Snap-off blade utility knife: Worth it? Or waste of time?

When it comes to my tools—utility knife, miter saw, truck, that thing I carry my phone in—I measure their value in how they work and what they can do. That’s function.

If, however, they don’t save me time, heartache or hassle over what I already have or do,  I could give a cr++ about their list of features and benefits or some tool-snobbish esoterica about sharpness or accuracy or whatever. In short: put up, pay up or shut up so I can work.

*Note: Snap-off blade utility knife manufacturer OLFA sponsored this blog. I’m wondering how nervous they are by this point because, perhaps it’s obvious, the opinions are all MyFixitUpLife’s action. Here we go.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a typical style utility knife in my pouch for a long time. They work. I do not believe that is a closely guarded secret. And that swapping that out for the OLFA NL-AL didn’t put a hitch my no-look utility knife grab. But it did.

Until I got used to it and the different ways I had to place my hands to extend the blade. Put another way, if somebody swapped out your keyboard, you might misspell a few words until your fingers jumped to the right places. Worth mentioning because it happened. No big deal, because I learned to type again.

So is this type of utility knife worth it?

Yes. But <add musical accompaniment for irony here> not because the blade snaps off. But we’ll start there.

The blades snap-off. I use dikes (diagonal cutters) to break the blade, which is essentially perforated every 1/2-inch or so along its 3-inch (-ish) length. Snapping off a dull portion of the blade reveals a brand new cutting edge. This is good when you need a fresh edge. Thing is, I use other features of the long-bladed knives much more for rocking DIY and home improvement.

Reason is, you don’t always need a scalpel. Except when you do. Sometimes a dull-ish blade works just fine. Except when it doesn’t.

Confused? Who wouldn’t be? Let’s continue.

Cutting the paper on drywall for a drywall repair doesn’t require a really sharp blade. Neither does splitting a cedar shim or opening packaging around a door or window or new tool. And that’s what we do all day in just about any project.

But…And here it is…some things not only require a sharp blade, they get done better *see above* with a longer blade that enables you to change your angle of attack—how the knife blade hits the work.

Huh?

The OLFA destroyed fiberglass insulation. I mean this in a good way. You can extend the utility knife blade to full length, compress the insulation with a board and instead of paper and fiberglass getting bunched up (always happens) in the body of the knife, just about all you have touching the insulation is edge. It cut fast and clean in the R-13 and R-30 I cut. Time=saved.

It was also a hero cutting 6 mil sheet plastic I’m using as a vapor barrier in a basement man cave we’re building. Essentially for the same reason. All blade, almost zero obstruction. And if it stops cutting (because sheet plastic resist cutting every inch of the way) you can change the angle the tool hits the material and get a clean cut faster. Yes.

You know what else a sharp blade is great for? Sharpening a pencil. Dull…not so much. With the long blade, I can extend it past the used area to expose sweet sharpness to hone my pencil then draw it back for cutting whatever.

Then there are suspended ceiling tiles. These look great installed but, like anything, need to be worked a certain way. The OLFA utility knife made much quicker work of this project for us than a typical utility knife. Not only because I can extend the blade as needed to optimize cutting but because I could also lay the knife flat on the work table and cut the horizontal edge for a reveal or chamfer-type ceiling tile. Yeah, that saved me a bucket of time.

So, worth it or waste? For the less than 15-bucks this thing costs, it made that back and more in the capital that counts: Heartache, hassle and headaches.

Mark

A licensed contractor, tool expert, wood and outdoor enthusiast, and elite Spartan Race competitor, he writes about home improvement and tools for national magazines and websites, and teaches hands-on clinics for other remodeling professionals. Check out his book, The Carpenter's Notebook.

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