The “forced notch” mechanism is an evolution of the traditional slipjoint system, and often found on French knives such as Laguioles, Saint-Martin or Thiers for instance.
It’s somewhere between a classic flat slipjoint and a lockback.
The blade has a little notch where a part of the backspring comes to lock. Unlike a lockback, it’s rounded and will slip when pushing on the blade to fold the knife. It’s an added safety to prevent the knife from closing involuntarily.
The lock must be “broken” before the blade can be folded slowly in the handle.
The Langres knife gets its name from the eponym city, Langres, in eastern France.
Its origin can be dated to the end of the 16th century, but since 1900 in its current form.
It can be considered as the French equivalent of the boy’s knife with its rather small size and sheepsfoot style blade, it was traditionally given to boys for their religious confirmation, around 12/14 yo, which marked the end of childhood.
It’s a simple slipjoint, with traditionally a round handle with a single but strong top bolster and a sheepsfoot blade.
The handle can be of various materials: horn, synthetic or wood.
This strong knife gets its name from a village in the Allier region of France.
With its wide sheepsfoot blade, it was appreciated by farm workers and market gardeners.
As often with those traditional knives, the blade doesn’t have a kick and the tip rests on the spring. With that extremely wide blade, it allows for extensive sharpening without any proud tip issue.
The handle can be in horn or wood with a single bolster on top and the typical rounded end.
The story of the Douk-Douk started more than 90 years ago, in 1929, when Gaspard Cognet, that everybody called “Gaston”, decided to target the Melanesian market with a new folding knife.
At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, Thiers was exporting its knives all over the world, especially in the vast French colonial empire. The MC Cognet was one of the biggest manufactures, and targeting the French islands in the Pacific Ocean seemed a good plan.
The knife was designed to be inexpensive and sturdy.
It is made of 6 parts, a carbon steel blade, a ferro-blackened folded sheet-metal handle, a strong spring nested inside the handle, a bail at the back and 2 rivets to assemble it all… That’s it.
Gaston was looking for a commercial catch for his knife. This was long before Google and Wikipedia and it is in an illustrated dictionary that he found the picture of a local divinity, the Douk-Douk.
The Duk-Duk (or Douk-Douk), sometimes called the god of chaos and doom, is an important figure in the Melanesian culture. The costume is made of a conical hat, a cylindrical mask made of bark, and palm tree leaves down to the knees. He goes screaming in the village, scaring people off, until he reaches the hut of the person suspected of a crime to deliver the punishment. Nobody dares going against him, as death would struck anyone who would raise his hand against the Duk-Duk.
The legend also gives him the power of healing. In this little character, looking like a mix between a pineapple and a fir, Gaston found his symbol. It was patented in 1930.
To complete his design, he opted for a Turkish clip / Scimitar style blade decorated with an electrochemical etching figuring arabesques, to give it a more exotic look.
The Melanesian market was a disaster and the stocks were redirected to other markets in the colonial empire. It finally met success in the French colonies of North Africa where people liked its low price and high quality blade, easy to sharpen, that was even sometimes used as a razor. From there it migrated to sub-Saharan Africa and even arrived in pygmy tribes.
It was carried by the French Foreign Legion and other Colonial troops and reached, with troops reassignment, the middle-east through Lebanon, and South-East Asia through Indochina. In 1939 it became “the national pocket knife” of Algeria.
Vintage Douk-Douk from before 1939
Different variants were created, with different blade shapes: clip point, drop-point or sheep-foot. Some models disappeared like “Le Lion”, “Le Saharien” or “Ed Dib”, all for the North African market. Some are still around like the “Tiki”, another attempt for the Polynesian market, or the “Baraka”, with its nickel-plated handle.
It was so famous (and easy to make) that it also had countless copies.
A copy called Kama
The Douk-Douk gained its infamous killer reputation during the Algerian independence war. Largely available, with a sharp blade and flat enough to be easily concealed it was the perfect weapon. Once open, you can just hammer the two ears at the base of the blade to change it into a fierce fixed blade, ready to stab any private or officer who would dare to enter the Casbah.
