Mora knives are made in Sweden, and although extremely inexpensive, they are reasonably well made. These knives feature few embellishments and won’t win any beauty or innovation contests. But they’re strong, durable, they hold an edge, and are easily sharpened and honed.

Fixed-blade knives are no substitutes for replaceable-blade utility knives, but they have their uses and do come in handy. Mora knives can also be used for outdoors or survival cutting and slicing tasks, but they won’t hold up to batoning.

We picked up a couple of Mora knives to try out, and thus far our favorite is the Mora Companion knife. The Companion knife offers a very nice balance between versatility, handle comfort, and price.

Buy now (via Amazon)
Other Mora Knife Styles (via Amazon)

Any other Mora knife fans out there? If so, which one(s) would you recommend?

I have a penchant for strange and innovative tools, but unless this is your first visit to ToolGuyd, you probably know that by now. So of course when I spotted this new Craftsman auto-load sliding utility knife in a bin at the local Sears, I just had to buy one to try out.

First Impressions

The Craftsman auto-load slide utility knife has an odd shape, but this gives it a comfortable and secure feel. There are multiple places around the handle where you can place your thumb and other fingers. A large metal loop at the end or the handle is perfectly sized for a small carabiner clip or paracord lanyard.

Blade-Change Mechanism

Craftsman designed (or licensed) an interesting blade-loading design where, after discarding a dull or damaged blade, you can automatically load a fresh new blade. Old blade removal is done by pressing the release button and then pulling the blade. Slide the deployment button to the knife’s “closed” position. A new blade should click into place.

The knife comes with two spare blades, but there looks to be room for a couple of more in the blade compartment.

Performance

The blade-change mechanism was a but clunky on the first try. You can see my surprise in the video below. I expected the auto-blade-change to work perfectly on the first try, and it didn’t. Imperfect blade alignment within the spare blade compartment may or may not lead to the jamming effect.

The knife itself performs reasonably well. The lock feels secure and reasonably trustworthy. The knife has two blade settings – open and closed. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – Stanley’s Quickslide knife, my favorite compact utility knife, also only offers two blade settings – but it’s not ideal.

One more thing I did not quite like – to deploy the blade you must slide the button switch from near the bottom of the knife handle to the top. The long sliding distance means that some users will have to reposition their hands when making a cut. Is this nitpicking? Probably. Will the necessitated shift in grip have any real-world effects? Probably not. But, however mildly, this still annoyed me.

Conclusions

Craftsman’s auto-load utility knife is interesting, but its blade-change mechanism is admittedly a bit gimmicky. Blade changes are often quick enough with modern utility knives that a knife like this, while handy and innovative, is not a game-changer.

It greatly bothers me that the knife jams up sometimes. After I made the video, I went back and put the knife through a few more blade-change cycles. It jammed up in 2 out of 5 tests. Granted the jams were easily cleared by nudging the switch back and forth, but this shouldn’t have been necessary.

In all, I don’t think the knife’s auto-load feature is remarkable enough to really recommend it. If its blade-deployment was a bit smoother and more ergonomic, it might have had a chance to compete with Dewalt’s retractable folding knife as my 2nd favorite compact utility knife. Overall, I found Craftsman’s auto-load utility knife to be disappointing.

I purchased this knife for maybe $6 or $7 on sale.

Buy Now(via Sears)

Video Review

ESEE knives has quietly announced their new Candiru fixed-blade knife. The Candiru is smaller than the hugely popular Izula neck knife, and also features a slightly different blade and handle profile.

(There will also be a new ESEE Laser Strike, and new love-it or hate-it “venom green” color scheme.)

Although some are calling the Candiru a neck knife, it looks more like a boot knife or compact utility and survival knife. The ESEE Candiru knife also comes with a low-profile Cordura sheath that will definitely improve its carryability. That’s the one issue I have with my Izula – it’s a bit too large and indiscreet for every-day-carrying (EDC) in an urban or office environment.

Photo by Jeff Randall

Photos by Jeff Randall

Official specs are not yet available, but it looks like the Candiru blade may be under two inches in length. The Candiru knife will be priced at about $45-50, sheath included. Optional Micarta and G10 bolt-on handles will also be available at launch, for about $17. There won’t be an official Kydex sheath, but an injection-molded plastic sheath option looks to be in the works.

