CIVIVI Knives

What CIVIVI makes for hunters and campers

CIVIVI is an everyday-carry brand. Its about page says WE Knife Co. Ltd. introduced it in 2018 to focus on a functional, utilitarian line at more affordable prices. On this site its grid covers two types:

• Folding knives: flippers and thumb-stud folders, nearly all with pocket clips
• Fixed-blade knives: small and mid-size blades with leather or molded sheaths

The folders are the bigger group and the reason most people search the name. The fixed blades are newer to the grid and include a few patterns built for hunting.

The grid above shows what's listed on Amazon right now, with filters by type. It changes as listings come and go, so I'll write about the lines and what separates them, not about how many of each are listed this week. Most specs come from Amazon listings, and the grid marks those values. Where a listing doesn't say, the grid shows a dash.

How a CIVIVI folder opens and closes

Before the model names, the mechanics, because they sort the whole folding lineup. Every CIVIVI folder in the grid opens one of two ways:

• Flipper: a small tab on the back of the blade that you push with your index finger
• Thumb stud: a little post on the blade that your thumb rolls forward

And it locks one of three ways, per the listings:

• Liner lock: Benchmade's mechanisms guide says the lock bar moves inward behind the blade when it opens, and you push it back toward the handle to close
• Button lock: a button on the handle that you press to release the blade
• Crossbar lock: Benchmade describes this family as a spring-loaded bar that moves across the back of the blade to lock it open

The liner lock is the old standard. The button and crossbar locks release from a control on the side of the handle instead. My grandson can flick a flipper open and shut like a pen in a staff meeting. That's the other reason to learn the close before you carry one.

Lineup notes: CIVIVI folding knives

Elementum: the small flippers

The Elementum is CIVIVI's best-known folder. The maker's pages for the C907E and C907U list a 2.96-inch D2 blade, a liner lock, a tip-up right-hand pocket clip and a caged ceramic ball bearing pivot. The C907E lists a G10 handle and a weight of 2.89 ounces; the C907U, a wood handle with a stainless liner, at 2.74 ounces.

The Elementum II keeps the size but changes the lock. Its listings name a button lock, with Nitro-V steel and G10 on one version and Damascus with carbon fiber on another. Same name, different close. Rule of thumb: read the lock line before the color line.

Praxis and Mini Praxis: a longer blade, or a shorter one

The Praxis is the bigger brother. The Praxis C803F lists a 3.75-inch 9Cr18MoV stainless blade, G10, a liner lock and a flipper. The Button Lock Praxis Damascus keeps the length and moves to a button lock with an aluminum handle.

The Mini Praxis cuts the blade to just under 3 inches in D2, with G10 and a liner lock. It's the size most people find easy to carry all day without noticing it.

Baklash and Brazen: larger EDC blades

• Baklash C801H: a 3.5-inch 9Cr18MoV blade, G10, liner lock, flipper
• Brazen: tanto blades near 3 and a half inches, one listing in D2 and one in 14C28N stainless

A tanto has a straight edge and an angled tip instead of a curved belly. Tanto and other shapes are explained on the tactical knife page.

Baby Banter, Qubit and the small thumb-stud knives

The thumb-stud folders run small:

• Baby Banter: a blade a bit over 2 and a quarter inches, Nitro-V, liner lock
• Baby Banter 2: same size, 14C28N, a crossbar lock
• Qubit: just under 3 inches, 14C28N, button lock, aluminum handle
• Zygon: a 3-and-a-quarter-inch drop point in Nitro-V, crossbar lock

Small blades make sense for anyone who wants a pocket knife that disappears into a pocket, and for a younger carrier learning the habits. The lightweight pocket knife page covers small folders across brands.

Yonder, Natterjack, Vexron and the crossbar knives

A newer group in the grid leans on the crossbar and button locks:

• Yonder and Over Yonder: crossbar locks with Micarta handles, the Over Yonder the longer of the two, both in 14C28N
• Natterjack: a little over 3 inches, 14C28N, button lock
• Vexron: a 3-inch drop point in 14C28N with G10

Micarta is layered fabric set in resin. It's the handle material that looks like canvas, because it mostly is. (I've made birdhouses out of less interesting stuff.)

The Damascus folders

Several folders list Damascus blades, a patterned steel made from layered metals: the Cogent with a button lock, clip point and Micarta, the Incindie, the Kitefin with an aluminum handle, and the Vision FG with a reverse tanto. Choose these by lock and blade size like any other folder. The pattern is the part you'll show people at the camp table.

