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.
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 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