Ep. 119: Designing For the Pocket with Ryan Coulter of The James Brand

There’s always been a big overlap of people who are into watches, and people who are into the broader category of everyday carry, or EDC, which is essentially an umbrella term that covers items someone might have on their person daily  — this includes things like watches, keys, pens, notebooks, knives, and things of the sort. One of the brands in the EDC space today, and it’s one that’s gotten some real traction in the last couple of years, is The James Brand, and on this week’s episode, we sit down with its founder, Ryan Coulter. 

The James Brand makes high-quality knives, but unlike the kind of tactical-looking knives you might see elsewhere, The James Brand is instead focused on what I would describe as a functional, but more accessible aesthetic. In fact, and Ryan deftly makes this point in the conversation you’re about to listen to, their approach to knives is not that different from Swiss Army’s approach to theirs, and the way they adapted what was essentially a military knife to be sold to the general public.

We cover a whole number of topics in our conversation with Ryan, among them his background as an industrial designer, his approach to what he calls designing for the pocket, the idea of knives as heirlooms — something that anyone who loves watches will certainly understand — and a whole lot more.

This week’s episode is brought to you by the Windup Watch Shop.

Show Notes

• Ryan’s wrist check – MNML X-Series watch designed by his friend, Scott Wilson
• James’ wrist check – Hamilton Khaki Field Earth PVD
• Ilya’s wrist check – Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight
• The James Brand
• The James Brand on Instagram
• Gear Patrol’s Stocked
• Grant Stone on The Worn & Wound Podcast
• everydaycarry.com
• The James Brand X Aether
• The James Brand X Raen