About Us

Hey Y'all,

My name is Matt.

I'm a career firefighter and grew up working for my family's construction business in Central Texas. Knives, specifically pocket knives, have always been part of every day life. Sometime around 2019, I went down the EDC rabbit hole and now I say things like, "This is different, it's RED g10".

So anyway, I was talking to my wife one day and she offhanded said "When you retire you should make knives." That lit a fuse that I didn't even realize and it got me thinking about what my ideal pocket knife would be.

I started sketching out some ideas, downloaded and learned a CAD software, and ended up with a very poor concept of a knife. At this point, however, I was too far in. I kept refining the design, purchased a 3D printer, and started 3D printing prototypes. I reached out to Reate and was fortunate enough to be able to work with them on some production prototypes. After a long year and one successful kickstarter, we have our first production knife, The Elixir.

This knife is the culmination of every knife that I have used, abused, and loved. As much as I would like to be the guy that went and got "the right tool for the job," I am not. My knives have been prybars and hammers and anything else that I thought would work. While I don't recommend treating even the heaviest most overbuilt knives this way this is the mindset that led to every design choice on the Elixir.

Deadman started in my garage in 2024, and now operates out of a small room above my garage. We are comprised of myself and my wife, Madi. She is the backbone of the entire operation. None of this would exist without her. I don't pay her, but even if I did, it wouldn't be enough for having to deal with the amount of ocd that I have for every part of this company.

We have also had an overwhelming amount of support from the community, as well as other makers and we are beyond grateful. Deadman is basically me figuring it out in real time, learning as I go, and trying to make something worth carrying. Thank y'all for being here. We're just getting started.