Derma-safe Knife

[Dave T]

.

[Brett Tucker]

Dave theorized: "it's 5 tiny hard plastic (with metal inside) flat objects. take 5 of them. tape them to a sheet of used printer paper. fold over in three. put in A10. put on (perhaps) $0.93 of postage. mail out."

USPS retorted:

No more than 6-1/8 inches high by 11-1/2 inches long by 1/4 inch thick (for first class letter rate)

---

It's the 1/4" thick stipulation that's the deal killer. Also, as Sarah pointed out, the letter rate also demands that the contents be of uniform thickness, and they can't be rigid either. On all counts, just about everything for sale on this website would fail to pass that test.

Not that the USPS first class PACKAGE rate is necessarily so much more expensive. It's just the throbbing migraine generated by all that measuring and fondling and weighing to determine the fair rate that can really kill productivity in the shipping department.

IIRC, BPL offered first class mail as a free shipping option, back when first class was sufficiently cheap for companies to routinely offer such an option. Otherwise, Priority Mail has always been faster and more reliable, and Priority flat rate is increasingly competitive with first class package on price as well.

Bottom line, I see no conspiracy.

[Dave T]

.

[Franco Darioli]

Maybe BPL should farm out packaging and postage to all these nice people that are willing to do it for nothing….
Anyway the argument is moot cause that soulless plastic gizmo does nothing for me.
Sometimes one needs tactile satisfaction, and the Opinel at 1 oz gives me that.
Beside, Opinel is French, you know…..
Franco

[John G]

Franco,

That Opinel is only 1oz ? What's the blade size ? Do you think it's hinge is sturdy enough for Scouts to whittle with ?

Thanks,

[Rick Dreher]

There's a vast array of Opinels in many sizes. The classic design's lock ring is friction-only and I'd shy away from that one for teaching boys to whittle. The newer locking ring design is probably fine. They have carbon blades that can rust but sharpen very easily. Even with the lousy exchange rate they're cheap.

I like them–they're a very honest, simple, old-fashioned pocket knife.

http://www.opinel.com/menu-Folding_knives-030100000000.html

[Jason Klass]

Hi Sam,
Thanks for giving this attention and making the adjustments. Not to be contrary but I recently shipped a knife to someone that was a lot heavier than this one in a bubble mailer and it was $1.85. I do understand your point about the handling but I just hate buying something when the shipping is more that the actual item itself so I would never order this online.

[Franco Darioli]

Hi John
Mine is the N6 carbon blade. As Rick has stated it is very easy to sharpen but I also like the "warm" feel of that blade.
You may notice in my picture the double safety lock mechanism. This is the smallest size that has that. (3" blade)
If it is safe or not you will have to determine that, I think that it is. I had one a couple of sizes up as a kid and never had the blade collapsing on me. We used them for "whittling" , cutting small branches from wild fruit trees as well as cutting food on our walks, typically preserved meats and black bread (hard).
Franco

[Lynn Tramper]

My dad gave me my first Opinel back in the dark ages. I still have it, still use it, still love it. I have added a couple more to my collection (a smaller one for hiking, another for in the kitchen), but the handles seem more than robust enough for whittling as far as I can tell. And they just feel nice in your hand.

As far as postage goes, I gotta agree that, though in theory maybe those blades could be shipped cheaper, in practice it takes some time and effort to a)proccess an order for 5 blades, b)pass that info on to someone in the warehouse who then has to go find that specific item, c) chose the correct size envelope, label, calculate postage, get the postage on the envelope, send the envelope, and pay the people doing the work their wages, taxes, fringe benefits, vacation pay, accountants to manage it all etc…

I actually hate selling on second hand sites like Ebay because of this. It can be a real hassle to calculate the postage, convince the buyer that it is a reasonable price for postage, find the right size box or envelope, package the thing safely, tape it all shut, make a shipping label, take it to the post office and stand in line to post the thing, and then pray to the powers that be that the package will make it to it's destination since it is not tracked or insured. Phew. I can't be bothered selling cheap things on line becuase of this!

[John G]

Thanks Franco. 1 oz is a great weight for a 3" blade with a contoured handle. The 2 layer 91mm SAK "Spartan" weighs 2.15 oz in comparison.

I handled 1 Opinel about 20 years ago with about a 4" blade, and the pivot joint was very wobbly. Cutting hard with the blade (like when cutting branches off trees for roasting hot-dog & marshmallows or trying to take big shavings off it to whittle the tip down to size) also caused the unsharpened back of the blade to start making a groove through the ring. I imagine a more precise slot, and a thicker ring would solve the problems I encountered.

