A new EDC knife is gaining traction on Kickstarter with a deliberately unfashionable pitch: don’t pay more for the steel. The VIVID, from San Francisco–based maker Infinity (its third Kickstarter campaign), lands at $65 for the cheapest early-bird pledge against a planned $109 MSRP. The spec sheet runs VG10 blade steel, a G10 handle, a nested liner lock, a smooth flipper, and a deep-carry clip. As of June 11, 2026, the campaign shows 88 backers / $9,486 pledged / $3,000 goal, roughly 311% funded with about 24 days left.
Price: From $65
Where to Buy: Kickstarter
Average pledge sits at $108 per backer, and crowdfunding aggregators are projecting the final raise somewhere in the $40,000–$70,000 range. The campaign closes July 6, 2026, with estimated delivery in September 2026.
What’s in the box, on paper
VIVID keeps the spec sheet tight. The brand is leaning on VG10, a stainless steel that has lived in the Japanese kitchen-and-outdoor knife world for decades, rather than chasing the M390, Magnacut, or S35VN labels that dominate 2026 EDC marketing copy. The handle is G10, a fiberglass laminate that holds grip when wet. The lock is a nested liner; the deployment is a flipper tab. The pocket clip is a deep-carry design. Per Infinity’s launch imagery, the blade measures 85.6 mm at 61 HRC, with a total length of 198.6 mm open and 113 mm closed. Five colors are offered: black, blue, white, red, and orange.
For context, that stack is closer to what you would find on a roughly $30 to $75 production folder from Civivi, CJRB, or Kizer in 2026 than what most Kickstarter EDC knives pitch. The trade-off is the brand premium: established brands ship with a known QC record, a warranty, and a real return path. A new campaign has none of that until delivery.
The claims worth flagging
According to the VIVID campaign page, two product claims go beyond a typical mid-budget folder spec sheet, and both come straight from the brand.
The first is ambidextrous deployment. The page states the bearings do not differentiate between left and right hands and that the flipper works the same way for both. That is consistent with how most modern bearing pivots behave; the page just calls it out.
The second is the claim that the knife “works underwater” with the same flick and snap as on land. That is a stronger claim, and it hinges on the lock and detent holding up under a wet environment, which is something hands-on testing can confirm or contradict. We have not handled a VIVID sample. Treat the underwater claim as the brand’s positioning, not a verified fact.
A third detail, the ceramic detent ball inside the lock, is also brand-claimed. Ceramic detents are not unusual at this price tier, but the combination with the nested liner is the kind of spec worth verifying when the first review units ship.
How it stacks up against the 2026 field
The 2026 EDC folder market is in an unusual position. VG10 sits in the middle of the steel hierarchy: harder and better at edge retention than the budget 8Cr13MoV and AUS-8 knives that anchor sub-$50 folders, but a step below the S35VN-and-up powder steels that take a noticeable share of 2026 Kickstarter EDC launches. The trade is real: you give up some edge retention versus premium powder steels, you gain easier sharpening and lower cost.
G10 versus the carbon fiber, titanium, and micarta handles showing up on this year’s higher-end folders is a similar story. G10 is denser than carbon fiber and less premium-feeling than titanium, but it is grippy, durable, and cheap to manufacture. For a knife aimed at daily carry rather than collection, the material choice is defensible.
For buyers cross-shopping, the closest production analog at the price is the Kizer Vanguard Begleiter, which actually pairs VG10 with G10 in the ~$55–$75 street range. Other G10-handled budget folders worth a look include the Civivi Elementum (D2 steel, ~$50–$59) and the CJRB Small Feldspar (AR-RPM9 or D2, ~$30–$48). Both are G10 grips but different steels, so they are price-and-feel comparisons, not steel-for-steel matches. None of those names appear in VIVID’s Kickstarter similar-projects list. The list does show the ZONRING titanium folder with M390 (a real, separate Kickstarter campaign), which targets a different buyer.
Where things stand
The VIVID campaign has the early signals of a funded project: a modest $3,000 goal, a clear over-funding position, and a creator with two prior Kickstarter campaigns on its profile (delivery track record not independently confirmed). The risk profile for backers is the standard crowdfunding one: manufacturing delays, sample-to-production variation, and supply-chain hiccups are the recurring risks that have bitten prior EDC knife campaigns on the platform, and the campaign’s own risks disclosure should be reviewed directly before backing.
Price: From $65
Where to Buy: Kickstarter
The campaign closes July 6, 2026, which leaves about 25 days for the funding curve to settle. Estimated delivery is September 2026, which is tight for a maker on its third Kickstarter campaign. The first production run will tell you most of what you need to know about whether the action and lockup match the campaign’s claims.
For now, VIVID is worth watching, not pre-ordering on hype. The spec sheet is reasonable for the price, the steel and handle choices are deliberate rather than cheap, and the parts that need hands-on verification (lockup, detent feel, deployment smoothness over time) are the parts we cannot evaluate from a campaign page alone.
Gerber Gear Suspension 12-in-1 EDC Multi-Plier Multitool with Pocket Knife, Needle Nose Pliers, Wire Cutters and More, Gifts for Men, Camping and Survival, Grey
(as of June 10, 2026 18:48 GMT -05:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