In case you’re not familiar with this style of skeletonized knife, handle scales are optional. Many users prefer to wrap the handles with inexpensive paracord for improved grip and a personalized look.

Like ESEE’s other knives, the Candiru is made in the USA. And if you’re wondering what Candiru means, it’s the name of the parasitic “vampire fish” native to the Amazon River that is known for allegedly swimming up and invading human urethras.

Release Date: ~March 2012

Greenlee has voluntarily recalled about 1800 folding utility knives due a laceration hazard. The blade locking mechanism can fail, allowing the blade to accidentally fold inward unexpectedly. Greenlee has received a singly report of the blade lock failing, and no injuries have been reported.

The recall includes Greenlee Hawk Bill pocket knives, models 0652-27 and UT652-27. These knives were sold between September and November 2011 and retailed for ~$20.

If you have one of these knives, stop using it and return it to a distributor for a full refund. You can contact Greenlee for more information at 800-435-0786.

More Info via CPSC

CRKT’s keychain sharpener is designed for on-the-go sharpening and knife-edge touch-ups, not unlike the Smith’s Pocket Pal sharpener we discussed a couple of weeks ago. The field sharpener features carbide blades in a V-configuration, a flathead screwdriver, small cord/strap cutter, and a bottle opener.

It’s interesting that CRKT added additional features to the tool, but the secondary functions might not give enough reason to carry the keychain sharpener on  daily basis. The tool’s handle is composed of glass-filled nylon and 2CR13 steel.

More Info (via CRKT)

MSRP is $17.

New Becker Knives (USA-Made)

• Becker Machax
• Becker BK15 Short Trailing Point Knife
• Becker BK16 Short Drop Point Knife
• Becker BK 17 Short Clip Point Knife

The Machax measures 14-11/16″ overall with a 9-3/8″ blade, and looks to be quite appropriately named. It is roughly shaped like a machete, but with a handy axe-like-profile at the tip of the blade. MSRP is $135.67, although street pricing is expected to be considerably less.

The short knives, which might sometimes be described as tweener knives, are slightly scaled-down versions of larger Becker knifes. The BK15 resembles the BK5 Magnum Camp Knife, the BK16 the BK2 Companion Knife, and the BK17 the BK7 Combat Utility Knife. These new short versions look to save on size and weight, making them even more appealing for outdoors utility and tactical carrying.

Each Becker Short knife features a 1095 Cro-Van steel blade and is bundled with a MOLLE compatible sheath and extra set of brown Zytel handle scales. ETA is April 1st, 2012, and MSRP is $107.49. Again, expect for street pricing to be substantially lower.

I for one am a bit excited about the Becker BK16 Short drop-point knife. I purchased a BK2 Becker Companion knife a couple of weeks ago, and while I am greatly impressed with its quality, it’s a bit too much for my needs.

New Ka-Bar Zombie Knives

• Zombie Chop Stick Machete
• Zombie Mule Folder

The new Zombie Chop Stick Machete is 14-5/8″ overall with a 8″ blade, and comes with a black nylon sheath and extra set of handle scales. It should be available now, with an MSRP of $79.41.

The Mule folder is a carryover from the Ka-Bar line and is now offered with the Zombie-green handle. Straight and serrated edge versions will be available March 1st, 2012, and MSRP is $69.96.

Ka-Bar Combat Kukri

The USA-made Kukri is 13-3/8″ overall and has an 8-1/2″ blade. ETA is April 1st, 2012, and MSRP is $113.36.

Additional Ka-Bar and Zombie additions and upgrades are planned for 2012. Thus far upgrades of the Ka-Bar K2 folding knives have also been announced.

Expect to see these knives via your favorite Becker and Ka-Bar dealers.

Ka-Bar and Becker Knives via Amazon

The CRKT Tool 9200 is a new compact multi-tool for everyday carrying (EDC). While it lacks pliers and scissors, the Tool has a fairly strong feature set that makes it a nice almost minimalist tool. Designed by knifemakers Ed Van and Tom Stokes, the CRKT Tool has a clean and stylish appearance and is probably better described as a bonus-featured pocket knife than a multi-tool.

