The folks at Slice sent us an assortment of their ceramic bladed cutting tools. Their main products come as Box Cutters or Pen Cutters in either auto-retractable or 3-position styles. The difference between the styles is you either lock the blade to one of three lengths or use finger pressure to hold the blade out to whatever length you desire.
Slice claims their ceramic blade is safer and stays sharper up to 10x longer.
If you’re like me then you are probably constantly opening these annoying plastic blister packages which often require the touch of a surgeon to maneuver (and avoid cutting yourself). I especially run into this when buying things at warehouse stores (Sam’s, BJ’s, Costco) — which must own stock in heavy-duty plastic packaging companies because just about every product they sell comes encased in that damn-thick-plastic-that’s-impossible-to-open-without-saying-15-curse-words-and-cutting-off-a-fingertip.
Slice has two main types of cutting tools:
Box Cutter – either 3 position or auto-retract – $19.99 suggested retail (Amazon has these for about $18)
Pen Cutter – either 3 position or auto-retract – $12.99 suggested retail (Amazon has these for about $12)
Slice also offers a Safety Cutter (excellent for clipping coupons — though you DO need to put something underneath or the blade will cut your table).
And all of their devices use a ceramic blade, which Slice says won’t cut you as easily as metal.
My quick tests seemed to corroborate Slice’s promise not to cut skin as easily as metal – however I think that if I dug in with the blade I could have drawn blood. Key takeaway is that the blades are safer but still not foolproof. They’re not kid-proof, and you still can cut yourself if you try hard enough.
If I had to buy one Slice tool it would be the Slice Pen Cutter because it was easiest for me to use to open pesky blister packages. The box cutters worked well on the myriad of Amazon boxes that seem to throw through the office on a daily basis.
These are the types of cutting tools you don’t recognize the need for until you actually start using them on a daily basis. As with everything – having the right tools as your disposal makes things quite a bit easier.
Old fashioned scissors and steel blades are nice; Slice box cutters are better, safer, and more convenient.
Source: Manufacturer provided non-returned review sample
Web: Sliceproducts
What I Like: Safer blade; Blades won’t rust; Ergonomic and stylish; Lightweight; Affordable
What Needs Improvement: Would like a coupon clipper where I did not have to put cardboard underneath to keep from scratching table
Would I Buy With My Own Money? Definitely would the Pen Cutter