age old question

N

nokia

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Sep 3, 2007
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So, I know this question has probably been brought up a million times and hopefully I put a twist on it, but who knows?

This mostly goes out to the construction workers, but it can apply to anyone.

Do you prefer a razor knife vs. a regular blade. (be it traditional, fixed, multi-tool, sak, custom, production, chinese, usa, whatever comes to mind.)

I've been working in plumbing for two years now. I have used a variety of knives on the site from an old working man's schrade, buck 110, leatherman juice, to the cheap husky razor knife we all have stuffed in the tool box of our trucks or stuck at the bottum of a old tool bag.

I have seen the upside to using a razor knife vs. a regular knife and vise versa.

Personally, I prefer using a good multi-tool or sak compared to a razor knife, but there are a few situtations when I would take that razor knife. They make great loners, I can use one and not worry about breaking the blade or chipping it on a piece of metal or w/e might be in the way of cutting. But, then again you don't get the satisfaction of using YOUR knife the accomplish something, if you know what I mean. And, my biggest concern is the fact that a razor knife is so short. There is almost no blade length to it and there are alot of times where I needed a good 3"-4" blade for getting all the way through the first cut instead of making six or seven unnecessary cuts with the razor knife.
 
i worked construction for a couple of years and always used my razor for the tasks i didn't want to put a knife i liked in... basically just abusing it i guess
ur right, a great loner
 
Damn dude, whats a Razor knife?
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Razor knife = Boxcutter.

I use my edc for most of my cutting but the razor knife is my go to for really cruddy stuff like carpet removal and I am just dragging the blade across concrete. The blades are dirt cheap and easily replacable.
 
rackness said:
Razor knife = Boxcutter.

I use my edc for most of my cutting but the razor knife is my go to for really cruddy stuff like carpet removal and I am just dragging the blade across concrete. The blades are dirt cheap and easily replacable.
Click to expand...

Right on!
 
Yeah, but the thing I am talking about is usually known as the folding box cutter. Yeah, I do have a couple of knives I don't mind just dragging across the concrete, but I still don't want to put a knife through that abuse when I have a cheap
$.10 razor that can do the job (probably better) then that cheap knife.
 
I am a painter by trade.I use to carry a razor knife until i found out just how useful a multi-tool is. I now carry a leatherman kick. Never leave home without it.:thumbup:
 
I would use a box cutter for tasks that would dull my normal blades in an instant, no need for sharpening and nice cheap blades, but I've never really been a fan of the wharncliffe styled box cutter blades, I prefer normal knives for everything else than is not abuse.
 
I use my knives - but I don't abuse them. I'm not about to spend more than $20 just to cut carpet, sheetrock, scrape gaskets, slash root balls, or slice baling twine wrapped around an axle.

I will use a box cutter for that - and if you bother to look around, you can get a few different shapes. The hook blade is available and works great on asphalt shingles.

Of course, any decent knife will cut tar-saturated rag enmeshed in fiberglass mat and encrusted with decorative gravel, I see children doing that in backyards everywhere building dog houses. They often use Daddy's new tactical folder or Mom's Henckel parer.

Pro's use the right tool for the right job - or can afford to abuse the wrong one when necessary. I can get a real quick assessment of the professionalism of a workman by what tools he uses. Not using a razor knife tells me a lot.
 
nokia
I use the Stanley SUV. It has an easily (quick) change razor blade and a apx 4" blade for "longer reach" jobs. It has a "real" sized handle for cutting control. THat said, it is 420 and doesnt hold an edge real well but is PS for metal etc. Not a paid spokesperson ......... also sheeple friendly by the way. I also still EDC a better blade but for work I find it the best of both worlds.
 
Yeah, but the thing I am talking about is usually known as the folding box cutter. Yeah, I do have a couple of knives I don't mind just dragging across the concrete, but I still don't want to put a knife through that abuse when I have a cheap
$.10 razor that can do the job (probably better) then that cheap knife.
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I am not sure if you misunderstood me or not but I am not reccomending you to drag your EDC across concrete.

