So after reading so much both here on EDCF and elsewhere about how great the Opinel knives are, and seeing how long they’ve been successful in the marketplace, I took the plunge. I recently purchased an Opinel No. 6, in the stainless steel, with an olivewood handle. Goal: use as an edc for food prep only.

Beautiful little knife. Lightweight. Elegant. Sharp as can be. Literally. No problem opening and closing the blade.

So what’s the problem?

The problem is with the retaining collar. It is stiff. Really stiff. I’ve looked at YouTube videos, and read threads. I have attempted to loosen the outer collar using retaining ring pliers. I’ve ‘played’ with the knife, to see if repetitively twisting the collar would in fact loosen it up a bit.

No such luck. Given how sharp the blade is, I’m frankly freaked out that in trying to rotate the collar, my hand will slip and be very quickly sliced open. No, I haven’t really applied much lubricant (vaseline seems to be most recommended). Why? I’m really concerned that the only thing that will slip from the gel will be my hand — right into the blade.

BTW: I can see where the retaining collar is rubbing and leaving wear marks on the inner ring. Perhaps worse after applying the retaining ring pliers. This has to be part of the problem, but I haven’t been able to fix it.

I guess I can just use the blade without benefit of the locking function. But this just doesn’t seem sensible…

Any suggestions? If I can’t figure this thing out I’ll just trash the knife. Just not worth an accident over such an inexpenisve blade, no matter how elegant it seems.

Thanks all y’all in advance!