Does The James Brand’s First Flipper EDC Knife Live Up to the Hype? We Found Out

TJB is known for modern minimalist everyday carry — we got hands-on with the brand’s Wells to see if the secret sauce remains intact.

Sean Tirman for Gear Patrol

By Sean Tirman

Published February 10, 2024

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The James Brand has spent the last decade diligently carving out its place in the everyday carry world, distinguishing itself as a brand by offering an array of pocket knives (and other accessories) that balance carefully considered minimalist designs with dependable (and usually high-end) materials. However, in all the brand’s outstanding knife releases, TJB had yet to offer one of the most popular pocket knife styles: a flipper.

That changed a few months ago with The James Brand Wells. But does the brand’s first-ever flipper release stand up to the hype? I got hands-on with this latest release and put it through the paces to see if this brand’s ethos and design approach work when applied to this tried-and-true knife style.

The James Brand Wells: What We Think

The James Brand

The James Brand The Wells

Pros

Excellent size and shape for EDC purposes
Flipper deployment is smooth and satisfying
Absolutely gorgeous design

Cons

Highly expensive
Awkward button lock placement
The handle texture is off-putting

All told, the James Brand Wells is an exceptional high-end knife and another impressive achievement to add to the brand’s repertoire. While it isn’t perfect — the placement of the button lock is a touch awkward, the matte finish of the handle gives off a little bit of a chalkboard feel (and scratching it with one’s nails is particularly off-putting) and the price is eye-watering — it does have some very bright spots that get me excited to see what TJB has yet to come.

The Wells’ overall design is drop-dead gorgeous, capturing everything I love about the brand’s stylistic language. The MagnaCut steel Wharncliffe blade is perfect for EDC applications (if a little overkill). The wire pocket clip is sturdy without being too tight. The aluminum “pocket” handle is perfectly sized and — while not explicitly ergonomic — shaped well. And the flipper action is as satisfying and smooth as they come (with zero play in the blade whatsoever). While I do understand the price, it’s a very high bar to entry. If this knife were $150 or so cheaper, I’d seriously consider buying a second one.

The Wells is drop-dead gorgeous from tip to tail and feels good to hold and use

The appearance of the Wells is certainly one of its best features. The lines are clean to the point where closed or opened, it looks like a fluid single-piece tool, despite actually having that pivotal hinge at the meeting point between blade and handle. When closed, the flipper is apparent without jutting out so far as to get in the way and, when opened, it acts as a finger guard, preventing your digits from touching the blade.

It’s also quite lightweight and nicely balanced — likely a product of its heat-treated aerospace-grade aluminum handle scales and the thinness of the MagnaCut blade. However, its light weight does not mean it feels flimsy — quite the opposite, in fact. It feels sturdy and filled with purpose, like a tool that wants to be used. I could easily see myself reaching for this knife as a part of my EDC again and again. And while I wouldn’t carry it just to brag about it, it’s definitely a perk that it’s a knife that begs to be praised.

The flipper deployment is smooth and satisfying and sacrifices nothing

As I already mentioned, the flipper has a great design — neither getting in the way nor being so subtle as to be difficult to use. But it would be useless without being paired with an exceptional pivot. Luckily, this knife’s stainless steel caged ball bearings offer an extremely smooth deployment that’s a pleasure to use. The knife doesn’t open too easily, but it doesn’t drag as the blade swings open, either.

Sean Tirman

I actually really love the action and could see an argument to be made for this knife almost as a fidget toy. The flipper requires just a bit of pressure, but, once you hit that threshold, it swings open with gusto. Furthermore, The James Brand has managed this while keeping the blade entirely free of side-to-side play. It doesn’t wobble or twist at all, giving further credence to the knife seeming like a single, fluid piece of material.

The Wells’ button lock is sturdy and reliable but is placed awkwardly

The button lock is rock-solid, if a touch awkward to operate one-handed.

Sean Tirman

As much as I want it to be, the Wells just isn’t perfect. This I discovered in utilizing the button lock. Let me start by saying that the lock isn’t bad — not by a long shot. As the brand proclaims on the Wells’ product page, the design is intuitive. All you have to do is push it. It’s also sturdy and reliable — I’ve not felt it fail at all in using it.

That being said, the placement of the button — toward the top back of the handle — is a little awkward. It took some time to get used to that placement, and I still feel a little odd ever-so-daintily holding the handle between my fingers and thumb to push the button to release the blade. Maybe I wouldn’t feel so gingerly about it if the pivot was a little stiffer, but I’d rather not discover what MagnaCut steel feels like slicing into my knuckles. But here’s the real kicker: I don’t have a solution for a better placement, and I’ve seen this same placement for just about all button-lock knives. All said and done, I do think TJB did the best they could with this particular design, making this more of a pet peeve than a real point of critique.

I find the texture of the handle to be quite off-putting

There’s a lot to love about the James Brand’s Wells EDC knife. The texture they chose for the handle, however, is not one of them. It has a matte, almost chalkboard-y feel to it that makes me very uncomfortable, especially when handling it in the cold. And the few times I’ve mistakenly scratched a fingernail against it, the feeling sent shivers down my spine.

This has gotten better the more I’ve used it — I don’t really want to think about it because it is also a little gross, but this may be a product of my finger grease — but it is still unsettling from time to time. I also wanted to make sure this wasn’t just my reaction alone, so I asked my wife what she thought, and she had a similar repulsion to the feeling of the handle, likening it to the texture of a painted apartment wall. If there were anything I could change about the Wells, it would be the texture of the handle.

Other than that, I think the handle is great. The “pocket” style — the handle is actually two pieces but, pressed together, there’s no gap in the spine, giving it more of that one-piece illusion and offering a little pocket into which the blade folds — as well as the slightly tapered shape, beveled edges, logo placement and pocket clip are all great. It’s just that damned texture.

The price, even for the quality, is just too much

This is not a complaint lodged at The James Brand alone, just to be clear. The price of high-end knives is often absurd, especially when considering what most people actually use them for. I know that’s a combination of the cost of engineering, manufacturing, design and the materials themselves, but over $400 for a knife I’m probably going to use mostly for opening boxes is exorbitant.

The Wells is definitely overkill for tasks like opening boxes, but it’s also a joy to use.

Sean Tirman

The truth of the matter is this: for a pocket knife used in normal everyday life by regular people, half of the price of the Wells is a much more appropriate figure. The Wells isn’t really a knife you’re going to get and use as your daily carry unless you’re an enthusiast already. It’s an aspirational piece — something you’re likely to want to display and talk about — and a means by which the brand can show off its design prowess. As long as you know that and are comfortable with it, it’s an out-of-the-park homerun — much like high-end dress watches.

The James Brand Wells: Alternatives

As mentioned, the Wells is a really outstanding knife. But if the price is just too high for you to reasonably pick one up, TJB has some great alternatives. For instance, our best upgrade pick in our pocket knife guide is The James Brand’s Carter. If you want to save even more money while grabbing our top overall pick, that’d be the CRKT Pilar III. And if you like the kind of styling found in the Wells but prefer something a touch smaller and with more of a belly on the blade, there’s the WESN Allman, a bulldog of a knife that I absolutely adore.