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  • Hi, Jeff Vaughan here for Safety Knives and Cutters. Here to talk to you today about self-retracting

  • blade safety knives. The ones I have selected for today are used primarily for warehouse

  • application, cardboard cutting, and things like that.

  • Self-retracting blades or automatic safety blades have been around a long time. They

  • started years ago, like this model right here that has a spring-loaded hood that automatically

  • covers the blade. They afford you some protection, but they're not fool-proof. You'll see

  • with my thumb, I can expose the blade, and this isn't completely safe, but it is certainly

  • safer than a standard utility knife that somebody might use for cutting a box. You'll notice

  • here the way it's designed to be used is if you push down,

  • the spring-loaded hood gets out of the way and you're allowed to make a cut.

  • Now, this particular product called the lizard knife takes off on that same concept. It has

  • a spring-loaded hood, and this one is a little different than the first one I showed you.

  • This is a semi-disposable product, there's no way to change the blade; when the blade's

  • dull, you discard the whole unit. That reduces the risk of cuts from changing blades, which

  • actually happens fairly commonly. It also helps to reduce blade contamination in products

  • or production facilities, especially food service. So, this is a good product for that

  • application. Same concept, the hood moves out of the way when you apply pressure, and

  • then the blade is not exposed when you lift away. You can circumvent the safety part of

  • this by pulling it back. So again, it's not fool-proof, but it is better than standard

  • utility knives. Here's a little bit different model. This

  • is a metal safety cutter, spring loaded. The important thing to point out about these,

  • they're actuated with a trigger or a lever. You'll notice my thumb is doing that. But

  • what you'll want to do, and what you'll want to train employees to do with this particular

  • knife is to take their thumb away once the blade is in the cardboard, like this. And

  • then as it cuts and it comes away from the cardboard, it automatically retracts. Again,

  • this can be circumvented. If you don't take your thumb off and you're cutting, this

  • could then injure yourself or somebody else if you don't take your thumb off. So again,

  • there's some training that's required in using knives like this. Take my thumb away,

  • cut. That way if the knife comes away suddenly, I'm not going to cut myself. So, that's

  • the basic idea. And there are various iterations of that type of knife available on the market.

  • Here's a really cool from a company called Slice. What they've done is they have taken

  • that same concept and they've put it in this unique ergonomic design, and they used

  • a ceramic blade, which has ten times the lifespan of a steel blade. So, here's a ceramic blade

  • box cutter, in fact the first one ever in industry. So, pretty unique product, but the

  • same concept applies when you put the blade in contact what you're cutting. You should

  • slide your thumb away, so that when this comes towards you, it automatically retracts, same

  • concept. Then Pacific Handy Cutter has done the same

  • thing with one of the staples of their line. This is the S4 safety knife, and it's self-retracting,

  • spring loaded. Again, the same concept; the thumb needs to be pulled away when cutting

  • so that it'll self-retract. This one has a tray and a carton-cutting appendage on the

  • end of it that which is really nice for cutting tops of boxes off. Pretty popular knife, has

  • good safety features. Now this little yellow guy is the CU Safe,

  • C-U Safety Knife. This knife is actually been around for a number of years and has gone

  • through several design changes, and is really an exceptional knife that we sell quite a

  • few of actually. A little bit different concept, instead of having a self-retracting blade,

  • it has a hood that self-retracts like these earlier models I showed you. But this is a

  • little more fool-proof. The way it works is that it has a lever. When this lever is pushed,

  • you get one release of the hood. So you see I'm pushing the lever. Now, when I contact

  • the cardboard, it's going to cut, but when I release and try to do another cut, I can't.

  • I have to release the lever that gives me the opportunity to do a new cut, so I push

  • it again. I'm going to get one release of the hood for cutting, and now I can't until

  • I release and press the trigger again. This is a great design. If somebody is using this,

  • and for some reason this comes away from the cardboard, and they shouldn't be cutting

  • towards themselves, but if they happen to, they're not to cut themselves open because

  • the hood has engaged and it protects them from the blade. So, great design. This like

  • the lizard safety knife is a semi-disposable product; no need to ever change the blade.

  • You don't have to worry about the risks of somebody fumbling with the blade and cutting

  • themselves. When it's dull, you discard it and you get a new one. And the nice thing

  • is the price point on these is low enough that it's not going to break the bank to

  • have a nice safety knife program. The last one I'm going to show you is the

  • MARTego Safety Knife. This is similar to some of the others in some regards, but it has

  • a little bit different action. There's a locking mechanism; you'll see in the handle

  • here that when you depress releases the blade and allow you to when you pull the trigger,

  • the blade will come out. But check this out, when you get into the cardboard and you start

  • cutting, when you come away, it releases, even though you're depressing the trigger.

  • So the blade is gone, not going to hurt yourself, and you have to press this to get a new cut

  • and have the blade come out. So, similar concept little bit different for an application, nicely

  • designed knife. So these are a few examples of some of the

  • self-retracting safety knives that we have available on safetyknivesandcutters.com. Also,

  • cool safetyproducts.com, a couple great sites where you can purchase these. And we encourage you

  • to take a look at these and consider using them to reduce cuts and injuries in your work

  • place safety program. Thanks for watching! I'm Safety Jeff; we'll

  • catch you next time!

Hi, Jeff Vaughan here for Safety Knives and Cutters. Here to talk to you today about self-retracting

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