Most of the everyday carry world runs on a loop. Knives, lights, multitools, pens. The rotation shifts by material or brand, rarely by function. Nobody looks at their pocket dump and thinks it’s missing a fan. That assumption is exactly where COMANDI found an opening.
Price:: $169
Where to Buy: Commandi
Folding fans haven’t changed in centuries because nobody treated them as gear. COMANDI’s Titanium EDC Folding Fan rebuilds the form from the ribs out using Grade 5 titanium, the same alloy found in aircraft engine components and surgical implants. So the real question is: can a tool this old actually earn a spot next to your knife?
Titanium EDC has exploded over the past two years, but almost everything in the space still fits the same four or five categories. COMANDI previously ran successful Kickstarter campaigns for titanium EDC tools, building a track record with backers who care about material quality over novelty. This time the company went somewhere unexpected. A folding fan isn’t a gimmick category if the engineering backs it up. The Kickstarter campaign has already raised over $17,900 against a $3,800 goal as of this writing, with more than 69 backers committing early. You don’t often see that kind of traction for a novelty item.
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What it is
The fan comes in two sizes. A 7-inch version weighs 126.5 grams, and a 9-inch version hits 172.9 grams. Both are light enough to tuck into a cargo pocket or bag without noticing the extra weight. For a titanium tool, that’s a welcome weight class.
Every rib is CNC machined from Ti-6Al-4V, a Grade 5 titanium alloy that resists corrosion and flexes under stress without permanent deformation. If you bend a rib during use, it snaps back to shape on its own. That kind of material resilience matters in a tool you’ll toss into a bag every morning. The ribs follow a full curved surface that matches the natural arc of your palm, which eliminates the flat, stiff grip most folding fans force on you. Rounded edges on every rib add comfort and reduce the chance of snagging fabric or skin. COMANDI says the ergonomics were designed for daily carry, and the curved geometry backs that up.
Grade 5 titanium isn’t new to the carry world. It’s the standard in high-end pry bars, knives, and pen bodies. Applying it to a fan takes a familiar material into a category where nobody expected to find it.
What separates this from a traditional folding fan isn’t the shape. It’s what happens when you stress the materials. Wood ribs crack. Paper tears along the fold. Titanium ribs handle repeated flexion without weakening, and the frame won’t warp in a hot car or degrade in humidity. COMANDI built this for environments where a wooden fan would fall apart in weeks. As a tactical fan, that’s arguably overkill, and likely the entire selling point.
Materials and opening action
The fan leaf uses Xuan paper layered with gold foil. Xuan paper is a traditional Chinese material prized for durability and ink absorption, though here it’s the airflow surface. Gold foil adds a reflective quality that, based on campaign footage, catches light in a way that reads more like a display piece than a pocket tool. According to COMANDI, each rib holds a brass washer at its center. These washers are what produce the silk-like flick action shown in the campaign video when the fan snaps open. Tension is adjustable by twisting the central rivet, no tools required, so users can set their preferred resistance on the spot.
That opening action is the kind of detail the EDC crowd will fixate on. A metal folding fan designed to snap open with precision and weighted feedback could turn an ancient form into something that earns pocket space, assuming the mechanism performs as COMANDI’s demos suggest.
Four finishes, tritium slots, and a hand-carved option
COMANDI is offering the fan in stonewashed, anodized blue, and anodized green finishes. The stonewashed version gets treated with ceramic beads for a smooth, matte texture that looks worn in from day one. Anodized blue and green add color without paint, using an electrochemical process that changes the titanium’s surface oxide layer. Based on the campaign images, the stonewashed finish has a soft, broken-in look, while the anodized versions appear slicker and more prone to showing fingerprints. Color choice likely affects grip feel as much as appearance.
There’s also a hand-carved version. Craftspeople etch patterns directly into the titanium ribs, turning each fan into something closer to a functional art piece. It sits at a higher price tier, but for collectors, that’s the one to watch.
For the gear crowd, COMANDI added four slots designed to accept luminous vials. Tritium tubes or glow inserts fit into the ribs, making the fan findable in complete darkness without a flashlight. It’s a small touch that says a lot about who this was designed for. Pendant holes on the side accept lanyards for retention, another detail borrowed from the knife and flashlight world. None of these features exist on traditional fans, which is the point.
The Kickstarter campaign is live now under the name COMANDI Titanium EDC Folding Fan: Everyday Companion. Early bird pricing starts around $169 for the stonewashed version through reseller listings on First Backer, which is competitive for a Grade 5 titanium tool. Pledge tiers vary by finish and size, with the hand-carved option sitting higher. COMANDI’s own site lists the fan as a coming soon product with a $2 pre-payment for early Kickstarter access.
Who should skip this
If you’re looking for a fan that disappears into a shirt pocket, this isn’t it. Even the 7-inch version takes up real estate. The gold foil and titanium construction also means this won’t blend into a casual setting the way a wooden fan would. It draws attention. Anyone who wants a low-profile cooling tool should look elsewhere. The adjustable tension means there’s a learning curve for the flick action. You’ll need a few days to find your preferred snap weight, and that’s not for everyone.
Price is the other filter. At $169 and up, this isn’t an impulse buy for most people. If titanium EDC tools aren’t already part of your carry, the price alone will answer the question for you.
Who this is for
This is for the person who’s already deep into titanium carry tools and still wants something new in the rotation. COMANDI ships worldwide with free shipping on orders over $29 and backs the fan with a lifetime warranty that covers refurbishment. That warranty says a lot. It signals confidence in a build that uses the same alloy as jet engine blades. If the titanium holds up the way it should, you’ll never file a claim.
Collectors and fidget enthusiasts who treat their carry as an extension of personal taste will get the most from this. It works as both a functional cooling tool and a quiet statement about material priorities. The hand-carved version pushes further into display territory.
Price:: $169
Where to Buy: Commandi
A folding fan wasn’t on anyone’s EDC wish list a year ago. COMANDI didn’t wait for demand. They built the thing, launched it, and let the material do the talking. With more than 60 backers in and funding over three times the goal, the response came fast. Whether titanium fans become a category or stay a one-off experiment, this is one of the stranger and more compelling entries in the carry space this year. It doesn’t fit the usual list, and that’s the point.
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