DeWalt ToughCase+ Carbide Blade (30 PK)

I spend an unreasonable amount of time with a utility knife in hand—breaking down boxes, scoring drywall, trimming carpet, and shaving shims on installs. Swapping to carbide-edge blades promised fewer changes and more consistent cuts between swaps, so I put DeWalt’s ToughCase+ 30‑pack through several weeks of jobsite and shop use. The short version: these blades stretch the time between changes in real work, and the case is better thought out than most refill dispensers, though it isn’t perfect.

What you get and how it carries

The simplified name here is the ToughCase+ carbide blade pack. Inside the rugged, refillable case are 30 standard utility blades with a carbide edge. The container opens across the full top with a positive latch, so you’re not fighting a skinny slit to fish blades through. The case is pocketable, rides cleanly on a tool belt, and it drops into a pouch without dumping blades everywhere. It’s also part of DeWalt’s ToughCase+/ToughSystem ecosystem, so it nests neatly with other organizers. For someone who actually tries to keep small consumables squared away, this is the rare blade pack I don’t curse at.

The case is reusable. Once you burn through the 30, refilling it with fresh packs keeps a known form factor in your kit. There’s no used-blade compartment, which I’d love to see, but the case does its primary job—protecting sharp edges and making retrieval quick—very well.

Cutting performance and edge life

Carbide-edge utility blades aren’t solid carbide; they’re steel blades tipped or treated with a carbide edge to resist wear. The upside is longer life on abrasive materials; the tradeoff can be a slightly different feel on the first few cuts and a bit more brittleness than a plain carbon-steel blade.

Across common materials, here’s how they shook out for me:

• Drywall: Clean scores and consistent depth on long rips. On a full bathroom demo and reboard, I made it through multiple sheets per edge before flipping. That’s better than a typical carbon-steel blade that’s ready to retire after a few boards of scoring plus a bit of paper fuzz cleanup.
• Carpet and carpet pad: This is where carbide earns its keep. Cutting old carpet in strips dulls edges fast. With these, I could slice multiple room-length cuts before I noticed drag. The blade still tracked straight through backing without excessive force.
• Roofing felt and shingles (repair patches): The edge stayed usable significantly longer than standard blades. Watch for staples—carbide doesn’t love hard, point impacts. If you clip a staple, flip the blade to a fresh edge.
• Heavy cardboard and strapping: Great performance. Fewer swaps breaking down pallet loads and appliance boxes, and the edge stayed crisp enough to avoid crushing the cut.
• Vinyl flooring and trim: Clean, controlled scores. The initial bite is a touch less “grabby” than the keenest high-carbon blades, but that feel levels out quickly.

I measured edge life in tasks rather than cuts, because material and technique vary. In practice, I changed these about half as often as my standard steel blades on abrasive jobs (carpet, drywall, roofing felt) and about a third less often on cleaner materials (cardboard, plastic sheeting, housewrap). That’s enough of a productivity bump to notice—fewer interruptions, fewer chances to nick yourself while swapping.

Sharpness and cut feel

Out of the case, the edge is sharp, but the character is different from the thinnest, ultra-aggressive steel blades. On the first few cuts, especially in soft materials like foam or thin plastic, the edge feels controlled rather than “sticky-sharp.” Once I put the blade to drywall paper or carpet backing, the difference faded, and the benefit of wear resistance took over. For precision trimming in wood veneer or delicate laminate, I’d still reach for a fresh, non-carbide blade with a very keen grind. For 90% of utility-knife chores, these made clean, repeatable cuts without chatter.

Durability and break resistance

Carbide edges resist abrasion but can chip if you strike metal or apply prying loads. That held true. I had one small microchip after clipping a crown staple under carpet, which gave a slightly scratchy feel on the next pass. Flip the blade and you’re back to smooth. The blade bodies themselves are standard thickness and held up to normal pushing and scoring without flexing or snapping. Just treat them like cutters, not pry bars: no twisting in sheet metal cutouts, no popping screw heads, and don’t try to dig out grout lines.

Fit and compatibility

I tried these in a few knives: a DeWalt folding utility knife, a DeWalt fixed retractable, and a well-worn Stanley 99E. They locked in securely in all three with no wiggle and no tolerance headaches. Ejection and flipping were uneventful. If you’ve run into occasional fit weirdness with third-party blades, these play nicely with DeWalt’s own mechanisms and the common legacy designs.

The ToughCase+ dispenser

I appreciate the case more than I expected:

• Full-top opening: You can see what you’ve got and grab a blade quickly, even with gloves. No rattle-prone sliding doors that jam with grit.
• Positive latch: It won’t open in a pouch.
• Rugged shell: It actually protects the edges and doesn’t crack if you sit on it or toss it in a bucket.

The one tradeoff is that it’s not a single-blade gravity dispenser. You open the lid and pick one. For most pros, that’s fine; it’s faster, and you’re not dealing with jammed sliders. For high-volume environments where you want strict one-at-a-time dispensing, this isn’t that. The case is slightly bulkier than the thinnest tin dispensers, but still pocketable. On a belt, I forget it’s there.

Integration with DeWalt’s ToughSystem/ToughCase+ is genuinely useful if you’re already in that ecosystem; it nests into their organizers so blades aren’t floating loose in a random box.

Safety and handling

• Flip early: Rather than forcing a tired edge, flip at the first sign of drag. Carbide keeps a usable edge a long time, but it feels best in the top 70% of its life.
• Avoid impacts: Staples, screws, and nails are the enemy. Glide over fasteners or switch to snips.
• Dispose properly: Since this case doesn’t store used blades, keep a blade-safe tin or a marked bottle on hand for disposal.

Warranty and value

There’s a 3-year limited warranty listed, plus 1-year service and 90-day satisfaction. With consumables, the practical protection is that 90-day window—useful if you find they don’t suit your work. Value-wise, the proposition is simple: if you’re cutting abrasive materials regularly, you’ll change blades less often and work faster with fewer interruptions. If your work is mostly light-duty plastics and occasional cardboard, standard steel blades may be more cost-effective.

What I’d improve

• A used-blade compartment in the case would be welcome.
• A single-blade dispensing option (without sacrificing the easy full-top access) would satisfy shop environments that want controlled issue.
• The initial grind could be a hair more polished for ultra-clean cuts on delicate materials.

None of these are deal-breakers, and they’re mostly about the case experience and edge feel on niche tasks.

Who these blades are for

• Pros and serious DIYers cutting drywall, carpet, roofing products, insulation, and heavy cardboard on a regular basis.
• Anyone already using DeWalt knives who wants guaranteed fit and a tidy, durable way to carry replacements.
• People who value fewer blade changes over the absolute keenest out-of-box feel.

If your day is light crafts, vinyl stickers, or veneer where pristine first-cut sharpness matters more than longevity, keep some premium non-carbide blades on hand for those tasks.

Recommendation

I recommend the ToughCase+ carbide blade pack. The carbide edge genuinely extends blade life on abrasive materials, the cut quality stays consistent deeper into the blade’s lifespan, and the case is practical, durable, and easy to live with. You’ll make fewer mid-task blade changes, and you won’t be hunting for a loose dispenser at the bottom of a bag. It isn’t the blade I’d pick for delicate, one-pass finish cuts in fragile surfaces, and I’d love a built-in used-blade slot, but for everyday demolition, remodeling, shop breakdown, and general utility work, these earn a permanent spot on my belt.