"It costs about as much as a can of soda"
"$1.50/each"

You must drink some really high-quality soda.

What makes it derma (skin) safe?

"Derma-Safe" is merely a brand name.

This product is also available from Countycomm:
http://www.countycomm.com/straightrazor.htm

"Half the charm is its disposability:" Not it's not. If you want to cut string and tape buy a small re-usable knife.

I'm pretty sure that both the price and the disposability were explained rather clearly. The bulk cost is comparable to cans of soda; Jonathan is claiming that disposability is nice because you CAN throw them out without worry, if you're carrying one somewhere that knives aren't permitted.

I say bravo on the find, personally. I might just buy a box of them to keep a few wherever I might need a knife. It has to be better than hoping the my keys are up to the task.

The "Bargain pocket knife" sounds like a better solution.

Tough crowd today...! Nice find, Jonathan.

Just looking at the junction between the blade and "handle" I would be pretty darn careful. And "buying a box of them" rather than a reusable tool isn't particularly green, either.

A while back I foreswore folding blades that don't lock. Having a blade that can suddenly close on your fingers makes no sense. You need to be able to trust your knife.

Folding razor blades that don't lock (and aren't being used for shaving) are emergency-room stitches waiting to happen.

Plus, mark me down as another "disposable = not green = ick!" vote.

This site is getting a bit silly. Some of the products on it recently seem less like 'cool tools' and more like thinly disguised adverts.

An expensive, disposable knife which works no better than an ordinary knife and which looks pretty flimsy is not a cool tool in my opinion.

I'm sure none of you have used these. They last a long time. They are very well made. The disposability aspect is very convenient considering we live in a world were anything dangerous like a knife can get you in a lot of trouble so being able to throw it away is great. Would you throw a benchmade or a chris reeves in the trash to get past security?

If you've ever dug into your pockets at the security line in the airport and realized you still had your pen knife with you, you'll understand that the real benefit of being disposable is not that you can throw it out when you are done with it. Rather, when you have to throw it away because of some crazy rule, you aren't throwing away a lot of money.

I bought a razor knife with break-off blades for $1 from the dollar store with 8 blade refills. It has a clip to wear in your pocket. Handy to have around for many occasions!

Just to offer an alternative for a lower cost small pocket knife, I suggest buying lots of Swiss army type small pocket knives off ebay. If you search for "Victorinox lot" you will see many inexpensive used (most likely confiscated at airport) quality knives. As an example, you can currently get 5X Victorinox Classic knives for $16, with free shipping. This gives you Swiss made knives having a blade, nail file and scissors for $3.20/each.

Great tip on the victornox lots, wydle.

I have one of these from County Comm (love em' and found them through a previous cool tool. I have found it to be an exceptionally convenient tool for me. It fits easily in a shirt pocket and is perfect for cutting things you wouldn't want to use a "proper" knife for.

These have been around forever and as noted above, these will easily close on your finger and since they are as sharp as a razor blade, you will receive a nice cut.

Been there and done that.

If you are looking for a disposable safe knife that fits in your pocket or keychain, google OLFA touch knives.

Amazon has them too.

Picture
http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-57587333958251_2048_91645662

Well, certainly a non locking knife can close on your fingers - it isn't for heavy cutting. If you try to use it as if it's a heavy lock blade and get cut the consider it a much needed learning experience! As for the people who don't get the usefulness of a knife cheap enough to dispose of that still cuts well - obviously you don't fly much. Or lose small objects. The Derma Safe packs maximum cutting ability in minimum space and people who have used them find they are excellent. By contrast the Ofla is all handle and no blade - I'm sure it is more friendly to the clumsy, but I think it would be a pain to use for the some of the jobs the Derma has zipped through for me, like converting bike boxes to baggable shreds.

I'm not surprised that that is "as sharp as a razor" the blade looks like a standard Schick Ejector blade in a housing. I've come across several tools that use the same blade (and indeed I prefer my old Schick Ejector over the Gillette safety razor that I have for shaving).

While there are disadvantages to this product (no lock, light weight,...) it also has some advantages over a more traditional knife (legal in the UK, lightweight, low cost).

For those who don't consider it low cost I would like to know where you are buying razor sharp locking knives for $1.50 or less.

Disposable is probably not the best word to describe this knife, I don't know if the blade is replaceable, if it is then the knife is certainly not disposable, just cheap. If however I have a knife confiscated at the airport I would certainly rather have this confiscated than a more expensive knife. Having accidentally flown with a knife in my pocket I know how easy it can be to forget that you always carry it.

Z.