CRKT Tool Features

• 2.25-inch liner-lock straight-edge knife blade
• saw-tooth blade
• multi-fit box wrench
• wire stripper
• Phillips and slotted screwdrivers
• bit driver with additional screwdriver bits
• bottle opener
• belt clip and sheath

From the looks of it, the bit driver probably fits over the Phillips or slotted screwdrivers and accepts standard 1/4″ hex bits. The bits store away in a black plastic sleeve, which pops into the back pocket of the included sheath.

The CRKT Tool weighs 5.1 ounces by itself, and is a very pocketable 4-inches long when closed. MSRP is $50. No release date has been announced, but we see that the Tool is coming soon.

More Info via CRKT

Right now there are a couple of one-handed multi-tools on the market, such as the Gerber Diesel Multi-Plier, but they’re all kind of ho-hum. That’s soon to change - Leatherman has formally announced its new OHT one-hand-tool, and it looks totally bad-ass.

The Leatherman OHT will feature spring-loaded pliers that can be opened and closed with one hand, a feature many will find extremely appealing. Certain Leatherman sheaths allow you to carry the pliers in an open position, but I’ve always found this to be awkward.

It also looks like the One Hand Multi-Tool’s blades and tools are all accessible from the outside of the tool, another big plus. Many of Leatherman’s other multi-tools, such as the Sidekick, Wave and Charge already feature one-hand-opening for the primary knife blades and tools.

Leatherman OHT One Hand Tool Features:

• spring-action combination needlenose and regular pliers
• replaceable 154CM soft and hard-wire cutters (pliers)
• 420HC straight edge knife blade (2.37″)
• 420HC serrated knife blade
• aggressive-toothed wood saw
• strap cutter (v-notch)
• oxygen wrench
• can & bottle opener
• small, medium and large slotted screwdrivers
• Phillips screwdriver
• integrated lanyard attachment
• stainless steel body
• gloved-hand accessibility
• #8-32 cleaning rod attachment
• closed length of 4.5″ and 9.9oz weight
• MOLLE sheath

The OHT will be available in black and coyote tan/brown. Leatherman points out that these will have Cerakote finishes, not black oxide. The primary blades and tools feature liner-locks, and all tools are lockable for safety and ease of use.

One more thing – look at the handles of the tool. Do you see how there are imprints at all four corners? Those markings help you visually identify which tool is where so you can deploy the tool you need on the first try.

Leatherman OHT Release Date & Pricing

Early ETA is Aug/Sept 2012, and MSRP is currently set at $82.

It’s a fact of life – accidents happen. A slip-up here, mistake there, and you’re off to the first aid kit. (You do have a first aid kit in your shop, right?!) Following are 5 hand tools, well 4 hand tools plus 1 kitchen tool, that liberated unexpected levels of blood from my fingers and hands over the years.

Everyone is careful about utility knives, general purpose cutters and scissors, or at least they should be – it’s the small tools, not just the sharp or point ones, that one has to be especially mindful of.

1. X-Acto Hobby Knife

While all of my X-Acto pricks and cuts healed years ago, the experiences left me with a respect and slight fear of sharp hobby knives, no matter how small. Pssht, that little thing, I used to say, how much damage can such a small blade actually do?

X-Acto blades will usually cause more pain and bloodspill than severe damage, unless you’re careless or unlucky. But then you’ll try to explain to others how such a small blade almost brought you to tears, and they’ll just laugh, making things worse.

2. Wood Chisel

A little over one year ago, I slipped while paring with a new wood chisel, and cut a gash in my thumb. Not a huge gash, but it was big enough that I probably needed stitches. If the chisel was sharpened properly and not an out-of-the-box Craftsman chisel, I probably would have hit bone. Maybe I did hit bone, as I noticed a chip in the blade when cleaning up the blood.

3. Pliers

While it takes skill to draw blood with pliers, it can be easy to pinch your skin, leading to a painful blood-filled blister. Blood blisters can range from small to oh goodness, what do I do now?!, and usually hurt a LOT. Some people drain their blisters with a sterilized X-Acto knife (see above), but I prefer to leave them alone.

