Dewalt came out with something new for the 2021 winter holiday shopping season – a ToughCase+ utility knife blade holder and blade refill packs.
This seemed like a neat idea, although not without its flaws. The promo set came with one case and 3 refill inserts, each filled with 30 “double hardened” utility knife blades.
It’s now mid-2022, and Dewalt is expanding upon the concept with other styles of blades.
Shown here is the new Dewalt DWHT11131C ToughCase+ Carbide blade pack. It comes with a clear lid ToughCase+ case that’s preloaded with a 30-blade refill.
I’m a fan of Dewalt ToughCase+ bit boxes, and a huge fan of their Carbide Edge utility knife blades. But when combined, the result misses the mark by a bit.
See Also: The Best Utility Knife Blade: Dewalt Carbide Edge
These are the same mini cases as Dewalt bit boxes, and are sized to fit inside their other ToughCase+ organizers.
In theory, this is a great idea. In practice, I strongly prefer traditional utility knife blade dispensers. Maybe this is still a good idea, just not for me.
I have been slow to use the 90-blade promo back I purchased back in November. It comes with one ToughCase+ container and 3 refills. Where do the spare refills go? I suppose I could empty out some other Dewalt bit boxes to create two other pocket packs.
I wish the case was a little more streamlined, but its geometry allows it to fit inside Dewalt’s ToughCase drill bit and screwdriver bit cases and other compatible organizers.
Where do dull blades go?
With typical utility knife blade packages, fresh blades are dispensed out of the bottom, and there’s a slot at the top for dull and spent blades to be inserted for safe storage until disposal. A divider separates the two compartments.
The ToughCase+ blade box does not have any separate blade disposal compartment.
I can see how this could be convenient for certain users. But, I always need to have a place to safely dispose of dull blades, and that means traditional blade dispensers continue to work best for me.
It’s been nearly 6 months since I bought the holiday season promo pack, and so far refills are nowhere to be found. Dewalt’s online listing for the Carbide Edge refill pack makes me optimistic, but where will it be sold?
As an aside, Dewalt recently updated their blade dispenser packaging, making them easier to identify and differentiate on the shelf. I like this, and they also have new bar graphs for comparing tip strength, wear resistance, and life for different types of blades.
To be fair, this does seem like a good way to store up to 30 replacement blades in a compact package. And as mentioned, I think it could be convenient for certain users. I wanted to like the ToughCase utility blade packs, but it’s unlikely that I’ll buy it again.
I do have some ideas on how to increase the usefulness of the ToughCase+ case and blade refills, such as securing two cases together back-to-back, but that still doesn’t seem as convenient as a traditional blade dispenser pack.
Is this something you would buy and use?
