John Cunningham
President
John’s passion for innovation and product development has been evident throughout his entire career. Whether at DEWALT, Black+Decker, OX Tools, nCamp or inPOWERED Lights, John always seeks to raise the standards through exceptional design. Over the last four years, John has worked closely with Dan to build nCamp from a concept to a worldwide outdoor brand committed to elevating the outdoor experience. John’s experience and accomplishments include leading a $1B consumer product business through a brand transformation, scaling a $4M family-owned business to $10M and starting two brands nCamp and inPOWERED Lights. John and his wife of 27 years are most proud of their two sons (Tyler and Jacob) and their first granddaughter. (Eloise Joy)
Dan Cuffaro
Principal Designer
In addition to guiding ‘all things Design’ at nCamp, Dan is a Department Chair and an Associate Professor in Industrial Design at the Cleveland Institute of Art, where he is passionate about teaching college students about product development. He is the former Director of Design at Altitude, Inc (now part of Accenture), an award-winning product development firm in Boston MA and he worked as a consultant for Arthur D. Little (now TIAX llc), an international management and product development consulting firm. He has won several IDSA (Industrial Design Society of America) IDEA awards and holds multiple patents. When Dan isn’t inventing the next new nCamp product, he is enjoying the outdoors with his wife and four kids.
NCAMP LAUNCHING CAMPAIGN FOR PREMIUM OUTDOOR FOOD PREP KNIVES
Baltimore, MD September 21, 2021 – nCamp LLC, a Baltimore Maryland-based company, is launching a Kickstarter Campaign to raise funding for the production of folding food prep knives designed for the outdoors. The campaign, intended to raise money for tooling, marketing and inventory, begins on October 6th, 2021.
The campaign will offer two levels of knives; a Premium and an Elite. The Premium-level knives have a light-colored beech wood handle, which was chosen for its durability and simplicity. These knives use 9Cr18Mov steel, which balances corrosion resistance, toughness and edge retention. The Elite-level knives have a dark-colored walnut handle, which is both tough and beautiful. These knives have a Damascus blade (wavy pattern made by layering 10Cr18Mov steel). These blades balance beauty, corrosion resistance and toughness, while maintaining a very sharp edge. Both the Premium and Elite knives include Chef and Santoku-style blades.
nCamp has a unique perspective on outdoor cooking, which is focused on elevating one’s experience. The company’s products are focused on real cooking vs boiling water to pour into a pouch of freeze-dried ingredients. They currently have a line of outdoor gear that includes a Multi-fuel Stove, a Prep Surface and a Coffee maker that makes espresso-style coffee. The knives are designed to complement the current product offerings.
According to Co-founder Dan Cuffaro, “part of the enjoyment of beautiful places in nature is making a great meal and sharing the experience with others. Our goal was to create an excellent knife, designed to facilitate that activity.”
Current folding knives are typically designed for survival or other utility purposes. However, they are not ideal for food preparation. When the nCamp team recognized that survival knives were not suited for food preparation, they began exploring alternatives. The design team began to analyze what makes a good food prep knife, while comparing designs to common folding knives. They conducted extensive ergonomic testing, which lead them to a new design focused on comfort, balance and quality.
Chef Ben Bebenroth, founder of the Spice Hospitality Group (www.spiceheadquarters.com) and avid outdoorsman stated that, when he cooks in the back country, “I’m often having to make a choice between my full chef knife with a blade protector or a pocket knife, and there’s really nothing in between that, so these nCamp knives really fill a nice void in the market.”
nCamp was founded in 2016 by Dan Cuffaro, an industrial designer and college professor, and John Cunningham, a product development executive, a duo with a passion for innovation and the outdoors.
The nCamp Kickstarter Campaign can be found athttps://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ncamp/ncamp-food-prep-knife or you can visit the nCamp website at www.ncampgear.com. The campaign ends on November 5th, 2021.