A utility knife comprising:
- an elongated handle having a front end and a rear end, said handle defining a cavity therein and including carrier guide structure provided within said cavity, said elongated handle comprising a first plastic handle portion and a mating second plastic handle portion, each having front and rear ends corresponding to the front and rear ends of said elongated handle;
- releasable locking structure associated with said first handle portion and said second handle portion, said releasable locking structure constructed and arranged to releasably lock said first handle portion to said second handle portion;
- a blade carrier assembly constructed and arranged to carry a knife blade and to be manually slidable on said carrier guide structure in a longitudinal direction with respect to said handle to selectively extend the knife blade outwardly from the front end of the handle or retract the knife blade into said cavity;
- said first handle portion comprising:
- first interlock structure including a pair of forwardly-extending first projections and a pair of rearwardly-extending first recesses;
- and
- a projecting tab proximate the front end of said first handle portion and extending toward the front end of said first handle portion;
- said second handle portion comprising:
- second interlock structure including a pair of rearwardly-extending second projections and a pair of forwardly-extending second recesses;
- and
- a longitudinal slot proximate the front end of said second handle portion,
- said first and second handle portions being constructed and arranged to be cooperatively mated with one another to form said elongated handle by longitudinally displacing said first handle portion relative to said second handle portion so that (i) said first projections of said first interlock structure operatively engage with said second recesses of said second interlock structure, (ii) said second projections of said second interlock structure operatively engage with said first recesses of said first interlock structure, and (iii) said projecting tab of said first handle portion extends forwardly into said longitudinal slot formed in the front end of said second handle portion,
- wherein an inside surface of said projecting tab and an opposed interior surface of the slot formed in the front end of said second handle portion define an opening in the front end of the handle through which said blade can be extended and retracted,
- said releasable locking structure preventing longitudinal displacement of said first handle portion relative to said second handle portion thereby preventing separation of said first handle portion from said second handle portion, and
- said releasable locking structure being releasable to enable said first and second handle portions to be longitudinally displaceable relative to one another to enable (i) said first projections to be longitudinally moved out of said second recesses, (ii) said second projections to be longitudinally moved out of said first recesses, and (iii) said tab to be longitudinally moved out of said slot and thereby allow separation of said first and second handle portions.