In my experience, multi-tools and poorly designed pliers are a leading cause of tool-induced blood blisters.

I was going to include a link to a Google image-search for those who may not know what a blood blister is, but wanted to spare you the ickiness. Because everyone clicks even when you tell them not to. Oh well, here it is – Blood Blister Google Image Search - please don’t click before lunch, in the morning, evening, or anytime in between.

4. Hooks, Picks and Probes

I have a nice 3/16″-long scar on my left pinky finger reminding me to be careful with picks and probes. You know how they always say never cut towards yourself? Never pick or pry towards yourself either. And don’t hold the item being worked on if you could help it.

Here’s what happened – I was using a curved hook pick to remove an O-ring from a part. It was a water cooling hose fitting, if I remember correctly. I almost got it, and increased the pressure just a little bit to catch the O-ring. I slipped and caught my pinky instead. The pick pierced my finger and pulled down, tearing a bit of meat. Respect pointy tools.

5. Food Processor Blade

This isn’t a tool in a literal sense, but is responsible for one of the worst injuries I accidentally inflicted on myself. I don’t remember what happened exactly, but I think I was putting it away after leaving it overnight in the drying rack. We keep the blade assembly in a Ziploc bag to keep it dust-free for immediate use.

Sliiiiice. I still remember the feeling as the mishandled blade cut into my finger. I actually don’t think I physically felt a thing, due to the sharpness of the blade, but I have an intangible sensory memory that I just cannot shake.

I don’t remember which finger was cut , but I do remember that there was blood – LOTS of blood. And then more blood. And even more blood. The cut closed up a bit and the bleeding finally stopped. But only for a few minutes, after which there was more blood. I wasn’t gushing or spouting blood, but it was an experience I prefer not to repeat. Again, I probably needed stitches, but survived without.

Additional Tools

I imagine that every tool on the market has injured at least one DIYer or professional at one time or another. Some tools are more notorious than others for their propensity to inflict pain on their users – take hammers for example.

So which tools have you had less than friendly physical encounters with? In addition to edged and pointed tools, what other types of tools have you found to be the most painful to slip up with?

Leatherman has teased us with photos of the new Rebar multi-tool for some time, but it looks like concrete specs and details are now available. The Rebar closely resembles the heavy duty Leatherman Super Tool 300 but is a bit smaller and closer to the Wave and Charge multi-tools in size.

The new Leatherman Rebar multi-tool features:

• stainless steel body or stainless with black oxide coating
• full-size combination pliers (needlenose + regular)
• electrical crimper
• removable and replaceable 154CM stainless steel soft and hard-wire cutter
• tool locking system
• 420HC straight edge knife blade
• 420HC serrated knfie blade
• bottle and can opener with v-notch wire stripper
• full-size Phillips screwdriver
• medium and large slotted screwdrivers
• wood-cutting saw
• wood and metal file
• awl with thread loop

Blade length is 2.75″, and the multi-tool closes to 4″ in length. Total weight is 6.7 oz.

Leatherman Rebar Release Date:

The Rebar will be available starting in mid-April 2012. An MSRP has not been announced yet, but we imagine the Rebar will be priced lower than its big-brother Super Tool 300, which sells at $55.

The CardSharp 2 is a slim pocket knife that flattens out to the size and shape of a credit card for storage and transport. Just 3 folds are needed to transform and prep the knife for use. The knife blade is made from surgical stainless steel, and the polypropylene body features a built-in sheath.

This is the type of pocket knife that turns heads. It definitely has serious appeal, with its slim profile, light weight and unique deployment. You can purchase one for £15 ($23-25) plus a small fee for international shipping.

With less moving parts and a polymer handle, the CardSharp is a bit cheaper than other low-profile knives such as the Sog Access Card. We just might need to order one for ourselves to try out.

Buy Now(via Amazon)
More Info (via Ian Sinclair Design)

Edit: Robert shared a very insightful comment and a reminder that you should be familiar with the laws where you live before you buy something like this!

Smith’s PP1 Pocket Pal Multifunction Sharpener has been on Amazon’s bestsellers list for over 600 days. It’s also on the “most wished for” list, as well as our own wishlists. And it’s a top gifted item. So what’s so great about this sharpener?