I have a folding boxcutter (superknife) as well that I was saying I use for cruddy jobs like carpet removal where I am dragging the blade across concrete.

Trust me any good knife can do it but why go through serious edge work when you can pop the blade out and replace it in second and continue working with the box cutter.

I use my EDC for many tough tasks that some may concider abusive but I am never looking to destroy my knives.
 
I used a box cutter for years when I was working as a flooring installer, it worked well for carpet, vinyl, underlay, padding, etc. I would have been stopping every 15 minutes and sharpening a regular knife and would have worn out the blade in just a few months.

For some jobs a box cutter just makes sense but I always had a regular knife in my pocket as well.
 
If I'm expecting to do some work, I'll have a SAK (with a saw on it), large folder... either the Tarani or the Ka-Bar Mule, Victorinox Swiss Spirit multitool), and a boxcutter on hand. All my bases are (just about) covered, and, usually, I don't need any other screwdrivers. You can cover everything from yard work and "pruning" to simple home repairs with little else.

If I had to choose just one, my vote would have to go to the SAK since you have so many other tools at your disposal and it sharpens easily. So, even if it does dull after cutting the drywall, panelling, or what-have-you, it's a cinch to resharpen.

Still, there's a reason most of us will carry a boxcutter... no sense in putting a decent knife through some things.
 
I also use the box cutter for abusive tasks. Usually cutting up sandpaper and scraping glue. The blades, even when new, are not a sharp as any of my real knives. I like to keep my knives sharp, so no sandpaper cutting for them.

Box cutters do not outperform real blades, they're just cheap and expendable.

Phillip
 
I use a Kershaw Junkyard Dog II in CB for hard use utility work. It's unkillable, holds a good edge, and isnt difficult to sharpen.

The main reason I use it is because the ergonomics are amazing and you can do alot of hard cutting without hot spots or hand fatigue.

For blatantly abusive tasks - laminate blade Mora all the way.
 
rackness said:
Razor knife = Boxcutter.

I use my edc for most of my cutting but the razor knife is my go to for really cruddy stuff like carpet removal and I am just dragging the blade across concrete. The blades are dirt cheap and easily replacable.
Click to expand...

Absintheur said:
I used a box cutter for years when I was working as a flooring installer, it worked well for carpet, vinyl, underlay, padding, etc. I would have been stopping every 15 minutes and sharpening a regular knife and would have worn out the blade in just a few months.

For some jobs a box cutter just makes sense but I always had a regular knife in my pocket as well.
Click to expand...


+1 on that.

When I do construction, I carry both a razor knife and an EDC.
 
@rackness - Lol! No I didn't misunderstand you and the point I was trying to make was I have a few decent blades that I don't care what happens to them just like a razor knife. (Boker Magnum's and Frost Cutlery knives ((those come as cheap as razor blades))

There are some jobs that might actually damage my edc and a razor knife was more useful,
such as today, my fellow co-worker was trying to cut open a package of Allthread rod (name speaks for its self. its a 10 ft rod that is covered in nothing but thread all the way down, its used mostly for hanging heavy objects from the ceiling and such) with his utility knife, but he was having major trouble because he ran out of blades and his last one was as dull as a butter knife. So I let him use my leatherman juice and he opened it right up with no trouble at all, but when doing so, the knife will scrape across all those threads damaging the tip of the blade. and sometimes I have to mark on brick, concrete, cast iron pipe, etc... and I won't have a pencil or magic marker around me, so I usually use my razor knife to make a scrape/mark, but sometimes I might pull out the wrong blade when im real busy working and not notice. but i mostly carry around a husky razor knife and a leatherman/gerber multitool with me. sometimes ill bring a Queen gunstock in d2. depends on the day.
 
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