This Canary Box Cutter Is the Best $8 I’ve E...

Like many Individuals, I bemoan the truth that on-line buying hurts native companies, which may’t compete with the comfort of unsustainable perks like “free” two-day Prime shipping. Like many Individuals, I nonetheless purchase a ton of stuff on-line anyway, as a result of it is certain simpler to not have to hold an enormous pack of bathroom paper house from Aldi (not less than, as a New Yorker, I can nonetheless be a snob about the truth that I stroll to purchase groceries). However this additionally signifies that, come Prime Day or through the vacation season, I’ve to cope with an entire lot of cardboard bins.

Some 35 million tons of “containerboard,” or cardboard used to make delivery containers like Amazon bins, is produced within the U.S. every year. By my estimate, not less than 10 p.c of that arrives on my doorstep. And whereas I am tremendous diligent about recycling all of it (the American Forest & Paper Affiliation estimates that the “effective recycling rate” for cardboard is as high as 85%—yay!), breaking these bins all the way down to get them prepared to position curbside is a trouble.

Or it was, till I discovered concerning the Canary field cutter, a slim little knife with a non-stick serrated blade and a cheery yellow deal with.

A field cutter produced by a former Japanese sword firm

This $8 knife—sure, it’s offered on Amazon, although mine was shipped to me in a padded envelope somewhat than a field—is made in Japan by an organization referred to as Hasegawa Cutlery, which obtained its begin practically 100 years in the past sharpening and grinding swords (the “Cutlery” half was added to the identify after World Struggle II, when the business first began producing scissors). Hasegawa’s marketing language suggests the corporate has introduced all of its Japanese sword-making experience to bear on creating client items, and whereas I’ve by no means tried to interrupt down a stack of delivery bins with a sword, I can not think about it would be a lot simpler than utilizing my Canary.

My earlier strategies for chopping by way of cardboard—kitchen scissors or a steak knife (do not be like me, children!)—have been lower than efficient, and utility knives, although definitely an enchancment, aren’t nice on the activity both. Cardboard is stiff and fibrous, so whereas a razor blade can slice by way of it fairly simply, it is arduous to make use of one to make a managed lower, because the blade will careen off-course if you happen to attempt to go towards the “grain,” so to talk; utility blades additionally boring rapidly however will nonetheless stay sharp sufficient to simply lower you if you happen to deal with them incorrectly.

The all-around serrated edges of the Canary, then again, appear to chop by way of cardboard like butter, whether or not you are going with or towards the grain, pushing the blade or pulling it, or making a sawing movement; its blade stays sharp for much longer, and will not lower you just about as simply. (These qualities have made the Canary a favourite of crafters who work with cardboard.)

I am not the crafting kind, however I’ve used my Canary on bins each small and enormous. In a few minute, I lower down the large field my dehumidifier shipped in, leaving a neat stack of small items of cardboard which are straightforward to tie up for recycling. The knife works equally properly on the lighter cardboard bins like these Amazon makes use of, and thicker ones, just like the beefy boys that held my Goal flatpack furnishings.

It appears a stretch to name this little blade life-changing, but it surely has positively saved me a number of time—far more than $8 price.