Lineup notes: CIVIVI fixed blades

Small fixed blades for carry

Several CIVIVI fixed blades are short enough to wear like a neck knife or clip to a pack strap:

• Typhoeus: a blade a bit over 2 inches, 14C28N, leather sheath
• Baby Banter Fixed Blade: about 2 and a third inches, Nitro-V, full tang, molded sheath
• SOKN: under 3 inches, Nitro-V, full tang
• Hunting Fixed Blade C25084-3: under 3 inches, 14C28N, full tang, molded sheath
• Timberbark: a bit over 3 inches, 14C28N, full tang

These are small-chore knives, good for cord, food and kindling shavings. The boot knife page covers small fixed blades across brands.

Mid-size fixed blades for camp and game

The bigger fixed blades sit around 3 and a half to 4 and a half inches:

• Elementum Fixed Blade: two versions, a contoured G10 handle with a hollow grind and leather sheath, and a flat G10 version in D2 with a molded sheath
• Gander: a clip point in 14C28N, full tang
• Carveth: AEB-L stainless, full tang
• MDRN Hunter: Nitro-V, full tang, molded sheath
• Perfrico: 14C28N, full tang, molded sheath
• Cloud Peak: the longest in the grid, Nitro-V, full tang, leather sheath
• Orthrus, Tamashii and Circulus: Nitro-V, D2 and 10Cr15CoMoV, all with molded sheaths

A full tang means the blade steel runs the length of the handle. Around 4 inches of blade is the size most hunters use to field dress a deer. More on hunting patterns is on the hunting knife page and the fixed blade knife page.

How to choose within the CIVIVI lineup

Pick the lock first

My one opinion on this page: choose the lock before the steel. The reason is your fingers. AKTI's guide points out that every quality folding knife has a bias toward closing, and tells you to keep your fingers outside the closing arc. A liner lock closes with your thumb pushing the bar while the blade swings past. A button or crossbar lock releases from the side. Pick the motion you'll get right in the dark with cold hands, then shop the rest.

Then the blade size

The grid runs from tiny to mid-size:

• Around 2 to 3 inches: Baby Banter, Qubit, Mini Praxis, Elementum
• 3 to 3 and a half inches: Natterjack, Zygon, Brazen, Baklash
• Near 4 inches: the Praxis, and the bigger fixed blades

For a pocket, smaller wins more days than it loses. For field dressing, start with the bigger fixed blades instead of a folder.

Then the steel

CIVIVI's about page lists the steels it uses, among them 14C28N, Nitro-V, D2, 9Cr18MoV and 10Cr15CoMoV, plus Damascus. The grid classes D2 as a tool steel and most of the others as stainless. Morakniv's steel guide says 14C28N is slightly harder than its everyday stainless and takes more effort to resharpen. Rule of thumb: whatever the steel, wipe it dry and it'll forgive you more than you deserve.

Then the handle and the clip

G10, Micarta, aluminum, wood and carbon fiber all show up in the grid. Think about the hands you'll use it with in November, cold and maybe gloved. Wood looks right in a cabin; the synthetics don't care what they look like. Check which side the clip sits on, too: the maker's Elementum pages list a tip-up clip for right-hand carry.

Care that applies to the whole CIVIVI lineup

AKTI's maintenance guide covers what every pocket knife needs:

• A toothpick for lint and dirt in the handle and around the blade
• A light oil on the folding mechanism of a knife you use often
• A light coat of oil on the blade after cleaning
• A cool, dry place for storage

AKTI also notes that even stainless steels can be harmed by water and some chemicals, and that salt water is especially hard on them. Dry the knife when it gets wet, and dry the sheath of a fixed blade before the knife goes back in.

A few warranty points from CIVIVI's own page are worth knowing before you work on a knife. Modifying it, or having it repaired by anyone other than CIVIVI, voids the warranty. Damage from improper sharpening isn't covered. If you're unsure, clean around the pivot with a toothpick and a drop of oil rather than taking it apart.

Cut away from your body, and keep your fingers out of a folder's closing arc.

CIVIVI facts

Here's what I could verify on the maker's own site:

• Brand: introduced in 2018 by WE Knife Co. Ltd., per CIVIVI's about page
• Focus: a functional, utilitarian everyday-carry line at more affordable prices, in the maker's words
• Materials: blade steels from 14C28N and Nitro-V to D2 and Damascus, handles from G10 and Micarta to wood and carbon fiber
• Warranty: lifetime, original owner, defects in material and workmanship, with a return authorization first

The about page doesn't name a factory city, so I've left that out.

Learn the lock on the couch, not on the tailgate. The knife closes the same way in both places. Your hands don't.