These days knives and blades are my go to tools. Whether it is cutting my own intricate designs or slicing large sheets of paper or making a square for origami - a cushiony holder and a new blade have become like life savers.
The sharp-pointed #11 blade for craft knives available from a few different brands are reasonably priced and that makes it easy to toss an old one and put a fresh one in the holder and start life anew.
I promised a friend that I would list the blades and holders I have tried in my quest to find good quality. I must thank George for getting me as many different brands as he could and suddenly I had many more options than just good old X-acto.
Here are the holders:

From left to right:
1. Basic X-acto knife - I cut with this for a long time and then totally abandoned it when a student in my class told me about the cushioned grip - see # 2.
2. X-acto X2000 knife - nice grip. But the blade comes off once in while if you haven't tightened it so. Plastic cover never stays on.
3. Retractable knife - cute but not too useful to me. You 'wear' it on your finger to cut.
4.Olfa Cusion grip art knife - very nicely made, great grip, blade is not going to fall out. Cover stays on. Pricier than the others
5. Scalpel knife for #11 scalpel blade - Not for me - the handle is too flat.
Here are the different brands of #11 blades that I tried:

1. X-acto - Cheapest. You get what you pay for. The tip breaks off very easily, specially when cutting paper that is even a bit thicker than copy paper.
2. Olfa - Priciest - about $1 per blade. The first blade I tried was awesome, I cut for an hour with just one blade. But that did not happen again. The tip is sturdy but gets blunt just like other blades.
3. Zona - These are my favorite right now - George bought me a pack of 100 and its what I go to first for a new blade. The tip stays fine for a while but it does get blunt. We tried sharpening it on a kitchen sharpening rod, but getting a new blade is so much easier and nicer.
4. Excel - Eh. I haven't used these enough to say much about this. Nothing special, I think. Thank goodness I don't have a pack of 100!
I also tried blue X-acto # 11 blades - they are supposedly "precision" blades - advertised as "Precision-crafted of the highest quality carbon." Not so. They are heavy on the paper - getting a new blade from the pack does not give you the smooth first few cuts that you expect from a new blade. Its heavy-going. Maybe I am doing something wrong.
So there - you have it - I did not list a bunch of other blades I tried - the scalpel blades, the X-acto #16 blade, etc.
Give me a fine sharp tip that stays sharp for a while without breaking and I am happy.
Happy Cutting!