9307/19LU Old Bear Knife by Antonini Olive Wood Handle Mediumi

This knife came yesterday (in one day!). I had my doubts, but it exceeded my expectations. So I am writing to let others know - it is likely you won't be disappointed.Mine is a "Medium" in olive wood and 420 steel. Here is the run down.Overall fit and finish is good. Light and strong. Comfortable and balanced.The Lock - Similar to Opinel. Quite strong. The blade sits deep in the collar when open. The pivot pin is sturdy. When open the spine sits on the collar edge, the front of the blade sits on the lock. It gives the impression that the blade would snap before this lock failed. It can lock when closed. This knife will not open in your pocket.The Handle - The olive is lovely. Better, more comfortable contour than Opinel IMHO. The wood is unfinished. I chose to keep its rustic look and used a famous commercial butcher board creme to protect it. The creme is basically bee's wax mixed with their proprietary oil (a.k.a. food grade mineral oil). The oil soaks in and the wax takes a bit of a sheen over time. Makes the wood look great - gives it an amber hue.The Blade - It came reasonably sharp out of the box. It was hair popping sharp in 5 minutes. You can tell a something about steel from how it sharpens. This steel has a fine grain and "sings" a high note on the sharpening steel. I would guess Rockwell 56-57. I think the makers prescribe to the phiolsophy of "make it easy to sharpen and sharpen it often". I haven't been able to test edge holding yet, but my sense is if you get it good and sharp and strop it between uses (on your jeans, your boot - whatever) you won't have to worry about edge retention. The blade is flat ground with a convex secondary bevel. It is 2mm thick. It slices well - it is a companion knife. Light in the pocket, very good to prepare a snack or handle your light cutting chores.At $25 all the pocket knife most people would need - and a looker too!

Compared to the opinel this is1. more expensive2. better sanded down, with the opinel I had to sand down the butt of the knife a little to make it more smooth. The spine of the blade is smoothed out as well and is more thick.3.more difficult to engage the lock, it frequently gets snagged by something inside the mechanism and requires some force to get it loose so I can lock the blade. Normally I wouldn't mind something like this as the angled designe of the lock on this and the opinel is so it will wear in over time but with this knife I can't even get the lock out enough to touch the knife before running into the snag sometimes. This is dangerous, there were a few times where my thumb slipped and came close to the blade because the lock snagged and I had to use more force to push it all the way.4.more difficult to pull open, the action is fine up till the last few degrees where you have to use some force to pull it all the way through. Also dangerous for a knife as your fingers could slip from the blade and who knows what might happen.5. The opinel's blade is sharpened up to the very bottom edge of the knife while this has an unsharpened rectangular portion there. I find this better than the opinel as there is an extra barrier from getting your fingers cut.I hope my issues with this knife will disappear as it wears in, but as it is new I don't recommend it over the opinel.

Simplicity at it's finest. Hand-assembled by craftsmen in Maniago, Italy. Lightweight, sharp 420 AISI thin blade for edc use. Perfect!

ANTONINI Old Bear series is the Italian equivalent of the French Opinel knives. The similar patented rotating blade lock is distinctly easier to operate with just the thumb as opposed to the Opinel system. It may be heresy to some but I think it's better than the Opinel knife. These are not mass produced knives and have a lot of manual hand operations which makes each knife a little unique. ANTONINI has been in business since 1925. I have the walnut handle version for years but I've ordered another with the olive wood handle because I love the color and grain.

Just ok, I would highly recommend an Opinel over this knife. Price is usually better, and they just feel higher quality.

This is a great inexpensive knife. The lock works well and easier to use than the Opinel. Blade was sharp out of the box. A good slicer. the knife is perfect for light duty tasks. The knife opening and closing was a little stiff when I first got it. But some food grade, non toxic mineral oil and working it a while, loosens it up nicely. The handle sits nicely in the pocket and is probably more comfortable than any other knife that I own. The olive wood looks really looks beautiful. A little mineral oil really brings out the wood grain. The brass ferrule is a nice accent to the olive wood.