Opinel Limited Edition Curly Birch Sampo N°08 with Mirror-finished Stainless Steel Blade

Limited edition: the N°08 Sampo.

In Finnish mythology, the Sampo is a magical object that brings wealth to the people who possess it. But nobody really knows what this object looks like... Perhaps it looks like an Opinel? 

Discover the N°08 Sampo pocket knife: a buffed handle in curly birch from Finnish forests and a 8.5 cm stainless steel blade with a mirror finish. Curly birch is a subspecies of silver birch found in northern countries. Its veining is slightly speckled, with small waves. So it's never the same from one knife to another. 

Martensitic Stainless Steel

Hardness 55-57 HRC. European origin.
The stainless steel used in OPINEL blades is a grade optimized to guarantee both high corrosion resistance and high mechanical performance. 
The blade offers excellent sharpness and high resistance to abrasion (wear) which allows it to withstand regular contact with hard materials, such as ceramics, before requiring re-sharpening. Stainless steel has the advantage of requiring no special maintenance under ordinary conditions of use, unlike carbon steel. Nevertheless, it can meet its limits when it is put in prolonged contact with an aggressive environment (acid, salt water, detergent ...).

Blade Length - 8.5cm

Safety Ring

Invented by Marcel Opinel in 1955, the Virobloc safety ring is fitted to all folding knives from the N° 06. Cut out of stainless steel, the Virobloc has two sections, one fixed and one sliding. In addition to locking the blade open (safety in use), it is now possible to lock the blade closed (safety in transport).

Mirror - Finished Blade

Double polished for a mirror effect

Handle

Curly birch is a subspecies of silver birch that grows in the Nordic countries, particularly in the Karelia region of Finland. It is the extreme growing conditions that have such an effect on the wood. The tree will twist as it grows, with the layers of hard and soft wood developing unevenly, creating the distinctive swirling, undulating, marble-like patterns of the curly grain.