examine – I’ve owned many knives over the years, so I now know what I need in a knife I carry every day and what features are important to me. The James Brand Carter XL checks all the blocks against specs, so let’s take a look at how it performs in practice.
What is that?
James Brand is a lifestyle company. They design items they think should be in our pockets. The James Brand Carter XL is an everyday carry manual folding knife with a G10 or micarta handle and a 3.3-inch drop point blade with a sturdy ambidextrous slide lock. It can be opened using a slide lock and also has a thumb disk. It weighs 3.3 ounces and has an overall length of 7.8 inches, so it’s not too big or too small. Designed in Portland, Oregon but made in Western China.
What’s included?
- James Brand Carter XL in OD green Micarta with regular VG10 blade
- storage sleeve
- Stickers and product information cards
- Lanyard insert (should have been included but mine didn’t)
technical specifications
Click to expand technical specifications.
- Blade steel: VG-10
- Print volume: 12.1 L/3.2 gal
- Blade Length: 3.3″ / 8.4cm
- Overall Length: 7.8″ / 19.8cm
- Weight: 3.3 ounces / 93 g
- Locking Type: Ambidextrous Slide Lock
- Blade Shape: Drop Point
- Edge Type: Straight Edge
- Opening Style: Ambidextrous Thumb Disc
- Scale material: OD Green micarta
- Main pivot: Stainless steel / Torx T8
- Hardware: Stainless Steel / Torx T6
- Carry Style: Tip Up
- Clip material: stainless steel
- Clip Hardware: Torx T6
- Bearing Style: Phosphor Bronze Washer
- Designed at: Portland, Oregon
- Place of production: Yangjiang, China
Design and Features
The James Brand Carter XL is the epitome of an everyday carry knife. With a 3.3-inch drop-point VG10 blade, 4.25-inch G10 or micarta handle, and a weight of 3.3 ounces, it’s the perfect size and shape for most everyday cutting tasks, and every knife manufacturer has a similar lineup. The James Brand Carter XL also boasts an opening thumb disc along with an ultra-smooth slide and a reversible deep carry pocket clip, making it left-handed friendly.
The lanyard insert was missing from mine because it was for review purposes, but it should be included with all new knives.
Performance
The James Brand Carter XL is made from mid-grade Japanese VG-10 steel, the standard for kitchen knives. VG10 steel is designed to handle the abuse of the culinary world, so it’s easy to sharpen and has good corrosion resistance, but edge retention and toughness aren’t as good as some higher-end steels. With blade steels there is always a compromise between edge retention, toughness, corrosion resistance and ease of sharpening, and usually only three of the four properties can be achieved.
The Carter XL is available in G10 scale or natural Mycarta. Natural micarta feels very comfortable in the hand. It felt a little slippery at first, but it wore well and now has a good grip.
Micarta’s wonderful patterns
The grip is very comfortable.
I knew I wanted my thumb to naturally rest on top of the thumb disc.
The blade doesn’t wobble, but the thumb disc prevents slipping.
The opening style uses a symmetrical thumb disc on the top of the blade for easy and secure one-handed opening. In the end, I liked Some Disk more than I expected. Because the disc is located at the edge of the blade relative to the thumb stud, I found that I didn’t have to bend my thumb like on other knives where the thumb stud ends very close to the handle. It also provides a wider resting position for your thumb or index finger when trying to cut where the back of the blade usually wobbles.
Easy to hold thanks to the protruding part of the slide lock
Thumb disk ended up being one of my favorite features.
The slide lock is very sturdy and easy to slip.
Skeletonized liner for weight savings
The slide lock design with a raised step feature provided excellent engagement on both sides. The locks were very sturdy and smooth with no lateral play due to their mostly round oval shape. The Deep Carry Pocket Clip is so deep that the handle is not visible even when placed in a pocket. Easily reversible (using Torx T6, not included). If you don’t like the pocket clip, you can replace the clip with a lanyard insert. The lanyard insert should be included but was missing from the box I sent.
Reversible with T6 Torx screws
No handle exposed at all
Below you can see my very old SOG Flash II, Benchmade 551 Griptilian and Vosteed Raccoon that are no longer made. The Vosteed Raccoons are all very similar in appearance, but there is also a new version of the Vosteed Raccoon and the SOG Flash AT. The XR is over $100 cheaper than the James Brand Carter XL. Even the Benchmade Griptilian is cheaper at $144 and made in the USA from better steel.
Top to bottom: SOG Flash II, Benchmade 551 Griptilian, James Brand Carter XL, Vosteed Raccoon
Why I Love James Brand Carter XL Knives
- soft slide lock
- Very user-friendly blade shape
- i like the thumb disc
What needs to be improved?
final thoughts
The James Brand Carter XL knife is a very well designed knife and I really like it, but at $179 I think it is overpriced compared to other similar knives. A search on BladeHQ found the Carter XL to be the most expensive knife with a VG10 drop point blade measuring between 3 inches and 3.49 inches. James Brand is a lifestyle company, so their products carry premium pricing. The popular Benchmade Griptilian and Bugout are cheaper, boast higher-grade S30V steel, and aren’t actually made in Portland or designed there. I reviewed Vosteed Raccoon and loved it. It has Mycarta handles and crossbar locks, and slightly cheaper 14C28N steel, but you can get three raccoons for the price of one Carter XL. The James Brand Carter XL is a great knife, but if you can’t get it at a steep discount, I think there are better and cheaper options.
price: $179.00
Where to buy: James Brand website.
source: The sample for this review was provided by James Brand. James Brand did not have the final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.