to see Utilizer counterfeits still being sold in 2023, for example.
I saved the 4 URL's and notified the US company.
2.0 years later the counterfeits are gone, folks seem to have moved on (
Folding utility knives?).
I also wanted to update the thread by letting know how the
The Utilizer 2.0 has been holding up since the op 4.5 years ago (btw the initial product 1.0 is 7.0y/o ©2016).
Well, the knife held up extremely well … simply
because it didn't see much pocket time during all these years, same with my other small knives (Spyderco Delica 4 Spyderco Techno Spyderco Techno 2 Giantmouse Ace Riv Fox Suru Fox Suru Fox Suru): for me, they are still
a tad too bulky or too wide to feel comfortable or likable being carried around all the time, and the pocket clips *uck (delica suru); in short, while i liked the
idea of EDC'ing them 24/7, IRL i simply didn't edc any of them; bottom line, in the end none of them were likable enough for
actual EDC #realedc in my life in gemani
ymmv. Also, my
backup blade on my keychain is totally sufficient and super cool in everyday life, outside of work activities. (Fortunately, i bought a knife, the Razor V3, which i find very likable as #realedc knife, and i would discuss it in another thread — i believe that many owners of the Utilizer from back then also own the Razor V3 by now, it's the highest rated utility knife in the 60$+ price category on amazon)
The other point of concern was the enjoyment of the cutting performance. When you have a longer or demanding cutting task at hand —which you think should be absolutely doable with your knife—, only after a few minutes in, your mind and hand realize that this knife model isn't the most comfortable/ergonomic to grip long, hard, strong. Squeeze the handle very tightly in a fist grip with bare hands, and you'll eventually notice the discomfort ouch. That's me speaking, having smallish skinny fingers, not much flesh/fat for padding ymmv. All right, then i'd wear gloves for such cutting tasks, problem solved, agreed.
A more objective point which goes against the enjoyment of the cutting performance is the presence of the full-length titanium lip. Hmm what's that?
Similarly to the GERBER EAB/EAB LITE, the Utilizer's blade holder exposes most of the razor's sharp edge length, while, at the same time, covering all of the razor's opposite edge (which has the 2/4 notches) with a raised, unbevelled metal "lip". And it is exactly this lip which stands in the way (obstructs), when you try to do cuts, holding the knife in a normal, usual, natural position in relation to the cutting direction. If you do, the medium (e.g. cardboard) constantly touches/hits the lip, obstructing the cutting motion, requiring more hand force, and last but not least, ruining the cutting interface. With thick dense cardboard, the knife gets stuck, the lip gets jammed/trapped in the cutting interface. This is frustrating and unacceptable, so with thick dense cardboard the only way to go about this problem is to hold/position the knife at such an angle that the cardboard would never touch the lip. Now you're limited to draw cuts (
no more push cuts!), and the cutting depth is limited as well, and cutting effectiveness is reduced too, because your cutting force gets distributed over the entire razor's sharp edge length, resulting in lower cutting pressure at the edge. ---> Mind you, this scenario comes only into play when you cut thick dense cardboard.
The other day i shot a 2-part demo of cutting up a thick dense banana box, this part showing the
double-layered cardboard. Note that it is when doing push cuts, one is able to exert maximum force, so most of the time you see me doing push cuts:
While this was an artificial cutting challenge (
why would one want to cut up a banana box IRL lol?? 
), it shows what lipped utility knives (Gerber EAB, The Utilizer,
COAST DX126) would really struggle with. As we learn from the raw footage, no such problems with folding razor knives which i come with a free-standing portion of the razor blade!
