It’s incredible to see how much Vosteed has grown over the past few years. Models like the Thunderbird and the Grind sold out almost instantly, fueled by the brand’s rising popularity and limited production runs. Now, in 2025, Vosteed releases several new models each year. While drops still sell out, it feels like there’s finally a little more to go around.

At Blade Show, I had the chance to meet Yue Dong and the Vosteed team and take a look at some of their upcoming designs. One that immediately caught my attention was the Vombat—a compact folder available in several variations and, interestingly, with the ability to swap scales.

I’ve been into knives for a long time, and there are moments in this hobby where it feels like innovation has slowed to a crawl. You see familiar patterns over and over: same steels, same materials, same silhouettes, just shuffled around. Yet every now and then a design lands on my desk that makes me pause, smile, and realize there are still new ideas left to explore. The last couple of years especially have reminded me that there are some brilliant minds out there who refuse to let folding knives get stale.

Steven Dunnuck is one of those minds. He’s a mechanic by trade, a builder and tinkerer who loves pushing limits, and you can see that attitude in his work. He has that adrenaline-chasing, “let’s see what happens if…” kind of imagination that feels more hot rod garage than design studio. And when someone like that decides to rethink a lock, you end up with something that doesn’t just look different — it behaves different.

Kansept has been on fire for 2025, bringing a lot of amazing designs to the market. This time around they teamed up with Javier García, a box truck driver with a deep fascination for EDC gear and the EDC community. His passion for everyday carry led him to design his own knives, and he’s incredibly grateful for the opportunity to turn that passion into reality. Take that enthusiasm, combine it with Kansept’s premium materials and attention to detail, and you’ve got a winning combination.

The result of this collaboration is the Nahual, a knife designed to be “aggressive yet non-aggressive” while maintaining excellent functionality for most EDC tasks. The ergonomics come from a neutral handle, forward choil, and subtle harpoon spine that allows a comfortable choke-up. The modified sheepsfoot blade might look tame, but it’s one of the most versatile profiles you can have in an EDC knife. It’s got all the hallmarks of a great design, so let’s take a closer look and see how it performs.

I’ve always leaned toward folders, but in the last couple of years I’ve noticed more people working compact fixed blades into their daily carry. That got me curious. Makers have really embraced the idea too, offering more small fixed blades than ever. Once I gave them a closer look, I realized the appeal—fast draw, no moving parts, and simple reliability. Since I usually prefer bigger blades in a folding format, I set myself a limit of around three inches for a fixed blade. Any larger and you’re just carrying extra handle and sheath.

That’s what led me to the Giant Mouse GMF1. It’s been around since 2016 and has earned a loyal following, so it felt like a good test case to see if a compact fixed blade could actually earn a spot in my rotation.