When I go camping, I carry utensils for preparing food and a dedicated folding knife for this. Today’s post is about which knife I use for preparing meals during camping and walking day trips.

I like simplicity. That is why I like tools that are easy to use and clean. For that reason, I bought Opinel knives. Although Opinel made various kinds of knives, they are known for their folding type and simple locking ring mechanisms called “Virobloc”.

Opinel knives are made in France since 1890. The folding knife design has been the same except the wood from which is made the handle now comes from sustainable forest.

The result of combining the wood, the locking ring and the blade is a very stylish and uncomplicated folding knife.

The Virobloc is quite simple, you turn the ring to a close position to block the blade. They haven’t changed this mechanism because it works and is simple to maintain.

How do I maintain the Virobloc?

I wash the knife by hand, and I add a drop of natural oil or olive oil inside the Virobloc where the balde is inserted into the handle.

The handle is confortable for my hand and fits in my pocket nicely.

The Stanley steel blade (Sandvik 12C27) keeps its edge well, but originally the blade was made from carbon alloy, which is easier to sharpen. Many people find that this alloy leaves a metal’s flavor in their food and needs to be sharpened more frequently.

On a day trip, it’s the only knife that I carry for food preparations.

I bought one for my son (9 years old) because it made an excellent first knife, but many times I had used it for cutting fruit or spreading butter or marmalade on my toast.

What do the numbers mean? It refers to the sizes of the balde in cm. If you wish to know the size in inches just divide the length value by 2.54. For example, a knife number 10 means that the blade is 10 cm or 3.93 inch.