If you know Dan, one thing you know, well besides being disorganized, he is an impulse buyer. He was at a big box store the other day and just had to buy the Dewalt utility knife model DW10035. Not that he needed it for anything or was going to do anything with it, but he just had to have it. He took it out of the package, opened it up, said this is pretty cool and then passed it my way. He said, “Now just play with it, cut some stuff up and write the review. Oh yeah give it back to me when your done.” All I could do was just laugh and say ok. Obviously he is not getting this back, good thing for his short term memory.
Both Dewalt and Milwaukee are ramping up their hand tool line up. As you can see by the picture above, the blade does fold up into the knife, so it is compact. On the side of the knife is a nice belt clip, so you always have access to it when needed. On the top of the handle you can notice a black rubber grip. Not only does it provide a nice grip, but it also opens up and this is where you can store extra blades, only 3 blades. The metal handle is 6.25″, so there is a nice large surface for gripping. The Dewalt Utility knife has a retractable blade, so it does give you a variety of different cutting depths. When the blade is fully extended, its 2.5″ long. The knife can be opened with one hand, however its not as easy as the Milwaukee Fastback knife. Once the blade is fully extended, it is locked into place and can be folded back up like a traditional knife. You push the lock away from the blade and it fold right back up.
When the knife is in the open position, there is a small black plastic insert which is great to use with your thumb and have complete control over the knife. On the bottom there is also a gut hook for quick cutting of wire or other small items. One thing the Milwaukee and Dewalt haven common is how you change the blade. No more trying to find a screwdriver, set of keys or a coin to change the blade, just push the button and the blade is released. You can easily pull it out and insert a new blade and get back to work. As with all other Dewalt hand tools this is backed by a lifetime warranty.
Dewalt seems to be hitting the market hard with their new line up of hand tools. The DW10035 is a great start. The knife is very practical and light. The overall balance is great. If your looking for a good utility knife, the Dewalt is a good place to start.
I bought the DeWalt folding utility knife and am pretty impressed. I have a folding razor, but I like the added safety feature of being able to slide the blade inside the DeWalt tool.
I was a little disappointed in just how big the tool is. DeWalt took the business end of a traditional utility knife and simply put a folding metal case around it. The problem is that the tool is very wide. It is not very comfortable to carry in a pocket. I guess the extra width does give a little better hand feel and possibly some more control than a thinner tool, but I believe that DeWalt could have struck a better balance with it.
Over all I do really like the tool and use it quite a bit.
I bought the knife yesterday and have already used it to cut through dry-wall, fiberglass, and open up the boxes for the product i was installing.. I’m very impressed with the design, weight, and fact that its dewalt. I know dewalt has a line of power tools and is my tool of choice, first i’ve seen for an everyday hand-tool so i had to have it. the thumb grip when the blade is open and fully extended is a huge plus, very good control and power while I was cutting through dry-wall and fiberglass. And the folding feature is great, now i can carry this around instead of my pocket knife and not have to worry about dulling my blade… only thing its missing is a bottle opener
LOL. A bottle opener would be sweet.