I found a cool little knife that is essentially a foldaway razor blade. It is super sharp and very light. It weighs about .28 ounces. I paid $1.85 for it. It meets all my cutting needs while in the woods, they are disposable and inexpensive. I switched to this from my swiss army knife. You guys may find them useful too.

Where did you get it at?

http://www.derma-safe.com/folding-utility-knife.htm

Probably same as this...

http://www.countycomm.com/straightrazor.htm

Edited by jshann on 02/03/2008 20:12:55 MST.

I bought them here. www.survival-gear.com
They can be bought by the hundred at derma-safes website. May be something to be added to the Backpacking Light shop.

Even if it isn't the same, the count comm one is rather nice. and sharp...

Also they're SERE saw sounds potentially useful if one does wood stoves and wants to chunk thicker twigs smaller than hands can make.

If/when the blade on this is broken or worn, can it be replaced or do you have to buy another?

You will have to buy another. I bought five myself, one for the pocket, one for my pack, and three replacements.
They are so cheap I dont mind buying the extras and they are incredibly sharp so watch out.

Watch for these in the BPL store coming soon. As Jesse says, they are "super sharp and very light." It weighs in at 7.59g (.27oz).

Get 'em while the gettin's good.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/folding_utility_knife.html

i'd love to buy a few, but does it REALLY cost almost 7 dollars to ship 5 razor blades across the country?

oh well.

Yeah, that's outrageous. Shipping should be free for this item. Or, maybe $1.00.

I haven't a clue where we got them, but we have had similar ones in our house for years. love them! They are actually quite hard to break. I keep one in all our cars as well.

I'd love to get one, but I placed an order about an hour before they came up and I'm certainly not going to pay such crazy shipping rates for a razor.

These will have to wait till my next purchase.

I carry an el cheapo pocket knife purchased from Wal Mart -- love its low price and light weight. But I always have this nagging question: the time when I really need a blade -- how truly useful will this thing be?

No experience whatsoever with the Derma-safe knife, but the same nagging question arises. However, I am definitely intrigued and look forward to reading more user reports. Thanks for sharing, Jesse.

Edited by ben2world on 08/12/2008 10:00:25 MDT.

Yes, $7 shipping was excessive. I adjusted the weight on it and it's now at $4.80. Ben, shipping something for $1.00 is not possible in this day and age. You can talk to the Post Office about that - not us. We charge the actual price of shipping, which is $4.80 and that doesn't include what it costs us to handle the item (people have to get paid too).

* Begin Sam's personal rant *My personal comment on this would be that it is environmentally irresponsible to be mail ordering a couple razors. That's a lot of fuel used to bring something so minimal right to your doorstep. These items make better add-ons to other orders. This will keep the shipping reasonable and the carbon footprint smaller. * End rant *

Sam:

The $1.00 suggestion was made by Jason Klass up above. :)

Edited by ben2world on 08/12/2008 13:17:49 MDT.

i'm sure i could put 5 dermasafe razorblades in an envelope and mail it to Bozeman for a dollar. i might even try it just for fun.

(rant on)

as far as ranting about carbon footprints and waste, i don't see much validity in that. it should just be a simple A10 paper envelope with 5 blades in it, just like the other billion pieces of mail going around the US every day. i've received little bits of kit from people (shires, mldgear, etc.) in A10 envelopes in the past, sent regular mail, not priority. most everything we do in modern life is wasteful, environmentally damaging, etc. this doesn't seem like a particularly good one to single out.

however, perhaps it's irresponsible to sell disposable, non-biodegradable, plastic stuff in the first place! it's probably shipped from china too!

(rant ovah)

Edited by DaveT on 08/12/2008 14:39:51 MDT.

Or would you rather leave China out of the equation and pay $10.85 each plus $1 postage?

Dave wrote: "i'm sure i could put 5 dermasafe razorblades in an envelope and mail it to Bozeman for a dollar. i might even try it just for fun."

You could. And if it actually arrived without postage due, you could officially call yourself lucky. If this seems unlikely, then review the latest USPS first class rate sheet:

http://www.usps.com/prices/first-class-mail-prices.htm

You'll be forgiven if your eyes glaze over trying to figure it all out.

well...

0.28 oz item x 5 = 1.4 oz
plus envelope < 2.1 oz?
equals 3.5 oz

according to the rate chart:
3.5 ounce letter = $0.93
sent "first class" in style.

i'd still have 7 cents left for a jolly rancher!

(i KNEW all this gram-weenie-ness would come in handy.)

Edited by DaveT on 08/12/2008 15:09:24 MDT.