I always carry a couple of good knives with me, but I have lately gone on a utility knife kick. I’m not sure I want to carry one, but I definitely like having them around the house for opening boxes.
I don’t think I’ve found the perfect one yet, but I do have some a like quite well.
The Oknife Otacle Pro is my favorite. It is small and very slim, but provides a good grip. The blade is completely covered, so I can use hook blades without worrying about exposed edges. The mechanism provides one-handed deployment with excellent safety. There is a neat little clip that works well and doesn’t get in the way.
The mechanism is actually very good, but it gets terrible reviews. That’s because it desperately needs to be lubricated and it comes from the factory dry. Mine was pretty much unusable until I sprayed it down with ToughGlide. Now it’s one of the smoothest I’ve used.
My second favorite is the Nexland Sliding Utility Knife. The mechanism is very clever. It involves just a few pieces of titanium with no fasteners or springs. It should be pretty much indestructible. It’s easy to use with one hand. Changing blades is simple and quick without tools. It also gets extra points for preventing the blade to drag along the track when it slides.
My honorable mention is the Screwpop Ron’s Utility Knife 3.0. The mechanism is incredibly simple, but it works beautifully. I can deploy it one-handed, although it takes some practice. Changing blades is obvious and easy. There is also a magnet that can be used to attach it to things. The price is low enough that you can keep several in strategic locations around the house.
It is also worth pointing out the Outdoor Edge Slidewinder, which may be the best choice for the average person. The mechanism is more complex than I prefer, but it works well. There is a spring that retracts the blade as soon as you touch the button, which is a nice safety feature. It’s a little bigger than the others, but still small and handy. There’s a decent clip. There is also a slotted and a Phillips screwdriver.
I have also discovered some annoying limitations along the way. I put Lenox Gold blades into all my utility knives, but I’ve run into several that don’t work with them, or with many other standard blades. They frustrate me.
The Oknife Otacle (non-Pro version) uses a different mechanism from the Pro that requires holes through the central axis of the blade. That rules out most utility blades.
Milwaukee Utility Knives are among the best, but the Compact Slide, which I wanted for its relatively small size, will not work with blades that have more than two notches at the top. I couldn’t believe it and ended up taking it apart, but it really won’t accept them.
The Manker UTI Edge is a nicely minimalist design, but it is just a tiny bit too short for a lot of standard blades. A fraction of a millimeter difference would have solved that problem. I also have some concerns about how well its lock holds.
Has anyone else gone down this particular rabbit hole?
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I carried the original Gerber EAB for a long time, then carried an even Smaller Package opener tool for a little while.
I just got a Milwaukee Fastback 6-in-1 and it is pretty awesome.
I lost my EAB a few times because I could open it with one hand but was not comfortable closing it one handed so I would set it down and forget about by the time I was done with my task.
The Fastback is a lot bulkier but being able to easily close it one handed, and it basically being a nice full size screwdriver makes the extra bulk worth it in my opinion.
I’ve been carrying a Milwaukee Fastback for a couple of years and it’s great. I haven’t missed having a full sized folder. I do have a SAK in my lumbar pack but haven’t much needed the cutting blade. I’d like to get one of these sometime, which uses a utility blade but gives you the full cutting surface length and weighs just 0.9 oz:
https://www.litesmith.com/ultrafire-knife-firestarter/
It’s on the expensive side though, so I’ve been ok without it.
I’ve played with a few of those keychain sized utility sliders and didn’t like them, but the Ultrafire above is a “fixed blade” and even has a tiny ferro rod in the blade cover, for outdoor firestarting.
Some people are big fans of this. I tried a knockoff and found it too hard to operate, but knockoffs, you know.
I have a Quark. It is probably the smallest and thinnest possible utility knife, but I agree that it’s just too awkward for casual use. I worry that it would be easy to cut yourself while trying to get the blade in or out.
are you bob ?
saw this yesterday ☞ lastbesttool / CobraTec Out-the-Front (OTF) Utility Knife
i use a gerber eab lite as a utility knife. It was a decent find ±10 years ago and it was good enough to prevent me from going down that “particular rabbit hole”
finding the right multiTool to pocket was (and is) more challenging
I’m skeptical of all OTF knives. They are definitely neat, but the mechanisms are inherently more complicated and fragile than typical pivoting openers.
I do have a Gerber EAB Lite. It’s a great little tool, but I wish it were easier to open with one hand.
i hold pinch the screw/blade side and flick open the body. Try and see how easy it is 🙂
You’re right. That works pretty well. I guess the problem is that I don’t use it enough, and I use knives with other opening mechanisms a lot more.
I do appreciate the tip.
My office carry is the Exceed Designs TiRant Razor-M: awesome mechanism and really compact. Really expensive, too…
Here paired with its sibling flashlight EDC:
I keep looking at the Razor-M. Are you comfortable that the mechanism is secure? I’ve had several “push the blade down to slide” types that just didn’t lock in place very well.
You may have just cost me some serious money. :-)
Yes it feels secure. The magnets are very strong and the locking geometry has tight tolerances, so that on the cutting plane there is no movement whatsoever. And even when a side force is applied to the blade tip, the blade moves but remains engaged, because the two magnets in the back keep it in place. The only thing to look for is avoid scraping the blade edge to the inner side of the body - the mechanism is very “fidgety” but using it too much dulls the blade. You can avoid this scraping by pulling the edge away, but you have to purposely think about it. I even imported it to Europe from the US, so to you it will cost surely less than to me ;)
I do appreciate the information. I’ve ordered one, so I guess I’ll see for myself soon enough. :-)
