Kobalt has come out with their new Speed Release utility knife. It looks to me that the knife is very heavily inspired by Milwaukee’s Fastback series of utility knives.
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Like the Fastback, the Kobalt Speed Release knife opens fast, with a push of a button and flick or the wrist. It closes easily as well.
A glass-filled nylon handle ensures that you get a strong, durable, and lightweight knife that’s pocket-friendly and comfortable to use. It also features cutting hook zones, for slicing through thin wires and cords.
Kobalt is bundling the new utility knife with 11 blades. Since 1 blade is installed in the knife and the other 10 are packaged in a safety dispenser, it doesn’t look like this utility knife offers in-tool spare blade storage.
Price: $13
Buy Now(via Lowes)
I should point out that you can get a Milwaukee Fastback 2 knife, which offers built-in spare blade storage, for about the same price, and the original Fastback is a couple of bucks cheaper. I also recently posted about a Milwaukee Fastback folding knife and utility knife bundle, which costs $2 more.
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Personally, I’d rather buy a cheaper utility knife and separate blades of my preference.
If this knife interests you, perhaps because the color scheme isn’t as loud as Milwaukee’s, or because the handle shape looks to provide for a better grip, you might want to wait until the holidays shopping season kick off, as the pricing might get better. But, for this particular product, it doesn’t look like that will happen.
This knife looks to be heavily inspired by Milwaukee’s Fastback knife, but there are enough differences that I don’t think it’s made by Milwaukee or their parent company at all.
BikerDad
In a utility knife, loud is good. I’ve spent a lot time saying looking for grey utility knives. Then I got one of the lime green Stanley’s. I’ll never buy a subdued utility knife again. I have a Milwaukee, not the Fastback, and consider it to be barely loud enough. Lime green, banana yellow (HF) or DeWalt’s bumblebee scheme all work quite well. Of course, for the person who is either working tactically, or disciplined enough to always put a tool back where it belongs, this may not be a consideration.
I’m not that person. 😀
bentleyden
check the autoload turbo knife made by Olympia tools
DaveMD
I like the construction of Kolbolts existing razor knives but I seem to be having issues putting in new blades after an extended use. When I release the blade and install the new blade, the new blade will not latch in its original place. Very annoying and have gone through a couple of the knives. Not sure if I keep getting debris inside the housing or what but I hope the problem is fixed with the new style.
Tomonthebeach
To expand on BikerDad’s comment. RED is better than black. I have 3 Milwaukee knives because they DO frequently detour enroute back to my tool box. Red is easy to spot on a workbench or job site. Because they are relatively cheap compared to old models which are harder to open and hold on to when working, I keep one in my desk by the door just for opening goodies from mail-order houses.
Aside, I bet the folks at Milwaukee are rethinking not patenting the design of their knife.
Stuart
These are all good points about how bright colors help in locating utility knives around the jobsite or workshop. I mentioned the color scheme because I can’t think of many other reasons why anyone would choose the Kobalt knife over the Milwaukee.
jason. W
Some people are actually kobalt fans
cina
new Kobalt speed release utility knife is made from Fibreglass nylon handle, with quick blade change stainless steel head ,fast open by one hand, i bought one, it is a great tools
Stuart
Are you sure you bought one? Your information suggests you are affiliated with the Chinese firm involved with this tool’s design and production.
Toolfreak
The benefit of the Kobalt knife would be that you can just take it in to a Lowe’s to exchange it under warranty, the Milwaukee you need to deal with them, I don’t think you can just walk into Home Depot and trade one out. It’s also likely to be priced even lower, especially for the holidays, under $10 bucks or maybe even lower, like $5-6 on Black Friday as a doorbuster?
I agree visibility is better with utility knives, which is why I like neon-bright color ones, but sadly only Stanley offers a bright neon green one these days. Gone are the days when cheapo utility knives came with a finish so neon bright there was probably a chemical in there you needed to wash off from your hands after using it.
I do like the matte black ‘tactical’ look of the Kobalt and will check it out, but these folding utility knives seem really pointless, at least in terms of folding out like a regular knife, because they also weigh a ton, even with cheap alloy used for the blade holder end and nylon for the handle. Sure, the notches in the holder and handle are a nice feature, but that’s it.
I’d like to see a company make an ultra thin, ultra compact version of these – sorta like the Gerber EAB/Gatormate/Transit but even better. Seems tough to do since noone’s done it yet.
Maybe the real benefit to a folding utility knife is just so you can keep it in your pocket or toolbox without worrying about the blade deploying and being in a position where it’ll cut you.
Chuck
You guys are totally missing the point! This is not supposed to be a utility knife that you carry around in your toolbox. Its an EDC knife that a guy carries in his pocket to use dozens of times throughout the day, for everything from opening packages to cutting thin wire to an occasional brandishing while drunk at the bar. This is not supposed to be visible or reflective or anything else; the color is perfect- dark and non reflective just as it should be; a decent weight as well. The only thing I could ask for would be an additional thumb stud for quick deployment with minimal centrifugal motion, such as while in a confined crawl space or while your arm is being restrained; and perhaps a few more grams in the back end, in case I ever have to throw it. Also the little groove kinda sucks, doesn’t work very well for cutting string; I seriously doubt it would even cut a seatbelt- next time I’m at the junkyard I’ll give it a try when nobody’s looking, until then Ill just plan to deploy the blade in an emergency… Other than that it is a perfect knife! The blade retention lever is much more difficult to accidentally trip- which was a huge problem on previous models; you’d be dragging it across a work piece and the blade would be left behind. It kinda reminds me of the black TiNi SOG trident tanto, except better, since I can have a razor sharp blade every day! I really don’t mind the light weight- despite that it is well made; there is little looseness right out of the package, and the blade locks up tight. Usually I always have to remove the belt clip as soon as I get one of these knives home, in order to bend it into a shape which yields a much tighter retention when it is reattached. They made a proper belt clip this time and it requires no modification. As far as the shape, color, and clip, it is perfect! I’ll let you know how it goes after a few months of use.
Majestic
I do tile work and this is a great tool for cleaning the grout lines. I use it every day doing all kinds of things. Over all this is a great knife.
corey
I just bought the kobalt knife two weeks ago. I carried the basic sheffield for almost 5 years. Every so often i would check the new knifes out when buying my Stanley fatmax blades but never seen one that i liked more or heard from others the faults of the new knifes. My red Sheffield i had so long almost looked pink and the pocket clip screws stripped out. This kobalt has a much better handle extremely nice and tight pocket clip. the blade locks in real nice. to sweeten the deal got it for $8.89. All in all a very nice durable knife and am very happy with this tool.