Portland toolmaker The James Brand has a catalogue brimming with elegant knives and multitools, and the latest addition takes this degree of sophistication up a few notches – with a price tag to match. The company describes its newly introduced Barnes as the finest and most technically advanced knife it has ever made, having machined it from a single billet of titanium and attached a blade made from top-of-the-line stainless steel.
The Barnes is the company's first integral knife, meaning the handle is made from a single piece of material, with a channel forged in it to accommodate the blade. The advantages of this approach are fewer parts and easier maintenance, though they are more labor-intensive to produce, meaning they are usually more expensive than your typical folding knife.
![The Barnes integral knife is priced at $599](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/a68a41a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1251x941+0+0/resize/1251x941!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff9%2F88%2F2ef54cd9477b8686b16af49cd5f6%2Fscreen-shot-2021-05-05-at-12.22.34.png)
In the case of the Barnes, a block of 6AL-4V titanium served as the starting point, with a drop-point blade attached via a stainless steel pivot and ceramic bearings. The company has used hard-wearing Bohler M390 stainless steel to craft this blade, which measures 3.5-inch (8.9 cm) long when folded outward from the body and uses a frame lock mechanism to pin it in place when not in use.
![The Barnes integral knife comes with a special coin](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/a9d6fdf/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1250x937+0+0/resize/1250x937!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5f%2Fdf%2Fa62158644d3586d26eb30ca1139d%2Fscreen-shot-2021-05-05-at-12.22.27.png)
The Barnes weighs 4.6 oz (132 g), has a total length of 7.8 in (19.8 cm), and features a paracord lanyard and titanium pocket clip for easy carry options. And in a tip of the hat to knife-giving traditions, the company is selling the knife together with one of its own coins designed in house.
Source: The James Brand