The Opinel knife, or simply Opinel,'s a simple, inexpensive wooden handled pocket-knife, manufactured since the 1890s in the town of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in the Savoie region of France. Origins The Opinel knife was invented by Joseph Opinel in about 1895. By the start of World War II as many as 20 million had been sold. The company's still run by the Opinel family. There's an Opinel Museum (Le Musée de l'Opinel) at Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. Description Materials The traditional model has… (More on Opinel)