It was so dangerous that the DST (French counter-intelligence) considered it as military equipment, banned its exportation to Algeria and seized the existing stocks. Those seized knives were then given to the troops as a utility knife.
In 1962, at the Algerian independence, the repatriated troops and civilians bring back the Douk-Douk to France, where it was unknown, and built up its reputation.
Today the knife is still produced using almost the same process and tools. Only concession to modernity, some models are fitted with a stainless steel blade, but the most appreciated remains the historical carbon steel.
The Capuchin monks (Capucin in French) gave their name to a coffee in Italy, the famous cappuccino, and to a knife in France! Not that it was used by the monks, but because the shape of the tip of the handle looks like the hood of the monks’ robe.
Cognet even made few of these knives figuring the actual face
It is one of the oldest knife styles and one that almost did not change since the medieval age.
It is in the category of the primitive knives or friction folders, and more specifically a “2 clous”, or 2 pins. The first friction folders were of a piedmontese style, like the famous higonokami for example, but the lever at the end of the knife is protruding when closed and can be uncomfortable or even dangerous when the knife is in the pocket.
Classic piedmontese style knife and Japanese Higonokami
The solution came with the “2 clous” where one pin is the blade axle and where the end of the blade rests on a second pin, making for a sleeker shape once folded.
The design cannot be simpler. The handle was originally in wood, with just a saw kerf to fold the blade and that specific Capuchin hood at the end to be able to grab the blade, as it does not have a nail nick.
Capucin by Darat from the 19th Century
Later the handle was made in a horn tip, from a ram or a bovine.
Capucin by Jouret in a blond horn
The blade has a “sage leaf” shape, very wide and thick, designed for heavy work.
The axle is often mounted on a rosette, to avoid braking the handle.
If the handle looses its tightness and the blade opens too easily, which can be dangerous in the pocket, there are 2 different techniques: hammering the pin or, for a wooden handle, dipping the handle in water and let the wood swell a little.
Those knives were very popular with the shepherds of the South-West France, in the Pyreneans. Some were even assembling the knives themselves. They were buying a blade, often sub-par, from a knife maker, selecting a horn and shape it and then simply installing the blade.
A classic piece, still popular today with some interesting modern interpretations.
Everything started at the beginning of the 19th century when Victor-Amédée Opinel decided to install a forge in the little town of Gevoudaz, Savoie, in the French Alps.
He is an edge-tool maker and makes nails, axes, plow blades and various types of blades thanks to the Arvan, the rapid stream running there and that provides the energy for the forge tools.
Joseph Opinel, Victor-Amédée’s grandson, continues in the family business with his father but he has the idea to make folding knives for the local farmers and workers.
The city of Thiers was already very famous for its knives at the time and Joseph decided to go there and learn about knife making.
Some 130 years ago, in 1890, and against his father’s will, Joseph Opinel creates his first folding knife, with a wooden handle that would “fit perfectly in hand” and a steel blade “efficient, precise and elegant”. The famous folding knife was born.
One of the technical issue was the handle, cutting the handle in half all the way to the end would have make it weak, Joseph created a circular saw that was removing just enough material.
In 1896, 3 workers work in the factory and make 60 knives per day.
In 1897 Joseph creates the range of Opinel from No1 to No13. The No1 is used to clean the smoking pipe, the No13 is used to cut large pieces of meat, but the most famous, until today, are the No7 and No8
Each knife has a wood handle made of beechwood or cherrywood and a carbon steel blade in the yatagán style (a slight clip-point).
The crowned hand was stamped on the blades from the first models, as, since King Charles IX, every master knife maker had to put his mark as a guarantee of origin and quality. The three fingers representing the relics of Saint Jean-Baptiste that are part of the coat of arms of the city of Saint-Jean-De-Maurienne. The crown was a reference to the duchy of Savoy that was independent from France until 1860.
