Current Voting Poll results, our thoughts
almost 4 years ago – Tue, May 10, 2022 at 12:32:56 AM

Hey Backers,

Today we wanted to share the current voting poll results! If you missed the voting poll you can find it here: https://dapperdesign.com/blogs/rekt-campaign/cast-your-vote-for-rekt-knife-project Note: We plan on turning it off in a few days.

Of the current 435 backers, we received 140 responses. We understand that a good number of backers pledged after we sent out the link to the poll so it is safe to assume approx. only 35% of backers have responded. Unfortunately, this isn't a large enough sample size to represent the whole "majority" of backers but here are the results and our final thoughts...

From the information above, we have summarized the following:

• Overall satisfied to very satisfied with how we are running the campaign (Thank you!🙏)
• Overall satisfied to very satisfied with the current design
• Most prefer us to add a flipper and/or thumb tab for one hand operation; and slightly more than half of those want both the serrated teeth + flipper/thumb tab
• There is a tie between No Changes at all and having both design changes implemented
• Most prefer that we at least consider changes rather then no changes
• Most would not cancel their pledge if there were changes; but a good number says they maybe would cancel

So what is our take on this?

From a backer standpoint, we totally get why some of these responses are the way they are. This is why we like Kickstarter and being a part of the community; we are able to learn a lot about what backers want or prefer in a product so that we can better our products now and the future. We learned that no two backers are going to have the same exact preferences or expectations; everyone will have their opinions and suggestions and the best thing we can do is to listen, take notes, and do our best to meet those expectations but at the same time, be realistic on what can or can't be done in a timely and cost effective manner.

With that said, we are considering just one feature upgrade and that is...

• Adding a flipper tab and/or thumb stud for one hand operation 

The main reasons for this decision is because this feature upgrade should not increase the overall production costs and/or add any major delay to the current delivery timeline. 🤗 But we are going to discuss this with our manufacturing partners this week to be absolutely sure.

We also believe this is the only change that will not affect the overall look by too much. In addition, there are still 65% of backers we have to consider who didn't vote at all because they probably didn't see the poll and/or they are absolutely ok with the design as is. 🤷

In conclusion, we understand not everyone will be happy with this final decision, but the benefits of being able to open the knife blade with one hand certainly outweighs any cons in our opinion.

We are making CAD designs now and will share the new feature in a future backer update. We really appreciate the votes and feedback and we hope that everyone continues to support our project regardless of the feature upgrade.

Thank you!

Changes or No Changes? Please cast your vote now
almost 4 years ago – Mon, May 09, 2022 at 11:32:31 PM

Hey Backers,

As previously mentioned, we are considering some minor design changes to REKT if majority of backers vote for it. After discussing with our manufacturing partner we have decided that there are only two design changes we would consider. Both of which are on the blade only. We are not making any changes to the carbon fiber handles/scales. We want to keep REKT looking a bit more "simple" and "utilitarian" as it is currently. All of the design suggestions we received that meant having to modify the carbon fiber handles / scales are awesome but we will keep these in mind for a future knife project that is not going to be an REKT.

To Change or Not to Change

If you vote for change, these are the only two options we will consider:

• 1) Add a serrated teeth / saw to half of the blade's edge. Allows you to use REKT to saw through things where the front of the blade may not be able to on its own.
• 2) Add a flipper and/or thumb stud. This will assist you in opening the blade with one hand.

Please Note: If we move forward with any change, we will need to make functional prototypes before mass production which will add some time to our estimated delivery timeline (but we won't know for sure how many days/weeks just yet); we estimate an additional 3 to 4 weeks to get new prototypes made for testing.

If you vote for NO CHANGES then we will not change anything at all; this means we can keep our current estimated timeline and we will green-light the mass production.

Access the Survey / Poll:

https://dapperdesign.com/blogs/rekt-campaign/cast-your-vote-for-rekt-knife-project

We want to try and get a majority of backers to vote over the next couple of days. If we do not see a majority of backers participating, our default plan is to make NO CHANGES at all.

Please keep in mind, it is also possible that we make an executive decision not to move forward with any changes even if the polls show a majority wants to. Each day is different and each conversation with manufacturing partners may produce unforeseen circumstances that sway our decision.

In other words, we cannot promise that the survey/poll will be the final decision for everything. However, we can promise to continue to be in communication with our backers as news develop. 🙏

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SIGMA 51: The Aramid Reinforced Travel, Adventure & Emergency Ready Hoodie. MADE IN USA.

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Thank you!

Incredible start! Feature Upgrades?
almost 4 years ago – Thu, May 05, 2022 at 12:46:48 AM

Hey Backers,

 What an incredible first day! 🥳

We successfully reached over $15,000 in less than 24 hours! We are thankful to have such awesome support for our new REKT mini knife, especially from our hundreds of returning backers. 🤗

Current Status

At the time of this update backers have pledged for 554 knives! 252 are Survivors and 302 are Minimalists which is a fairly close ratio. We look forward to 30 more days of pledges!

In the meantime, please consider sharing our project with friends and family, this can help us reach for higher and perhaps some accessories can be made!

Feature Upgrades?

Before we launched we opened up a sneak peek of our campaign and we received a number of great suggestions from backers. Unfortunately, we are unable to make any significant/major design changes at this time. However, we should be able to make minor changes. For example, the blade can come with half of it being serrated for "sawing", or perhaps the carbon fiber scales (handles) can come with a few tritium slots (1.5mm x 6mm slots) so you can install tritium vials or glow vials into them if you wanted to, or maybe we add a flip tab or thumb tab to the blade for one-hand operation. All of these are great ideas, but let's say we implement all three of these features, it technically becomes an all new product. Let's discuss what happens if it is an all new product...

The reason why we can't implement everyone's suggestions even if they are all great, is that our manufacturing partner will consider these to be an entirely new product once we re-submit these new drawings to them. When it is considered an all new product, there are also new pricing and fees associated with it, and it may add delay to the current delivery timeline since we will need several new prototypes made for testing before we green-light a mass production run (manufacturing new functional prototypes can take weeks maybe even months depending on how busy our manufacturing partners are). In addition, we currently have our pledge rewards priced for the knives as they are designed currently and any price increases may not fall within our current and projected budget. We also need to be mindful that not all backers want any of these changes at all and they may have pledged because they prefer the more simple and utilitarian design that we currently have.

With that being said, we are going to work on a voting poll of some kind and see what the majority of backers want and the circumstances they are willing to accept. By casting a vote, we can have a better idea and direction to take regarding these changes. We will need a few more days to gather all of this data and compile a list of suggestions and present them to you in a future backer update. Please hang tight for this.

Mass Production Timeline

Because we have already made a deposit for raw materials for 1,000 of each REKT, mass production can be green-lighted very soon, however, we are holding off due to the potential feature changes we mentioned above. Ultimately, we can deliver the REKT sooner if there are no further design modifications.

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and for your support! 🙏