Good gardening knife recommendations

[Kristen]

In case anyone is curious to see what these knives look like, as I was

Felco Garden Knives
Felco knives

Opinel Garden Knives
Opinel Garden Knives | OPINEL USA

If you are in to whittling they also make an Ebauche which you can carve into something unique ... but you'll need a second knife of course



e.g. something on a gardening theme perhaps?




Les Opinel customs de Laurent GERDIL

[arpoet]

Having worked in the food trade for many years i still have lots of Sheffield Made butchers knives which i use for various jobs in the garden. I also have an old stanley knife with a retactable blade that i keep in my gardening top for cutting string and twine.
Cant see the point of spending good money when you dont need to.

[daviddevantnhisspiritwife]

See now Arpoet, you are turning me the other way, it does not take a lot to make me dither. Hmmmmm.

[Kristen]

If I had a suitable old penknife I'd sharpen it and use that.

Stanley knife is heavy, and I find the retracting mechanism not entirely foolproof, compared to a folding knife, so I'm not sure I'd be happy with that as my cutting tool. Although: nice to be able to replace the blade for an ultra sharp one, when needed.

it does not take a lot to make me dither.

Don't suppose that helps does it?

[daviddevantnhisspiritwife]

Nope, not at all.

I saw some silicone egg poaching pods, I was primed to buy thinking, those are neat, perfect poached eggs etc etc... I read Arpoet's post and now my brain says - you don't need them, poach them as you've always done (loose into a pan of water that has been stirred to spin).

See! These posts are already dishing out ramifications way beyond gardening knives!

[sparrow100]

I have a Draper folding knife: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-67068...=pruning+knife

I don't use it that much though, mostly I use my secateurs for everything.

[bearded bloke]

poach them as you've always done (loose into a pan of water that has been stirred to spin).

No need to spin if you add some vinegar to the water



Wot me OT ........... Never been known before

[daviddevantnhisspiritwife]

That draper one looks good too.

[bearded bloke]

That draper one looks good too.

overall 4 stars ....... "Not the most comfortable grip if using it for long periods" .... seems to be the only minus, same survey

[daviddevantnhisspiritwife]

At this rate I'll be buying a cheap bottle of white vinegar and some Stanley blades.

I saw a few comments about the metal handle on the draper being slightly different to hold and it was a bit narrow. But, I guess the bonus is that it would be more comfortable in your pocket. Plus, how extensively would I be using a knife? Not that extensively.

The Opinel #8 will probably end up ordered in a weak moment.

[sparrow100]

I don't have a problem with it, but I don't use it all that much. It does stay gratifyingly sharp - possibly because of that though.

[Kristen]

The Opinel #8 will probably end up ordered in a weak moment.

Are we placing bets then?

[daviddevantnhisspiritwife]

If you like, I can tell you this much;

A few sips of red wine and boredom when the TV is locked onto The Voice or something else equally vapid - I'll probably have a collection of knives to rival Michael Dundee and a rainbow of egg poaching devices.

[Olorin2001]

I would recommend a Stanley 10-095 knife, 9.5mm wide blade
or the larger 10-018, 18mm wide blade for heavier work.
Retracting mechanism works fine and the screw locks the blade in or out. Aluminium body and I've had mine for 30 years, replace blade as required so no need to sharpen.
about £4 for the 10-095 and £6 for the 10-018.

[Kristen]

What do people use a knife for?

I'm looking at the Staley retractable knife above and thinking how convenient the replaceable blade is (and I think you can snap the end off to get a new blade before having to replace the whole thing?) It would do great for cuttings, that need a keen edge, for example.

But I also use my [Swiss Army] penknife for cutting underground (removing a sucker at the root junction, for example) and I need a stiff blade for that.

I'd probably use mine for opening a can of paint too, although hopefully the screwdriver blade!

Cutting open a bag of compost - I use whatever is to hand for that, blade of a secateurs even, but tearing it is hard work and leaves a useless [for "pouring"] zagged opening that a knife will always be better.

I might use the saw blade on my penknife if I was desperate, but I have a pruning saw so I'd be much better off with Secateurs if the branch was the thickness of my little finger, and loppers for fatter, and the pruning saw for even thicker. But if I was down the far end of the garden and only had my Swiss Army knife I would probably use that saw.

The little scissors on mine are handy too - but only as an alternative to proper scissors - again, situation where I got to the end of the garden before I realised I needed some!

I did buy a combination tool once - Secateurs and Penknife blade. Handy to have to hand all the time, but the secateurs were not strong enough, so wasn't really a solution. I now wear a builder's toolbelt whenever I go out into the garden to "do stuff" so I can have penknife, secateurs and a few other bits with me whenever I am in the garden (without them being in my pockets and weighting my trousers down, which I hate ...)

What other uses does a penknife get put to?