Initial Impressions: The James Brand’s Carter Is An Elegant Pocket Knife For a More Civilized Age
A simple, old-school pocket knife makes for a great companion.
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I like simple. I know those are fighting words in today’s society where complexity is worshipped in the form of every piece of technology currently available—Praise be, golden iPhone. But with every passing day, I’m pulled more and more toward simple things. Not because I’m some hermit in the woods. Well, I sort of am, but I’m drawn to simple because I’m so tired of things breaking, not working as stated, or generally failing in some regard because of some minor technical thing.
Simple, however, means a product or thing has less to go wrong. There are fewer parts to break and fewer points where a product can leave you hanging. Whereas countless pocket knife companies are adding more and more features, locking mechanisms, action mechanisms, and tools besides the main knife, The James Brand’s Carter is refreshingly simple.
So It’s Just a Knife?
Yeah, it’s just a knife. The Carter uses a VG-10 steel blade measuring 2.8 inches, along with a Micarta handle that feels great in your hand. There’s also an inch-plus deep pocket clip to keep it secure. And that’s really it, aside from the thumb disc/action nub at the base of the blade and the slide lock.
I’ve found that while you can absolutely whip the blade out via said nub, which operates incredibly smoothly and doesn’t require all that much force, I actually enjoy opening the Carter by pulling back the slide lock and flipping the blade open, closing the lock as it hits the stop. There’s something satisfying about it, as well as how the Micarta handle feels in my palm.
For those of you who’ve never heard of Micarta, I was there too. What it is is a composite material not unlike Kevlar, but often made of compressed cloth, paper, carbon fiber, among others and then compressed into a form and set in resin. Accordingly, the result is an incredibly strong material that’s also lightweight and inexpensive, unlike Kevlar.
The blade comes pretty damn sharp, too. I was fidgeting with the knife, as I often do to calm my ADHD, and wasn’t paying enough attention to where the top of my middle finger was. I shaved a small piece of skin off. But don’t worry, I’m fine and it wasn’t the first time, nor will it be the last.
I’m Loving the Patina
So one of the things I was slightly nervous about the Micarta finish was how it blemished right after my first few uses. But as it’s weathered on my hip, using it around the house, it’s developed this great patina that will be fascinating to watch as it ages. Will it go bad? Will it become like a fancy-pants old air-cooled Porsche 911? I don’t know, I’ve never had a Micarta knife.
I’m also keen to see how the blade weathers my use. I’ve had a few knives that look amazing and work great for a few months, but they dull pretty quickly after the factory honing goes out. Usually, I can send them into town for a fast resharpening, but that’s money out of your pocket. So I’ll definitely report back in my full review.
At the time of writing, the Carter will set you back $159. That’s honestly not a terrible price for a quality knife, which this appears to be so far. There are cheaper knives, like my old workhorse Smith & Wesson that I’ve broken far too many times to count, and more expensive ones like my Benchmades. This seems like a great middle ground, but not sacrificing much.
But what else do you want to know about the Carter? Let me know in the comments below and I’ll try and answer them in my full review coming soon.
