The Opinel Virobloc or safety twistlock mechanism was invented by Marcel Opinel in 1955, 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.

Is an Opinel a lock knife?

Knives such as Opinel knives, which utilise a manual twist collar to hold the blade in the open position, are termed to be lock knives regardless of length of cutting edge.

Does Opinel No 8 lock?

This is a proprietary Opinel feature, and is basically a ring around the pivot collar of the knife that, when the knife is either opened or closed, can be rotated around until it meets up against the tang of the blade and locks it either open or closed.