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Origin Goods Crowdfunds New EDC Fixed Blade

April 21, 2020

Canadian craftsperson Marc Liss of Origin Goods is turning to Kickstarter for a new knife project, the Aleman. This knife goes for the EDC fixed blade market and adds a light multifunctional element to its Japanese inspired design.

The kiridashi is a traditional Japanese utility knife, originally intended to wood carving purposes. But the blade is having a bit of a renaissance as many modern knife makers latch onto it for general EDC purposes. Liss settled on the shape for the Aleman due to its ability to cram lots of functionality into a very small space.

The Aleman’s kiridashi blade is 1.96 inches long, and obeys the general visual principles of its historical inspiration: a straight main cutting edge that runs out to a highly acute point. However, Liss did implement a conventional V-grind rather than a chisel-style grind that a kiridashi often has. For the steel he settled on 1095 carbon, which blends good edge retention and ease of maintenance at the expense of stain and corrosion resistance.

A simple arcing handle forms the rest of the Aleman’s 5.6 inch overall length. It’s here that the origin of the name becomes clear, for Liss built in a bottle opener into the butt end of the Aleman’s handle. He widened out the handle at that end so that the mouth of the opener is raised high enough not to interfere with a user’s grip while in use. A series of four holes have been cut into the body of the handle to lighten it as much as possible, bringing the weight down to 2.1 oz.

Liss teamed up with another local craftsperson, Matthew Hepner, for the Aleman’s leather sheath. All versions of the Aleman come with a sheath, but there are a couple minor upgrades available as options: customers can get their knife with a textured finish on the handle, and/or a brass bead for the included lanyard.

Origin Goods produces a variety of rings in addition to other knives. Liss previously collaborated with Empire Tactical on another Kickstarter Kiridashi, but this is the first time that Liss has hopped onto Kickstarter to fund a project. The project is nearly funded and open to backers through April 25th.

Knife in Featured Image: Origin Goods Aleman

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