Lol … as a kid one of my first jobs was working at a grocery store. I learned early on from older people at the same job how to separate the tape and peel it off as fast as possible. If the box had more than one strip of tape, you just used the pointed edge of anything to snap the tape … a pencil,a pen, a nail, a screw, a clipboard, sometimes just even a fingernail.
As soon as you remove the tape, you cleanly get at everything inside without damaging anything.
I once watched a friend of mine at the same job saying that he knew better and always used an exacto knife. After he ruined several boxes of merchandise, they took away his knife.
I work with frozen food boxes and on some of them you can just give few good smacks along the top and half of the tape will just unstick. Then just give a good pull to one of the halfs and you are in.
To break down the box, just flip it on the side and punch, usually that is enough to get one end of the tape unstuck and you can pull it off.
This depends entirely on the type of tape it is. There’s plenty of ripstop tech in packing tapes now and adhesives that are stronger than the boxes they’re bound to, both of which make a mess if you try to tear in a straight line.
Oh God, your comment triggered my PTSD… One of my first jobs I worked at, I had to restock, multiple times a day, a bin with a bunch of items that were very delicate and wrapped in super thin & delicate plastic. But the box they came in was made of super heavy duty cardboard. Like this shit was originally intended to be some kind of bullet proofing material but accidentally got used to make boxes. Even worse though was that each open end of the box was glued shut with enough glue to stick the Titanic back together and still have some left over and then stapled.
I hated those boxes.
You always have to be aware of what might be inside. If it’s a bunch of solid objects, chances are you have some room to use a knife. If what’s inside is big and fluffy and soft, chances are you’re going to do damage.
The friend I talked about nearly got fired because he once ruined several big downy brand new winter jackets because he thought he was an expert with an exacto knife.
It’s not that hard to do a clean cut with a butter knife let alone an exacto knife, so what the hell was he doing with it? Was he just plunging it in full force, because I was taught to open a box with a knife by doing a hard angle where if you went horizontal from the edge it’d scrape.
Easily opened for sure, but cleanly? I bet not. The knife will be clean and smooth, and satisfying. The cardboard will never see it coming.
Less effort, too
Lol … as a kid one of my first jobs was working at a grocery store. I learned early on from older people at the same job how to separate the tape and peel it off as fast as possible. If the box had more than one strip of tape, you just used the pointed edge of anything to snap the tape … a pencil,a pen, a nail, a screw, a clipboard, sometimes just even a fingernail.
As soon as you remove the tape, you cleanly get at everything inside without damaging anything.
I once watched a friend of mine at the same job saying that he knew better and always used an exacto knife. After he ruined several boxes of merchandise, they took away his knife.
I work with frozen food boxes and on some of them you can just give few good smacks along the top and half of the tape will just unstick. Then just give a good pull to one of the halfs and you are in.
To break down the box, just flip it on the side and punch, usually that is enough to get one end of the tape unstuck and you can pull it off.
No tools needed at all
This depends entirely on the type of tape it is. There’s plenty of ripstop tech in packing tapes now and adhesives that are stronger than the boxes they’re bound to, both of which make a mess if you try to tear in a straight line.
They make safety openers for that which have the blade shielded.
https://www.primepac.co.nz/products/labels-mailing-stationery/knives-cutters/sterling-safety-box-cutters/
How stupid do you have to be to damage the contents of a box when opening it with a knife? Was he just jamming it in anywhere?
Many ex cops work in retail.
Oh God, your comment triggered my PTSD… One of my first jobs I worked at, I had to restock, multiple times a day, a bin with a bunch of items that were very delicate and wrapped in super thin & delicate plastic. But the box they came in was made of super heavy duty cardboard. Like this shit was originally intended to be some kind of bullet proofing material but accidentally got used to make boxes. Even worse though was that each open end of the box was glued shut with enough glue to stick the Titanic back together and still have some left over and then stapled.
I hated those boxes.
You always have to be aware of what might be inside. If it’s a bunch of solid objects, chances are you have some room to use a knife. If what’s inside is big and fluffy and soft, chances are you’re going to do damage.
The friend I talked about nearly got fired because he once ruined several big downy brand new winter jackets because he thought he was an expert with an exacto knife.
It’s not that hard to do a clean cut with a butter knife let alone an exacto knife, so what the hell was he doing with it? Was he just plunging it in full force, because I was taught to open a box with a knife by doing a hard angle where if you went horizontal from the edge it’d scrape.