The Swell is not your common knife. It is the result of two amazing brands coming together to design a knife that desires to be touched and played with. The James Brand designs and manufacturers beautiful knives. Their knives are simple with clean lines, but are crafted to the highest quality. Discommon aims to design products with incomparable quality, durability, and luxury. Discommon likes to take a normal object like a tumbler, a straight razor, or a watch and infuse their deep knowledge of design, metallurgy, and machining to create jaw dropping products.

I was able to get ahold of the Swell Knife to get a hands on review and wow, am I amazed. Here are the technical specifications.

Made in the USA
Blade Length: 2.33”
Blade Type: Drop point with a hand-rubbed satin finish
Blade Steel: D2
Scale Type: 6AL 4V Titanium and aircraft-grade 6061 anodized Aluminum
Carry Style: Tip down
Carry Orientation: Right-handed
Hardware: 416 stainless, black-oxide coated
Washers: Phosphor bronze.

This knife is incredibly lightweight, which makes sense because it is made from Titanium and Aluminum. It is very well balanced and fits nicely in your hand. The complex machining and lines on the scale are inspired by the waves of the ocean. It is the swell that a surfer sees as he is searching for the perfect wave. These complex lines desire to be touched and held. They also make a comfortable curvature that gives you a solid grip on the knife.

From a design perspective I am continually impressed with Discommon. I have shared some of their previous projects before and I am in awe of their design capabilities. Let me just say, as a mechanical engineer I spend most of my days designing in similar softwares to what Discommon used to design this knife and what they have done is not an easy task. Creating a design using the organic lines and surface features on this knife is complex and demonstrates their mastery of design.

When I first received the knife, I did feel like it was a little too small. The 2.33 inch blade felt a little short. But after considering it I realized that I am biased by the 3 inch blade that I use as my everyday carry. I am just used to seeing a 3 inch blade in my hand. Once I held onto the knife awhile longer I liked the overall length and weight of the knife. If you scaled up the knife to 4 inches, it might start to feel big and bulky. The Swell is also this size because it is largely made from an existing knife from The James Brand. All the other knives that The James Brand make are equally impressive and built to last.

Like many of the projects from Discommon, The Swell is for a limited time only. They will be making a limited number with The James Brand. I do not know how many they are making, but I expect them to go very quickly.