A Safer Utility Knife
By Eric Dykstra
If you work in a warehouse or in any sort of material-handling job, a utility knife can be your best friend, or it can send you to the ER. Martor USA makes a series of utility knives, including the Megasafe 116003, that features a blade-retraction mechanism — the blade automatically snaps back into the knife’s body when it loses contact with the material it’s cutting. This reduces the risk of accidental injury by making sure the blade is only out when it’s under control.
The Megasafe’s aluminum, ambidextrous handle contains the patented “smart knife technology”. Essentially, a spring retracts the blade once tension is taken off, regardless of the blade slider’s position. You can get the Megasafe in two versions, one with a .30mm blade and one with a .63mm blade. The former model works well for slicing through lighter materials, and the latter is for heavy-duty jobs.
You can find ‘em for about $20 — but don’t completely rely on the Google product search, as selection there is pretty slim.
Martor [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Demo Video [YouTube]
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:07 pm
These are standard issue at Lowes.
April 2nd, 2008 at 1:39 pm
I use a folding Sheffield utility knife that I wouldn’t trade for anything.
April 2nd, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Lenox has a knife that I use that i wouldn’t triad. 2 models fix blade for about $10 and the quick release for about $15
EASY BLADE CHANGE
Quick blade release allows rotation or changing of blade without opening handle
INTERNAL BLADE STORAGE
Retractable knife stores up to five blades
Fixed knife stores up to ten blades
NO TOOL NEEDED TO OPEN
http://www.lenoxtools.com/enUS/Product/UTILITY_KNIVES.html
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:07 am
Irwin has one as well. They even have blades that bend but don’t break.
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/2WA17
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/2WA18
April 3rd, 2008 at 10:42 am
I’ve used this style knife, I believe it was made in Germany. One word aptly describes this tool, CRAP. Our safety dept. procured them, for what reason I don’t know , no one had injured themselves with the standard utility knife.
April 3rd, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Seems like this would be a pain in the a$$. All good and well if you are making long, consistent long cuts all day, but for the small stuff, you’d spend more time re-extending the blade than you would spend on actual cutting.