u/jrose125

Fresh from eBay is my latest Opinel, a well loved No.8 of unknown vintage straight from France. Is there a way to discern an approximate age based on the features? The locking ring says 'No. 8 Virobloc Brevete' and there is no 'Made in France' on the ring. Nothing at all on the handle. There is also no indication of Carbon or Stainless on the blade, but given the patina I assume it's Carbon steel?

Looking forward to cleaning this one up a bit - not too much though, I kinda dig the 'patina' on the ring and blade!

Thanks in advance to anyone that can help me place an approximate age on this one.

Made the mandatory stop into Wonder Pens this afternoon while in Toronto for a few days, where the theme of the day was evidently Blue, Yellow, and Green.

This weekend I was attending a wedding in the Eastern Townships of Québec and happened to run across a Bike/Outdoor shop that carried a good amount of Opinel knives!

As soon as I saw the No. 8 Effilé with a Padouk handle, I knew I wasn't walking out of the store without it. The elegance of the slender Padouk handle and the mirror polished stainless steel immediately struck me, truly a beautiful knife.

Also pictured is my daily carry No. 6 Carbone - I've carried a No. 6 for years but this particular one has been with me just under a year after I unfortunately lost my longtime No.6 Inox.

I anticipate that this won't be the last Effilé Opinel I buy, I'm very much enjoying it so far!

I've been intrigued by the Parker 65 for quite awhile, and after a few months of watching eBay like a hawk, I finally found a half-decent deal on the metal-bodied Flighter Deluxe version of the pen.

The Parker 65 was released in 1967 as the "open nib" companion to the Parker 61 and was fully discontinued by 1982-1983. The 65 features a semi-flexible integrated 14k gold nib and is a cartridge/converter pen.

Included with my example is the original plastic case, squeeze converter, and a few well-aged black cartridges in the bottom of the box.

Overall, I'm very satisfied with this pen out of the gate and am enjoying the bouncy nib immensely. As with all flagship Parker pens from this era, the snap cap is incredibly satisfying and the pen posts very deeply and securely.

Anyone else love these 65's? They seem to be relatively uncommon/underrated here in North America.

I live in Atlantic Canada which is unfortunately a bit of a dead zone for Tequila. Think of any of the many popular additive free options on this sub (affordable or otherwise), and there is a good chance I can't buy it locally - Ocho, G4, Cascahuin, Tapatio, Arette, Cimarron, and the list goes on.

On the way home from a week in Cancun I spotted some Ocho Plata in the Duty Free and knew I had to come home with a bottle for myself, and one for my old man who also enjoys quality tequila.

Looking forward to popping one of these later this evening - will comment an update once I have the chance to compare against my go-to Olmeca Altos Plata.