Opinel No. 12 Explore Knife After over a century of making utility knives, Opinel is branching out to the survival crowd with a badass backcountry blade.

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In the world of knives, there are few signature items more identified with a company than Opinel’s wood-handled utility knives. They’ve been making them since the late 1800s, after all. While the French outfit has long focused their attention on utility knives, they’re going for the outdoor crowd this year with the Opinel No. 12 Explore.

A survival knife, the new model retains the signature Opinel look, albeit with changes to make it more suited for backcountry use. For instance, they took out the wooden handle which may not prove as durable when constantly exposed to the elements, apart from adding survival tools that make it a truly capable outdoor companion.

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In place of wood, the Opinel No. 12 Explore’s handle is cut in a mix of rubber and fiberglass-reinforced polyamide, ensuring it won’t wither from exposure to sun, rain, and moisture. It retains the same ring-based locking mechanism found in the outfit’s other folding knives, ensuring it stays in place secure whether open or closed, as well as the 12C27 Sandvik stainless steel for the blade material. Being a survival knife, it’s quite big, with a 4-inch blade and a 6-inch soft grip handle.

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As for the add-on survival tools, it gets a 110-decibel whistle, a hook blade, and a fire starter, all of which are integrated into the handles. It comes with an opening at the back of the blade for tacking on a strap.

Available now, the Opinel No. 12 Explore is priced at $49.

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