often than my ex-Bundeswehr clasp knife, but that's only because they don't have the important extras that the Hermans regard as essential to every soldier: a corkscrew and a bottle opener.

That said, you could ride astride the Solingen stainless steel knife blade all the way to Jericho and not cut yerself.

 

[LepetitCaporal]

View attachment 532814
Opinel # 8
View attachment 532815View attachment 532816
Handle is beech wood

@ the guy asking on advice for Opinels and rust

 

[Effendi]

We have to buy them (9€)
Foyer de legionnaire = PX store
You have the limited editions made from exotic woods and Carbon blades

I had a friend back in the UK who had done his time in 4e RE. He still used to carry his Opinel around in his pocket.

 

[LepetitCaporal]

Mines, never leaves my pouch
Am doing the collection at the moment but the COVID scene is doing me a damper

 

[Stonker]

I had a friend back in the UK who had done his time in 4e RE. He still used to carry his Opinel around in his pocket.

I watched a documentary, years'n'years ago, which opened with some footage of a deer poacher going about his business.

Having filmed him as he illicitly dropped his prey, the camera crew followed him to the carcass and captured that part of the story.

Dimly-lit though it was (filming as dusk crept in, IIRC) the knife he produced from his pocket was clearly an Opinel (#8 at a guess) and within a coupla minutes he'd neatly gralloch'ed the beast, and done a few quick cuts around its knee joints to make the remains more easily portable. It was very deft, very neatly done, and a great advert for a simple inexpensive knife.

Which only leaves me with one question







Was that your friend they were filming?

 

[Effendi]

I watched a documentary, years'n'years ago, which opened with some footage of a deer poacher going about his business.

Having filmed him as he illicitly dropped his prey, the camera crew followed him to the carcass and captured that part of the story.

Dimly-lit though it was (filming as dusk crept in, IIRC) the knife he produced from his pocket was clearly an Opinel (#8 at a guess) and within a coupla minutes he'd neatly gralloch'ed the beast, and done a few quick cuts around its knee joints to make the remains more easily portable. It was very deft, very neatly done, and a great advert for a simple inexpensive knife.

Which only leaves me with one question







Was that your friend they were filming?

Whilst he owned a few firearms it is highly unlikely. No matter how much I rifted him he would not wear glasses whilst shooting and his aim suffered. The couple of times I actually got him and his glasses on the range at the same time his aim dramatically improved. Vanity stopped him reaching his shooting potential.

 

[Stonker]

Whilst he owned a few firearms it is highly unlikely. No matter how much I rifted him he would not wear glasses whilst shooting and his aim suffered. The couple of times I actually got him and his glasses on the range at the same time his aim dramatically improved. Vanity stopped him reaching his shooting potential.

Barn door sorta bloke, by the sound of it . . . .