Favorite Utility Blade refills?

Anyone have a favorite utility blade refill, something you've found works better that your run-of-the-mill blades?

Irwin blue blades are remarkable in that they don't break if you bend them. They're laminated.

almorton said:

Irwin blue blades are remarkable in that they don't break if you bend them. They're laminated.

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Ooooh, I haven't seen these before!

I used to have a knife that held extra long blades. Up until now that was the wildest variation I'd ever heard of.

I usually use OLFA knives so use their refills. They have a few flavours but honestly, they're all excellent.

This would have come in handy for a few installs I've done... wish I had known it existed...

come to think of it, that blade would be great for processing game animals too...

Carpet layer's blade. Not at all uncommon.

almorton said:

Carpet layer's blade. Not at all uncommon.

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I haven't seen them with one hook side and one straight side before...

Friend of mine who was a carpet layer had some of them. Each end has its uses, of course, so it halves the number of blades to carry, although one could argue just have two knives with each blade type fitted, and avoid having to swap the blade (although my stanley knife has quick tool free blade replacement).

almorton said:

Friend of mine who was a carpet layer had some of them. Each end has its uses, of course, so it halves the number of blades to carry, although one could argue just have two knives with each blade type fitted, and avoid having to swap the blade (although my stanley knife has quick tool free blade replacement).

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Seems like a good application for a modified ToughBuilt Utility 2 in 1 blade/scraper (one of my favorite new tools) instead of switching to the scraper by turning 90°, have it flip 180° to switch between a hook and a blade.

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Interesting idea.

For carrying two blades at once, there is this from Stanley. I’ve seen it branded as Bostitch, Fatmax and Craftsman over the years.

I know some people swear by the Lenox Gold blades. I didn’t find them to be worth the premium, and they are a bit thicker than some brands.

For the shop we just buy the packs of Husky or Dewalt from the Home Despot and honestly I haven’t formed any big preference between the brands. Any big pack made in the USA is fine enough.

A word of warning...
Don't do as I once did and surmise that the "carpet hook" blade would be great for de-looming triped or bundled cables. Took me less than a four-hour load-out to realize that I was damaging more cables than I had cleaned. That knife went back in the bag and hasn't been used since. It may work fine for its intended purpose, but keep it away from your cables!

As ever, don't abuse the tools and they won't abuse you (usually).