COMANDI Ti-Toucan: the last knife reached retail, and this one does not lock

A keychain-sized titanium folding knife from a Hong Kong maker on its fourth Kickstarter campaign. The reason to look at it is not this campaign: it is that the previous knife from the same workshop is sitting on the maker’s own shop shelves at a retail price today. The reason to read carefully is that this blade does not lock open, and the shipping cost is not the number on the pledge button.

Maker: COMANDI, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Delivery risk: Lower than most of this category. Four campaigns on the platform, the previous one still receiving updates on 20 August 2026, and that product now on open retail sale — campaign and shop listing.

This is a Watching page. Backing a crowdfunding campaign is not a purchase. Projects can be delayed or fail to deliver, and nothing here has been received by anyone.

The delivery record is the reason to look at this at all

Most campaigns in this category come from an account opened a few weeks earlier. This one does not.

A finished campaign still being updated is not the pattern of a maker that took the money and went quiet — and a previous crowdfunded product that can be bought at a fixed price is the closest thing available to proof that the last batch reached people.

This campaign is a fifth the size of the last one

The delivery record above is the last campaign’s, not this one’s. This one has a fifth of the backers and has posted nothing to them. It closes on 9 September 2026 and is funded either way, so this is not about whether it will go ahead. It is a reminder that the reassuring numbers on this page belong to a different product.

Read from the campaign page on 31 August 2026 and subject to change.

The blade does not lock, and the campaign says that is the point

This is the single thing to understand before pledging. The campaign describes a “Non-Locking Stop-Slot” mechanism and “Lockbar-Free Carry”. There is no lock holding the blade open against pressure; a machined stop-slot sets the open position.

The maker’s stated reason, from its About section: every tool it ships “must be practical, it must be legally reliable, and it must be built to last”. Non-locking folding knives are treated differently from locking ones under the carry laws of several countries, which is the usual reason a maker chooses this design. The campaign does not name those countries, and neither will we — carry law is local, and a page like this is the wrong place to be read as advice on it.

What we will say plainly: a non-locking blade is a different tool from a locking one, and the difference shows under exactly the downward pressure the campaign copy is selling.

What the maker publishes

These are the maker’s figures; nobody outside the company has measured them. The two blank rows matter more than the rest. Blade length is the number carry law is usually written around, hardness is the number steel arguments are settled with, and a page this specific about a ±0.01 mm tolerance has left out both.

Two things the pledge button does not show

Shipping is charged later, at a rate that will move. It is not billed at pledge time; it is collected after the campaign through a fulfilment survey. The campaign then states: “Final rates will be updated prior to fulfilment based on live courier costs at that time.” So the number you agree to is not the total, and the missing part will be set months later. The maker states the estimate covers tax and duties for most destinations and that it does not mark shipping up — stated in advance, not yet demonstrated.

The tiers are named in US dollars and charged in Hong Kong dollars.

We are not converting those for you, because the rate on the day your card is charged is the one that applies. One detail is worth drawing out: “Super Early Bird” costs more than “Launch Day Special” for the same knife, and backers have worked that out. On 3 September 2026 the two Launch Day tiers hold 117 of the 170 backers who have chosen one, while the two Super Early Bird tiers hold eleven between them. We said on 28 August that both Super Early Bird tiers were empty. They are not any more, but the ratio has not moved: the cheaper pair still takes almost four in five. The campaign also lists six higher tiers, from HK$721 to HK$1,693, holding 24 backers between them.

What has been written from outside

Nothing about the Ti-Toucan, and nothing can be — there is no unit outside the workshop for anyone to hold. Two pieces exist about the maker’s previous knife, and both need labelling. New Atlas published one the publication itself files under sponsored content, which is advertising rather than evidence. Yanko Design published a piece by a named writer, Aki Ukita, on 13 October 2024, which reads as a description rather than an account of use, and carries no statement of handling and no disclosure.

One claim we could not check

The About section opens with “30+ Projects” and says the team has “successfully designed, manufactured, and delivered 30+ premium EDC products”. Kickstarter’s record for this account shows four campaigns. Those are not necessarily in conflict — the claim is about products, and a 94-item shop could sit behind it — but no public record we could open turns “30+ delivered” into something a reader can check. We are not calling it false. We are saying the verifiable number is four.

Reasons to keep watching

• Four campaigns, and the previous one still being updated on 20 August 2026 — long after it closed
• The previous crowdfunded knife is on open retail sale, the clearest evidence available that a batch reached buyers
• A shop carrying 94 products rather than a single-campaign account
• All tiers state a delivery month, worldwide shipping and the same specification

Reasons to wait

• The blade does not lock, a real difference in how the tool behaves under load
• Shipping is charged after the campaign at a rate reset before fulfilment, so the total is unknown at pledge time
• This campaign has a fifth of the last one’s backers and has posted no updates
• Blade length and hardness are unpublished, on a page that publishes a ±0.01 mm tolerance
• Nothing has shipped; earliest stated delivery is December 2026
• “30+ delivered” cannot be checked from outside; the checkable number is four campaigns

Where this leaves a buyer

This is one of the better delivery records in the category — four campaigns, a previous product that reached open retail, and a maker still answering on a finished campaign. Weigh that against three things this page cannot settle: the blade does not lock, the shipping charge is set months after you pledge, and the reassuring numbers belong to the last product rather than this one.

FAQ

Does the blade lock open?
No. The campaign describes a non-locking stop-slot and “Lockbar-Free Carry”, presented as a deliberate design choice.

What will it cost in total?
From HK$384 for the VG10 tier, plus shipping collected after the campaign at a rate the campaign states will be updated before fulfilment.

Has this maker delivered before?
On the record, yes. The previous campaign raised HK$506,386 from 780 backers, posted 31 updates, was last updated on 20 August 2026, and that product is now sold at the maker’s own shop.

Has anyone outside the company used this knife?
No. It does not exist outside the workshop yet.

Where to buy

Loupe has not handled this product. Every figure above is linked to the source it came from.