Do the current #6 Opinels have a pivot joint and ring that's as sturdy as a SAK ?

Also, do you happen to know if the Opinel carbon steel is hardened more than the 57 Hrc that SAK uses ? The SAKs seem a little soft for whittling – the blades get dull pretty quickly when cutting shavings off dry wood.

Thanks.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

I forgot to mention that pesky thing called Delivery Conformation. When labels are generated online you have no choice, you have to buy it for USPS. For First Class it is 18 cents. Priority is free. In person it is uh…75 cents or something like that per package. (I ship online these days)

While yes shipping can seem pricey one thing to not forget is that gas cost a lot these days – for instance I recently visited http://www.kendalcorner.co.uk/ to acquire my favorite of all candies….the Kendal Mint Cake. Lets just say I spent as much on shipping as I did on candy. But eh, where else was I going to get them? I could drive to Canada just across the border to a tiny candy shop near Bellingham…but come on, I'd spend $30 in gas! So $15 in shipping? Big whoopie. And I got what I wanted. I rarely buy stuff in person now. With the gas prices I realized that it is worth paying $8 to REI to get what I want and have it be there at my house- no driving around.

So my windy point? If ya can't get something local, do the math. Shipping and handling isn't that big of a deal really. You get what you want without the hassle of wasting time and gas!

[Lynn Tramper]

Good points Sarah

That makes BPL shipping to NZ one of the best bargains in the world compared to going and picking it up myself in Bozeman!

BTW, I just checked out how much it would cost to ship ONE Derma-Safe blade to NZ from BPL….$23! Still cheaper than going to Bozeman myself, but I probably won't indulge seeing how I've got a perfectly good Opinel.

[Franco Darioli]

John I really know almost nothing about knives. As a kid we used them on soft wood only and sharpened them very often. (this is about 40 years ago, Mr Opinel invented that lock in 1955 to celebrate my birth…)*
My original point was that for the extra 20g I use something that I like, has a "personality" and is not another disposable item
Franco
* not exactly

[Art Sandt]

"As far as postage goes, I gotta agree that, though in theory maybe those blades could be shipped cheaper, in practice it takes some time and effort to a)proccess an order for 5 blades, b)pass that info on to someone in the warehouse who then has to go find that specific item, c) chose the correct size envelope, label, calculate postage, get the postage on the envelope, send the envelope, and pay the people doing the work their wages, taxes, fringe benefits, vacation pay, accountants to manage it all etc…"

Shipping and Handling I think is the term you're referring to, and yes all that does take time and effort which gets factored into the shipping fees. One thing to note, though, since a lot of the people posting in this thread are from New Zealand or Australia, is that $4.80 is the actual cost of domestic postage to send a letter or small package via Prioirty Mail here. It's also the rate for the Priority Mail flat-rate envelopes, which are provided free of charge by USPS, are about 9"x11" and can be filled with any weight or type of thing and still cost the same price to ship. First Class mail or Parcel Post would likely be at least half the price of Prioirty Mail, although another thing to keep in mind is that there are no flat rate envelopes provided for First Class, the packaging would be an additional cost to the customer.

Overall, I can understand BPL's point of view that sometimes shipping ends up being more than what the customer is charged and sometimes it ends up being less. Also, the flat rate envelopes would make shipping these blades via Priority Mail fairly easy, however, since $4.80 is the actual cost of shipping for this item, I don't see why offering an option to ship First Class would be such a bad thing.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

I agree with Franco. A knife nees some soul.

I love my little Gerber LST locking folder for many tasks. Yeah, it's got a polyner handle but it's ergonomically designed for the HUMAN hand and the knife has a "soul" with nice lines and rugged quality. What the heck, it only cost $29. for a good stainless blade and ultra reliable locking/folding function. I guess "pride of ownership" is what I require in most of my gear.

Eric

[Rog Tallbloke]

Opinels rock. If only they did one combined with a small saw. I have an 'Imperial Ireland' knife/saw combi which is good, but stainless blades just dont cut it (sorry) when it comes to whittling. I saw an old carbon bladed knife/saw combi on ebay last week made by Rodgers of Sheffield. It had reached £58 with a day to go !!

[Sam Haraldson]

Sorry to Ben and Jason for mixing you up on the $1 shipping issue and thank you to Brett and Sarah (who run online business and understand shipping costs) for reiterating my points and backing me up.

[Author]

Posts