We're not quite nervy enough to label the new Néo7 Alpine from French legacy knifemaker Opinel a "multitool," but it does meet the strict definition with several different functions packed inside one chassis. And you don't have to be a world-traveled mountaineer to find regular everyday uses for each one. The new ultralight adventure-ready pocket knife pairs Opinel's timeless form, style and simplicity with a few features that promise to make it more useful and quicker to deploy.
Part of Opinel's all-new Outdoor Collection comprising knives purpose-built for specific groups of activities, the Néo7 Alpine is the most broadly outdoorsy and adventure-ready of the lot. It's also a natural for a brand from France, a country that hosts the birthplace of mountaineering and extreme skiing: Chamonix.
The world-renowned alpine commune at the foot of Mont Blanc, Western Europe's highest peak, is one of the true adventure capitals of the world, having played an unparalleled role in the foundation and evolution of many entire action sports and disciplines. So it's natural that Opinel teamed up with instructors from Chamonix's National School of Skiing and Mountaineering (ENSA) to develop a knife fit for rock climbers, mountaineers, backcountry ski tourers, ice climbers and other high-elevation adventure seekers.
What that collaboration has come up with is a new knife that pushes Opinel's classic profile to new heights in terms of user friendliness and features. The most noticeable and significant change here is the move away from Opinel's signature wood handle in favor of a reinforced fiberglass polymer and cork split. The fiberglass polymer provides rugged weatherproof, impact-resistant performance while the cork adds a more natural, secure grip and feel on the palm, also contributing to the knife's ultralight 1.45-oz (41-g) construction, a figure that makes the Néo7 one of Opinel's lightest knives ever.
The Néo7 also brings a blunt blade tip to the Opinel family for two purposes. When the knife is deployed, it works as a small flathead screwdriver and scraper. When it's folded, the tip extends just beyond the base of the handle to work as a flipper tab for one-handed deployment, essential if your other hand happens to be white-knuckling a tiny protrusion on the otherwise sheer rock face to which you're clinging.
Previous Opinel knives we've looked at were two-handed designs because they all featured the company's proprietary Virobloc ring lock to secure the blade in closed and open positions. Opinel introduced a new, modern non-locking knife line last year with the introduction of the Opiflex slip joint on the Néo6 knife, replacing the ring lock with a non-locking spring mechanism where blade meets handle, hardware that serves to stabilize the blade without fully locking it in place. It carries the Opiflex hardware over to the Néo7 Alpine.
In place of the usual straight blade, the Néo7 Alpine's 3.3-in (8.4-cm) stainless steel blade has a distinctly serrated edge developed for tasks like cutting rope. The strategic triangular cutout on the upper blade helps to drop weight without diminishing performance.
Fold the Néo7 blade closed, and the top of the knife reveals a 1/4-in bit holder you can use for putting torque to your most critical bits. It's there for uses like tweaking ski or snowboard bindings, fixing camping gear or simply opening up screwed-on GPS or lighting battery compartment lids.
Flip the knife over to the handle base, and there's one more task it can handle while folded up. An integrated whistle lets you fire out a signal of up to 100 decibels to communicate an emergency to team members or anyone nearby.
The Néo7 Alpine seems like a handy, little featherlight adventure knife that could serve well as a primary knife for ultralight activities like rock climbing or as a complement to other knives and tools for less weight-conscious endeavors. Opinel launched it in June for a retail price of US$45.
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Source: Opinel
