Knife Review: Utilizer 2.0 - premium folding utility knife

[KITROBASKIN]

Because of your influence, kreisl, many multiple minutes I have researched this genre of cutting tool.

I will clarify though, that the excellent Exceed Designs products are no longer absolutely crafted in USA. A response taken from Amazon asking where they are made:


"We are the only official seller of this version of knife and major amount of the CNC and milling work happens here in Washington State at this time. Other parts we source from suppliers in Hong Kong, but it's made in a combination of places to keep the cost low. This product is NOT dropped shipped from China as some may believe, we spend hours each day working on each knife here in Washington state at this time to ensure proper blade fitment etc. we also provide service and free parts for customers from our location here in Washington state, USA."

 

[kreisl]

@KITROBASKIN , yeah true. importantly, the titanium custom scales are processed and machined in the US, made out of the standard titanium scales originating from the Far East. the Ti scales are milled out for weight reduction, not sure in which country they got milled out tho.
more importantly, the assembly and QC have been done completely in the US, hence there is no risk in getting a poorly performing (aspects: <play, centering, smoothness, lock travel, fit and finish, etc>) copy, those units are all absolutely perfect; whereas the non-perfect, merely "acceptably performing" brand-new units (e.g. far lock travel), i.e. the so-called seconds (or "B-Ware" in German), are marked down and marked and offered as well on the identical amazon page for those who want to save some 20 bucks. However it is rare to see the brand-new seconds listed; the builder gathers them over the months until a sufficient number is in stock (say 20pcs), before he decides to list the bunch\that batch at once, under the amazon product page's "Used"-tab.

Do you dig the model? On amazon and youtube the owners claim that they stopped carrying and using the Spyderco's Kershaw's Benchmade's etc in favor of this particular model because now they can be more careless about the blade usage, while still carrying something nice and cool (like a nice expensive watch).

Me too. I wished this V3 had existed 8 years ago, before i picked up the knife bug. I wouldn't have bought the Spyderco Delica Spyderco Endura Spyderco Techno Spyderco Techno 2 Spyderco PM2

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Those mm scales you have are nice; did not find them on their website, but saw other desirable choices as well.

The person in charge at Exceed Designs there seems very upfront; that is so admirable. Glad to see him thriving. In order to meet demand, seems like he had to outsource major elements but the fact that he is hand finishing speaks volumes. No doubt in my mind those blades are worth their price.

I too am into Spyderco but able to use an old H1 Atlantic Salt for the sketchy tasks. Cutting polypropylene cord will yield to the Spyderco serrated edge.

Sometimes a utility blade is the (by far) best way to go, though.

 

[kreisl]

for our entertainment, fresh footage from my phone uploaded directly to youtube, lazy kresil me hehe:



video description says:

"cutting test part 2.

raw footage of cutting the lower part of a DEMETER banana box with the @exceeddesigns Tirant Razor V3, which is now available for international shipping from the company's website.
for this task, i.e. cutting through 2-layer cardboard, quite some force is required. the blade cuts nicely through the 2 layers (or more!), and the strong grip feels safe and comfortable enough (your pocket clip might be poking a little). the hand isn't cramping, no gloves are needed, and there are no pressure marks remaining in the right hand.

more importantly, the razor blade does NOT get stuck or pulled out in/by the thick cardboard!, even when cutting curved lines.

beautiful cutting performance, superior to cutting with The Utilizer 2.0 (which is a 5.0y/o product). i am not claiming that this should replace your industrial grade 8h/day drywall knife but among all <EDC folding utility blade knives>, if not <EDC folding knives>, this product ranks first on the market, it's seriously the best and ultimate knife of its kind, namely for ACTUAL everydaycarry. Very light-weight (59-69g), slim, compact, comfortable, ergonomic, fast(!), one-handed, powerful, capable, timeless, beautiful, maintainable, everlasting, actual EDC-able, likable.

sorry for the long (boring? exciting?) video but it was the whole point to demo in real-time how struggling it can be to cut curved lines in double-layer thick cardboard. try to do redo this challenge with your own favorite <utility knife, or, EDC knife> and learn how well and how far you get: you'll be surprised that either your hand will be cramping, or your knife will get stuck, or your blade will get pulled out. many popular <titanium utility knives> basically failed this challenge, which is why i made this part 2 video in the first place."