I have several of the French Opinel knives.
They are carbon steel so they rust like bandits - and, as we know, rust never sleeps.
But the trick is to give them a patina like the knives of yore.
Like a rust finish on a gun. Lemon juice works.
Carbon steel is way easy sharpen compared to most others.
The blades are very thin and are not in the rugged outdoor use class.
But one of these will work for food prep MUCH better than the rest of the knives tested.
The problem with all of them I’ve gotten is the factory prep.
A close look at the edge and a blue temper line is seen where Francois got to heavy handed with the final buffer, overheated the steel, and took the temper out of the near edge.
You have to sharpen that back to get to the harder steel.
The blade is so wicked thin it can be sharpened at a shallow angel. Good for food, not good for wood.
They weigh next to nothing. And cheep!
They come in sizes from #2 to #12
All the Best,
Jeff