For starters, it’s under $10. Sharpeners can get very costly, so it’s nice to see that there are affordable options. Plus, it can be a hassle to whip out and set up premium sharpening gear for a short honing or touch-up. Sometimes it’s just nice to just whip out something quick and simple.

Buy Now(via Amazon)

While we wouldn’t expect premium results from the Pocket Pal, its features look pretty solid. It comes with a diamond-coated rod that can be used on both plain blades and serrated edges, a set of carbide blades for rough edge definition, and a set of ceramic stones for honing to a razor-sharp edge. Both sets of blades are reversible and replaceable.

If you’ve used one of these before, what do you think about it? We might pick one up for review, but still have a Spyderco Sharpmaker that we purchased and haven’t even opened yet.

About a week or two ago, I took a stroll around all of the big box home improvement stores and tool departments. With the holiday shopping season in full swing, each store’s new products are on display, with a sprinkling of cheap special buys spread throughout to squeeze an extra few dollars out of each shopper.

Browsing around Home Depot, I came across a few utility knives, by Iron Bridge Tools. Iron Bridge Tools is based in Florida and makes some of Home Depot’s Husky and special buy tools. Which brings to mind the Husky rotary wrench shilling incident from last year, where we received multiple highly favorable comments and user reviews from a single Florida-based IP address. Home Depot investigated the incident, but we never got to the bottom of things.

But I digress. Back to the point, when I came across this knife, I had a twinge of excitement. Right smack on the front and back of the knife it says USA Quality Guaranteed. And then I turned the package over. Turns out that USA Quality Guaranteed is just a decoration, with the utility knife being made in China.

Heck, I would have even been okay with “Made in USA with domestic and global components.” I suppose it should have been less of a surprise, since the brand is called tattoo, suggesting tattoo-inspired designs. But I was still caught off-guard and disappointed, even a bit enraged.

At least the knife’s packaging gave me a quick laugh once I cooled down. Do not project flashlight beam directly into eyes. Eye impairment could result. A usually valid safety warning, but shouldn’t there be a laceration warning instead? This is a utility knife, not a flashlight. Hopefully nobody injures themselves opening the package, although there does appear to be a plastic blade guard.

Call me gullible, but I was almost misled by this. And if I was almost misled, how many others shoppers only saw the USA part but not the bit about the tool being made in China?

Gallery:

About two months ago I bought my first Spydero pocket knives – a Dragonfly 2, Delica 4, and Tenacious. The first two are made in Japan, and the Tenacious in China, which is reflected in its super low $32 price.

Since its purchase, the Tenacious has been sitting out on my work table and has became the first knife I reach for. It features a large liner-lock 3-3/8″ blade, and comfortable G-10 handle scales. That’s actually why I bought it, I wanted to see what the hype for G-10 handles was all about.

Two months and many cuts and slices later, the knife is still as sharp as it was out of the box. The best part is that I’m not afraid to use it. I tend to protect more expensive knives by using beaters for heavier duty tasks. But in this case, the Tenacious is cheap enough and robust enough that I see no reason to avoid abusing it.

The Tenacious has been on Amazon’s top-10 bestselling knives list in both tools and sporting goods deptartments for about as long as it has been released. And there’s a reason for that – it’s a great performing knife for relatively cheap.

Buy Now(via Amazon)

Over at Amazon, Gerber’s Bear Grylls “ultimate survival knife” is currently on sale for $38 with free shipping. The knife features a 4.75 inch partially serrated knife blade, stainless steel construction, and rubbery no-slip grip. Also included is a lanyard with emergency whistle, nylon sheath, fire starter, and blade sharpener.

We discussed Gerber’s Bear Grylls line in the past, and we’re still not fond of these tools or knives. Still, $38 is a great price for this knife, and if you’re bent on getting one, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better deal.

Buy Now(via Amazon)

For about the same price, the Gerber Prodigy is a smaller, but more serious fixed-blade knife. And if you have deeper pockets, the Gerber LMF II is the knife the Bear Grylls ultimate survival knife is based off of.

Update: Price went up to $45.