Wirecutter - Our favorite do-it-all knife

Michael Murtaugh

Doug Mahoney

I spent 10 years working in construction, and on each one of those hammer-swinging days, I carried a utility knife in my pocket. These knives cut with a disposable razor blade, so they’re ideal for all the grunt-work-cutting that would destroy a regular knife. Because the blades can be tossed out when they’re toast, there’s no need to deal with sharpening or even worrying about the edge at all.

I used at least 25 different knives in those 10 years. But my favorite—and the one I used exclusively for the final years of my construction career—was the Milwaukee Fastback.

Since those days the Fastback has been upgraded a few times, but the core features—the ones that make it so great—have remained the same. I don’t use a utility knife as much anymore, but I still have three Fastbacks—one in my house, one in my barn, and another in my workshop—that I use at least on a weekly basis.

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I love that the Fastback opens and closes like a folding pocket knife and that the blade locks in the open and closed position. Once a little button on the handle is pressed, the blade swings out with a flick of the wrist. Letting go of the button locks it in the open position. To put the blade away, press the button again and flick it closed.

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This setup is unique to utility knives, and it delivers the safety of a folding knife with a fast, one-handed operation. Traditional utility knives have a blade that slides straight out the front, and those can poke out in a pocket. Other utility knives that fold like the Fastback take two hands to open, so they’re much more awkward.

So how does this translate when I’m breaking down cardboard boxes on a Saturday morning? With the Fastback, I can cut the tape on a box, flip the knife closed, clip it to my pocket, and fold the box flat. The knife is under my control the entire time, and I always know where it is. Closing the knife and hooking it takes less than two seconds. The same can be said for grabbing the knife and opening it for the next box.

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The handle of the Fastback can hold five additional blades. These are housed in a little cartridge piece that flips down from the underside of the handle. Because the blades are disposable and I use them only for rough cutting, having extras on hand at any moment is a huge feature. This is especially true with the knives I keep in the house and barn, where a stockpile of additional blades isn’t handy.

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Adding to the overall safety of the knife is the deep finger notch in the handle. Gripping this makes it nearly impossible for the Fastback to slip out of my hands when I’m getting into really tough work, like the wall-to-wall carpet I cut up last year.

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It’s easy to think that utility knives are a generic bunch, but the Fastback, with its unique features and added safety, is clearly the best I’ve used.

After testing 25 utility knives over several years, the Milwaukee Fastback is the best we’ve used. This is why we love it:

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• Unlike other folding utility knives, the Fastback opens and closes with a flick of the wrist, after pressing a safety release button.

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• It locks in both the open and closed position, and it stays at my side, thanks to its nice, springy belt hook.

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• The onboard storage area can hold five extra blades, a significant feature for anyone doing serious work with the knife over an extended period.

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Read more in our review for the best utility knife.

We’ve never seen a deal for the Fastback on its own. We’ve come across bundle deals that include a bonus compact Fastback, but only around Black Friday.

The Fastback is very durable. As long as you don’t drop it off a boat or set it on train tracks, it should last years and need only the occasional brushing-off. I’ve never done any real maintenance on mine, and they’re fine.