The Opinel Knife, or simply Opinel, is a simple, wooden-handled Pocket Knife manufactured since 1890 in the town of Saint-Jean-de Maurienne in the Savoie region of France.

The Opinel knife was invented by Joseph Opinel in 1890 in Savoie as a simple working man's or Peasant's knife. It became very popular with the local farmers, herdsmen, and paysan vignerons (peasant winemakers) of the area. In 1897, a series of twelve sizes, numbered 1 to 12, was developed. From 1901-1903, Joseph Opinel built his first factory in Pont de Gévoudaz and produced a machine for mass production of the knife's wooden handles.

The Opinel Virobloc or safety twistlock mechanism was invented by Marcel Opinel in 1955, greatly increasing the safety and versatility of the knife by allowing the blade to be locked in the open position. In 2000, the Virobloc locking mechanism was improved to allow locking the blade in either the open or closed position.

The traditional Opinel knife has a beechwood handle and a high carbon XC90 steel (acier au carbon) blade. Opinel also offers most of its models with a Sandvik 12C27M stainless steel (acier inox) blade. Custom Opinel models are available using luxurious or exotic handle woods such as oak, walnut, olive, rosewood and stained hornbeam, as well as other materials such as cowhorn.

The construction of the current production Opinel knife is very simple, consisting of only five components: a blade, wooden handle, stainless steel metal clamping band, stainless pivot pin (axle), and (except in the case of the smaller models) a stainless steel Virobloc locking collar, which locks the blade open or closed.