Classic Folder Brands vs. Civivi and WE - Is it just me?

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ChrisB507

ChrisB507

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I recently tried two Civivi knives on a whim—the Elementum and the Thug. They are remarkable. Super sharp, well-made, well-finished, decent steel, with nice details. They are easily some of the nicest knives I’ve handled. They have a premium feel, great lockup and good ergos. I think they are an incredible value for the price.

So I bought the WE versions of the Elementum and the Thug. They are even better! Are you kidding me?!

After 20+ years of collecting--with 80+ Spydercos, 20+ Benchmades, a half-dozen CRKs, ZTs, DPXs and many more --I can't get over the value of these knives for the price.

Are there any other old-school production folder collectors that have fallen for these brands?
 
I haven’t. I’ve handled them. Smooth but don’t feel like quality to me. They feel more like fidget spinners. Cool materials, but without “soul.”

To each their own. I don’t look down on people who like them. Gotta enjoy what ya enjoy.

I do like my Snecx Vision R by WE, but it has no soul. I’ll change that though. ;)
 
I have three I think. They are good for light duty stuff, and flip nice. I like how thin they are, and the pouch is neat.

But I have noticed that when I do harder push cuts, the very thin liner lock does not inspire much confidence, and flexes quite a bit. All the pocket clips wiggle a bunch on mine as well.

The fit and finish overall is good though.
 
Having been turned on to WE when Civivi debuted in 2018, I've since had a pretty wide sampling. That includes disassembly, inspection, and tinkering with over 30 models they make across brands including WE, Civivi, Sencut, and Ferrum Forge. Overall, the quality is excellent.

Heat treatment is a common question on value-focused production knives. On the low end, WE has perfected the heat treatment for 9Cr18Mov and that makes it a solid contender on "best bang for the buck" budget performance. On the high end, their heat treatment on super steels is more mediocre and generally in line with a lot of other production companies running steels like M390, 20CV, and S35VN in the 58-60HRC range. At the end of the day, whether that matters depends on you and your use. For most people, it probably doesn't matter much. When I imagine the guys whose hard use eats an edge a day, I somehow don't imagine them using a fancy titanium folder on bearings in the first place. For harder use at that price range, Spyderco offers more utilitarian designs and does a better heat treatment on super steels (at least with their non-Chinese knives). Coincidentally, those Civivi and Sencut knives in 9Cr18Mov tend to get better edge retention than Spyderco's VG-10 and remain winners on the low end.

The whole soul thing Sharp & Fiery Sharp & Fiery talks about is lost on me. Does any production knife have a soul?
 
WE are solidly built, but for the price there's always something else I want more. I've bought a few Civivi but they're mostly light use EDC, other than models like the Plethiros. Because they've been raising the bar on their Civivi knives, they've now got a budget line of Sencut knives.

For Chinese knives, I'm more interested in Kizer, Bestech, Kansept, QSP, and Petrified Fish. These days though, the vast majority of the knives I'm buying are from Europe or the Americas.
 
They're making some very, very nice knives for very reasonable prices. The Praxis is a hell of a lot of knife for the money and their button locks have been very, very good as well. I also very much appreciate their minimalist approach to billboarding and writing on the blades. I'll also sing their praises for breaking away from the trend of D2, which has become rather ubiquitous, and instead embracing 14c28n and Nitro-V, which are two of my absolute favorite steels.
 
No production knife has “a soul.” Not sure where that came from Chronovore Chronovore , however a knife can have “soul.” If a knife has “soul” it gives an intense feeling. As in a WOW!! feeling, or a breathtaking response. Civivi, We and the like do not do that for me at all.

However, certain CRK’s and CPK’s have “soul.” One of a kind production’s that create an intense feeling of beauty and usefulness. :)

Soul - beautiful simplicity…the Wow! factor.
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Sharp & Fiery said:
No production knife has “a soul.” Not sure where that came from Chronovore Chronovore , however a knife can have “soul.” If a knife has “soul” it gives an intense feeling. As in a WOW!! feeling, or a breathtaking response. Civivi, We and the like do not do that for me at all.

However, certain CRK’s and CPK’s have “soul.” One of a kind production’s that create an intense feeling of beauty and usefulness. :)

Soul - beautiful simplicity…
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Forgive my ambiguity on "has a soul" versus "has soul". Hopefully, nobody took me to mean some kind of living knife or anything. 😜

I'm not sure that a "feeling of usefulness" is all that rare. Some are beautiful. As far as "beautiful simplicity" or elegance and practicality, the Sencut Neches has been an absolute winner for me. It's "just a knife" but so very good at being what it is...

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If we are talking about something prettier with a certain je ne sais quoi, the WE Seer does that for me.

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I really like the Civivi Cogent with 14C28N at $70 - flipper, button lock, half-serrated blade, finger groove, handles that are not black or silver, and even a good name. But the bevel is 25 degrees per side, which makes no sense for a smallish folder with 14C28N. It cuts pretty well, though. It's a good complement to a Griptilian with 20CV for $110. By my standards, the Cogent beats out anything by Spyderco short of a Paramilitary 2 at $170.

But I have not seen anything else by Civivi or WE that appeals to me.
 
I have handled some of these that seemed to be well made but they don’t feel like they will hold up to years of hard use like my GB2, Griptillian or Inkosi.
 
Rob47 said:
I’m not even looking because, in the end, if I can help it, I’m not buying anything made in China. But that’s just me.
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Then why look at this thread in the first place, or bother to type a response on your Chinese device?

Seriously, some people just love to take these weak, low-effort, and ultimately meaningless stands as if they are actually accomplishing something. It's as if they don't understand how the current market or economic situation became the case, what factors caused it, or what factors might make even the tiniest difference towards changing it. If you want to do something besides farting up threads on quality knives, head on over to the political forum and we can have a real conversation about it. That also goes for D DMG , Sharp & Fiery Sharp & Fiery , and anyone else applauding such vapid comments.
 
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