What does a pocket knife maker know about carabiners? Well as it turns out, a lot. The James Brand demonstrated as much with today’s release of the Mehlville, a stylized take on the safety device used in rock climbing that for years has also been adapted for toting necessities like keys on an everyday basis. Leave it to the James Brand to take a spring-loaded metal hook and make it beautiful, and more practical.
The Mehlville’s main departure from traditional carabiners is its dual-compartment construction. Both are accessed from the same rotating L-shaped piece, which allows essential items to be kept within a secondary circuit and helps prevent accidental loss in clipping and unclipping the Mehlville to a belt loop or backpack strap. The new carabiner also supplies a stainless steel bottle opener (the main body is made of anodized aluminum).
The Mehlville serves as a reaffirmation of the James Brand’s ability to examine how we approach day-to-day operations and to create thoughtful versions of the ordinary yet practical items that we often take for granted. The company may be most recognized for its good-looking pocket knives, but the Mehlville demonstrates that it’s after much more. It might seem strange if it weren’t so darn fitting.
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