In 1901, Joseph creates the first Opinel factory, nearby his first workshop and install the 1st machine to manufacture the handles. 15 cutlers are working at the factory.
Joseph Opinel
In 1911, Opinel receives the gold medal at the Alpine International Show in Turin, The first international recognition for the pocketknife.
In 1915, Joseph moves the factory to a new facility in Cognin, next to Chambery and close to roads and railroads, the town of Gevoudaz didn’t even have a paved way.
Joseph relied on the train engineers to sell his products throughout France, taking advantage of the Railroads’ strong territorial coverage.
In 1939, the Opinel No1 and No11 are discontinued.
In 1955, Marcel, Joseph’s son, invents the ring lock, called virobloc, allowing to lock the blade open. This locking ring will be modified again a bit before 2000 to lock the blade closed.
In 1973, the factory moves again, to Chambery
In 1985 is another recognition for the Opinel. It is nominated by the London Arts and Science Museum as one of the 100 best designs of the world, along with the Porsche 911 or the Rolex watch.
In 1986 are introduced Stainless steel blades.
In 2006, the Opinel is nominated by Phaidon Design classic as part of the 999 most perfect designs.
An Opinel is made of only 5 parts
The brand is still alive because it has always been heavily protected with patents on the name, the logo, the virobloc system… This protected it from the Chinese and Pakistani’s competition that hit the industry pretty hard, starting in the 80’s. The famous Laguiole, that was lacking those kind of protection, was heavily copied.
Copy by Pradel
Copy by Fleur de Savoie
Opinel is now a common noun in the French dictionary, Pablo Picasso used it to sculpt, the explorer Jean-Louis Etienne and navigators Eric Tabarly and Ellen McArthur took it in their adventures and the famous chef Paul Bocuse always kept it in his pocket.
Paul Bocuse was selling Opinels at his name in his restaurant.
Today, 130 years after the first design, the Opinel is still faithful to its legacy and really appreciated for its quality, ruggedness, style… and cheap price.
The history of French knife making is primarily the history of the people living in the different regions of France.
Workers shaping blades on grinding wheels and blades catalog
The very first knives were made of flint, the first metallic knives appeared around 3000BC and the first steel knives, along with the first folding knives, were made by the Romans.
During the medieval-age, knife making is developing mainly in some specialized cities like Thiers, Nogent or Nontron, where the ferrule, or ring lock (virole), to lock the knife’s blade, is invented towards the end of the 16th century. Each region has its own craftsmanship and traditions, leading to a wide variety of styles, still made today.
Raw materials to make the knives evolved over time, when a Capucin was only a carbon steel blade, a stag and 2 pins; wood, bone, brass and aluminum or even more noble materials are now common. The very first stainless steel knife appeared in 1921 in the United States and stainless is now widely used but carbon steel is still appreciated by real connoisseurs for being easier to sharpen, more traditional and developing a nice patina.
French knife making have been renowned since the 17th century, when the first knives were exported, through the ports of Bordeaux or Nantes, to Spain, Italy and even Asia.
The industry was at its height in the 19th Century when, for example, Thiers and its area was employing around 25,000 people in knife making. It went down to around 1,700 today.
The 19th Century was also the time of a wider market for pocket knives, that were not anymore only for farmers and workers, as every gentleman had his own knife, to use when going to eat outside. That is when knives became more detailed and luxurious and when more noble material appeared.
After a rough patch in the 1980’s, mainly due to the cheap knives coming from Asia, French knife making has now reborn and is more oriented towards high quality pieces.
Each region has its own style of knife and numerous independent knife makers are creating a wide variety of forms and styles. French knife making is now recognized across the world for its quality, diversity and strong tradition. Some knife makers even export up to 70% of their production.
Today Thiers, in the middle of the old volcanoes of Auvergne, is leading the French production with 80% of the production done by 60% of the knife makers. Then comes Aveyron, Dordogne, with the Nontron and of course Savoie with its famous Opinel.
If you like slipjoints, tradition and fine craftmanship, there is a French knife for you!
