Utility knives are one of the most used tools in the roofer’s tool belt. Having a good knife that you can rely on will make your job go a lot faster and smoother.
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Orientools Utility Knife
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What makes this knife perfect for roofing is the twin blades. It is common for roofers to carry a straight edge razor blade and a curved hook blade due to the ease of cutting different materials. Having a two-in-one knife is much easier.
This knife is mostly made of metal with some plastic and rubber parts which makes it pretty durable. However, if dropped the plastic parts can be broken. The lower cost of $8.59 sets it apart from the other twin-blade knife.
Both of these knives have blade storage compartments in the handle and feature multiple blade positions.
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Stanley Twin Blade Knife
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This is another fantastic twin-blade knife. I personally really like this style of knife because it allows me to not have to carry two types of knives in my pouch. It is much more convenient.
It does have a higher price but it is built with a quality metal and has a plastic part that can be broken if you accidentally drop it off the roof.
The downside to the two twin-blade knives is that they are a bit wider than other utility knives so they may fit tightly in your tool belt.
Some people also have trouble switching out the blade on the knife but once you figure it out, it might just be the best style of utility knife you have ever owned.
CH Hanson FlipKnife Dual Blade
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This knife is great because it has dual blades giving you the two-in-one deal.
It has more metal parts than the previous two twin-blade knives which makes it more durable especially if dropped from the roof.
Having one blade on each side makes it thinner than the two previous versions which have the two blades side by side. This would fit better in a smaller tool belt pocket.
The major downsides to this knife are:
- It doesn’t store any extra knives
- The orientation, flipping from one side to the other side could be tedious
- It only has 2 blade positions, unlike the other two twin-blade knives which have multiple blade positions.
Orientools Folding Utility Knife
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This knife is similar to the CH Hanson FlipKnife because there is a blade on each end of the knife giving it a slimmer body.
But that also means it doesn’t carry any extra blades.
It has all the convenience of twin blades because you don’t have to carry more than one knife.
However, it takes two steps to take the blade out because you have to first unfold it, then slide out the blade. This makes it more bothersome to use than the other previous knives which only take one step to use the blade.
FC Folding Pocket Utility Knife
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This style of knife is not as good as the twin blade knives and doesn’t carry any extra blades. But for whatever reason, you may not want the twin blade knives this is a good alternative.
This knife is great even if you are wanting to carry two of them around. They are slim, weighted well, and fold up so they don’t take up much room in the tool belt.
This knife has a great handle style and a quick easy-to-use blade change button.
It’s built out of anodized aluminum and has an easy-to-use quick blade replacement and blade locking feature.
Husky Folding Utility Knife
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This has many of the same benefits as the FC folding pocket knife.
They both have a safety blade locking button and both come with extra blades. But the blade locking button makes it require two hands to fold. Where the FC can be unlocked with just one hand.
Some other benefits are:
- Its durability is due to its all-metal handle.
- Lightweight
- Lower Price
However, it doesn’t have as nice of a handle style as the FC knife.
WorkPro Folding Utility Knife
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This set of knives features a smaller palm-sized handle allowing it to fit on your tool belt easier.
Similar to the other knives it has a lightweight aluminum handle that provides excellent durability.
The blade replacement feature is not as easy as the previous folding knives but its also not hard. A simple button press allows you to press the blade into the front. But this action is more likely to lead to cuts, unlike the other types of blade replacements on the previous folding knives.
WorkPro Retractable Utility Knife
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This knife is a single retractable blade. It is better than folding knives because it only requires one action to open/close the blade.
It is also great because it can store multiple blades in the handle and has 4 blade positions.
One downside to this knife is that it has some plastic parts which can be broken if dropped off the roof. Another downside is that it would be bulkier than the folding knives in your tool belt.
Stanley Fixed Blade
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The classic Stanley fixed blade is a great utility knife because it’s low cost and very durable. This heavy-duty knife would have no problem being dropped off the roof.
Another benefit is that it holds extra blades in the handle. However, one downside is that you have to unscrew a bolt to change the blade or access the excess blades. This is easy to do but time-consuming.
It is also bulkier compared to the folding knives and less safe because of the fixed blade.
AJC Guardian Angle Knife
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This knife was specifically designed for cutting shingles. One of the biggest advantages of this knife is that it protects your knuckles when cutting shingles.
Sometimes when cutting shingles your knife gets caught on the double layer, so you pull harder then go through it and grind your knuckles on the gritty shingles. This knife features a protective handle to keep the skin on your knuckles.
One disadvantage of this knife is that it is bulky and would be an awkward fit in you your tool belt.
It is also less convenient to replace the blades because it requires the removal of two screws, unlike the other knives.
Lastly, it doesn’t store any extra blades in the handle and it only takes blades that are specially designed by AJC for that knife.
