REVIEW – The Outdoor Edge Slidewinder can save your good knife from blade-dulling duty. It can be used in any way a standard utility cutter is used and it accepts typical utility knife blades. I used the Slidewinder to cut boxes, lengths of cardboard from boxes, rope, zip ties, shrink-wrapped packages and other household cutting chores. Once I got the black Slidewinder in hand, I used it to open the packaging of the blue Slidewinder Outdoor Edge also sent. The orange one went to a friend who can use it at his work. The Slidewinder has some useful features that elevate it above the generic utility knife and case cutter category.
What is it?
The Outdoor Edge Slidewinder is a pocket-size utility cutter with a belt clip and other built-in tools.
What’s included?
- Slidewinder utility knife
- Directions printed on the back of the retail package
Tech specs
- Button-press blade extender / retractor
- Blade locked in place when open and retracted
- Philips head screwdriver
- Bottle opener
- Standard screwdriver / pry tool
- Handle: Stainless steel and glass/nylon polymer
- Weight: 1.5 oz
- Length: 3.5”
- Usable blade length: .75”
- Lanyard or keychain hole
- Stainless steel pocket clip doubles as a money clip
Design and features
I carry a knife everywhere except to bed and shower. I even pocket a knife on the beach if I’m not going to swim. What if I need to open a clam or rescue someone from a shark? Ok, so focus on the clam option. This summer I’ll carry the Slidewinder and save some pocket space. Someone else can deal with the shark.
Several of the regular Gadgeteer knife reviewers take a macho photo of their subject knife stabbed into a tree stump or deck rail.
Not to be outdone, here’s the Slidewinder ready to do what it does.
I prefer to have a 3” or 4” blade clipped to my pocket most of the time but for utility work there’s the Slidewinder. If I need to slice cardboard or open a package, it’s a shame to waste my good knife’s edge on mundane cutting chores that slowly dull the blade that I try to keep properly sharpened.
I like the ‘extras’ built into the Slidewinder that make it more useful than my standard, fat utility knife. The Slidewinder has a standard screwdriver head that doubles as a pry tool. I used that screwdriver head to open boxes, thus saving the Slidewinder blade for more serious cutting. There’s a Phillips head tip on another end of the Slidewinder, and the obligatory but handy bottle opener.
The blade stays locked when forward for cutting, and is locked when retracted. The Slidewinder is completely pocket safe.
The Slidewinder can be considered an ‘opposite switchblade’. The blade is spring loaded for retraction, not deployment.
Assembly, Installation, Setup
The Slidewinder comes with a blade already installed and it deploys with a slight thumb press of the orange lock button as the black blade button is pushed forward. The blade retracts back into the handle instantly with a press of the orange button.
Performance
There is really nothing to dislike about the Slidewinder. Some might find the screwdriver edges of the Slidewinder ‘pokey’ in a pocket, but I never did. I can see how the tool edges might wear a hole into a pocket eventually, so, there’s the pocket clip to prevent inner pocket wear.
I used the Slidewinder for a while as a money clip, which was my excuse to have it in a pocket when I also carried a regular knife. Why have both, you ask? Because it’s my money clip. And when I had both handy I tended to use the Slidewinder most often.
Over time I didn’t like exposing my cash every time I needed to cut something so I retreated to my old money clip and clipped the Slidewinder on my pocket above my larger knife.
The extra tools are a plus, but I really like the ease and simplicity of the blade release mechanism on the Slidewinder. All utility knives seem to need frequent blade changes due to the rough tasks we put them through. I have to use a screwdriver to open my standard utility knife to change the blade. Advantage to Slidewinder.
To remove the Slidewinder blade, just press the orange button while the blade is extended, keep thumb pressure on the black button so it doesn’t retract, and the blade can be pulled straight out of the knife. Reverse the process to re-install the blade. My blade changing advice may sound like a bank robbery, but, ‘make no sudden moves and no one gets hurt’.
What I like about the Outdoor Edge Slidewinder
- Blade cannot accidentally deploy in a pocket
- Blade is locked securely when open or retracted
- Easy blade replacement
- Works well as a money clip
- Great price
What needs to be improved?
- No suggestions
Final thoughts
The popular farm, lawn and garden store in my area has started carrying several models of Outdoor Edge knives. That’s where I first spotted the Slidewinder. During my testing it has proven useful for most cutting chores I’ve been faced with and I found it easy to carry in the same pocket as my card-carrier wallet, small flashlight and pen. It’s $9.95 well spent for an indestructible utility cutter with more extras than most.
Price: $9.95
Where to buy: Outdoor Edge and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Outdoor Edge. The company did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
