The James Brand launched the original Ellis knife in 2019 as its very first multitool. In fact, it wasn't just any multitool but the brand's own interpretation of a Swiss Army Knife, reimagined through simple, reduced design language. Now the tool is getting reduced even further, losing its extra fold-out implements in order to take on its slimmest form yet. Thinner than a pack of gum and shorter than an Apple TV remote, the new Ellis is designed to disappear away while barely being noticed ... right up until it's time to deploy.
The James Brand (TJB) launched in 2012, and during its 14 years on the market, it's managed to develop a lineup of knives and EDC provisions that feel as timeless and distinctive as offerings from longer running legends like Victorinox and Leatherman. In fact, most of TJB's knives and tools are a sort of sleek, simple yin to the heftily loaded multitool yang.
The Ellis is the perfect example. It was the company's first attempt at a multitool but remained nearly as restrained as its compact knives, much simpler and sleeker than the typical overloaded loaded multitool sandwich. It comprised a slim, rectangular chassis filled out by a straight/serrated blade and bottle opener/slotted screwdriver combo. A stubby little scraper stuck out of the end of the handle. Simple, useful.
In 2022, TJB updated the Ellis, replacing the flip-out bottle opener/driver with a small pair of scissors. It then integrated a flathead into the scraper end, which was hollowed at the center to serve as a keyring or lanyard attachment point. It also changed the locking blade mechanism to a slip joint.
The all-new Ellis introduced this week is less an update of that 2022 design and more a complete rebranding. The new tool bears more in common with the ultra-sleek Ellis Slim knife TJB launched in 2023 than it does any previous iteration of the Ellis.
In fact, the new Ellis web page was still headed "Ellis Slim" in our Google results as we worked on this writeup. And the whole "thinner than a pack of gum" marketing started with the Ellis Slim – we remember clearly because we dug up a few gum pack dimensions to confirm, including from a pack straight out of our pocket.
So the new Ellis is basically the old Ellis Slim, then? Not exactly, as the new knife rolls familiar Ellis Slim features into a thoroughly updated package. The biggest difference becomes immediately clear at first look: gone are the flat, grippy G10 scales, replaced with an all-aluminum-alloy handle with neat rows of dimples for grip. The aluminum scales also appear to include a mild curvature from side to side, and end to end along the perimeter.
The new Ellis' listed thickness is actually close to a millimeter more than the Ellis Slim's, but that doesn't mean TJB is lying about the new launch being its thinnest offering yet. In comparing the Ellis and Ellis Slim sketches the company has used to highlight their respective sub-gum-pack thinness, it appears the new Ellis' 8.8-mm (0.4-in) profile includes the flat-seated clip, whereas the 8-mm (0.3-in) spec from the Ellis Slim included only the knife body, minus its taller, curvier clip. So we'll take The James Brand's word that the Ellis is in fact its slimmest knife ever, knocking the old Ellis Slim off the podium.
The new Ellis does weigh considerably more, though, scaling in at 4.4 oz (126 g), about 2.6 oz (74 g) heavier than the Ellis Slim. In fact, that's also heavier than the 2.6-oz (74-g) 2022 scissor-equipped Ellis multitool. But we reckon the average everyday carrier won't collapse from an extra ounce or three in his or her pocket.
The James Brand doesn't bill the new Ellis as a multitool, and like the Ellis Slim before it, it's really just a knife with a few extra functions that come by way of the keychain ring on the base. TJB calls that ring the "All Things" pry, and it's designed to pry open can lids and bottle caps, scrape away old, unwanted stickers or gum, and spin a flathead screw into its new home.
Beyond that, the Ellis is really just a slim, classic slip joint knife with 2.6-in (7-cm) Sandvik steel blade that opens via nail slot. It measures 6.4 inches (16 cm) long when open and 3.8 inches (10 cm) closed.
The all-new Ellis is available now for US$99, and whether that price strikes you as high, low or just right, we can say it's the same starting price the Ellis Slim went for when it first debuted three years ago. At least one price in life isn't skyrocketing through the roof.
Source: The James Brand
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