Well, my WE Elementum just showed up…

[King of the Cheese]

… and it’s amazing.

Let’s start with the packaging.

The box is new this year… appears to be a sort of “black denim” type finish. Very classy. A big improvement over the standard white box.



The inside is a foam cutout instead of the zippered pouch. Me like. I hate fiddling around with a damn zippered pouch inside a white box so the foam cutout tailored to the knife is a great improvement. Well done.



Next, the knife. Has the same classic Elementum look and feel, but a big leap on materials with the ti scales, and 20cv steel blade. The edges are chamfered, the coloring is attractive, the blade came razor sharp out of the box.



One positive to note is the area around the scale where it meets the lockbar. It is nice and chamfered so there is no sharp edges where you’d grip the knife with your forefinger.

Well done, WE.

I’ll carry it for a week and report back on thoughts. I hope that WE continues to pick the hottest items from the Civivi lineup and gives them a steroid injection as well. Could you imagine a WE Praxis in titanium and 20cv?? Ermahgerd!

 

[Random Dan]

Thanks for posting your thoughts. I'm still in the fence about this one. If they'd kept the hollow grind from the civivi I probably would have ordered one already.

 

[Mister Coffee]

… and it’s amazing.

I'm willing to settle for amazing. Congrats.

Looking forward to the follow-up report.

 

[Lee D]

One of the only WE knives actually I’m drawn to. I nearly ordered one before, but the materials were so-so at best. You’re an absolute jerk lol, but I’m still interested in what you think after carrying it for a while.

 

[Bob Denman]

Nice... VERY nice!

 

[Keyman]

Congratulations!
Looks great.
I, for one, am not surprised.
I own several We knives, so I am very familiar with their build quality, their top notch materials and their nearly perfect execution.

 

[King of the Cheese]

So first things first, I disassembled and slapped in some Skiff bearings I had. Probably not necessary, but I live a life of knife luxury so screw it. T6 screws for the pocket clip, T8 for pivot and scales. One of the pocket clip screws goes into a standoff (the longer one). Less complicated disassembly compared to CIVIVI, as this model doesn’t have liners and scales, just slabs of titanium.

 

[unwisefool]

One of the only WE knives actually I’m drawn to. I nearly ordered one before, but the materials were so-so at best. You’re an absolute jerk lol, but I’m still interested in what you think after carrying it for a while.

Lol peace through knife nerdom

 

[SVTFreak]

That knife looks bigger than the specs suggest.

 

[Yo Mama]

It's a knife I want to hate, converting to a framelock and adding weight and size, but it looks so nice how WE did it.

 

[Bob Denman]

Nice Choice with the Skiffs!

 

[Monofletch]

Another one to add to my collection…. Damn you!!

 

[awjones]

Very nice!

 

[Chronovore]

I'm not familiar with Skiff Bearings. Are they just superior bearings? Do you just measure your caged bearings, order the right size, and swap them in?

 

[King of the Cheese]

I'm not familiar with Skiff Bearings. Are they just superior bearings? Do you just measure your caged bearings, order the right size, and swap them in?

I didn’t measure, basically just went to the website and read reviews, people say what knife they used them in and I assume they fit.

Superior? Yes. They are the best you can get. I put them on a Spyderco Smock and immediately noticed a positive difference.

 

[Chronovore]

I didn’t measure, basically just went to the website and read reviews, people say what knife they used them in and I assume they fit.

Superior? Yes. They are the best you can get. I put them on a Spyderco Smock and immediately noticed a positive difference.

I guess I've got a new thing to check out...

Thanks!

 

[Bob Denman]

I didn’t measure, basically just went to the website and read reviews, people say what knife they used them in and I assume they fit.

Superior? Yes. They are the best you can get. I put them on a Spyderco Smock and immediately noticed a positive difference.

I changed out the OEM bearings on my Hinderer; to a set of Skiffs. (Skiff uses ceramic bearings.) The difference was immediately noticeable.

 

[King of the Cheese]

Day 1 of 7:
The knife reminds me of the benchmade bugout so I’ll do a size comparison.

Overall:

Clearly the Elementum is a little shorter. I do enjoy the semi-useful finger choil area on the Elementum for finer cuts.

Thickness of blades comparison:

Thickness of scales/standoffs:


One detail that jumps out at me is the pocket clip. Look at the Benchmade Bugout as a comparison. You’ll see that WE decided to keep the pocket clip flush with the scales. The tradeoff on having a flush top is that the corners of the clip protrude in a more noticeable way. Looks like Benchmade caught onto that, hence the downward slope (but not flush) clip. I really don’t have a preference here. If I want a knife completely hidden, I’d go with the elementum. If I want something where the clip doesn’t protrude, I’d go with the bugout.



The clip is ambidextrous, but no cutout for it. That has never been an issue for me but may be for you.


Lastly, no issues actuating the flipper. Finger never slips off. The pivot tension is nice and tight. This knife isn’t “drop shut”, but there is zero blade play. I usually have a little play in my Bugouts when I dial in the pivot.




As a price comparison on the Bugout vs. Elementum: The comparable Bugout is $170 (20cv with black blade). Add +$69 for titanium scales (Flytanium Crossfade) or +$74 for regular Flytanium. Using the lower of the two, that’s $244 to create a comparable knife. $350 if you do it in the Benchmade custom shop. This Elementum was $176. Not a knock on Benchmade, just showing a comparable knife with comparable materials. Maybe there are other examples out there from Chinese manufacturers people can chime in with.

One thing I ponder is that you can buy (3) regular Civivi elementums for $176 with enough left over to buy dinner for 3 at McDonalds. However, when the rubber meets the road and say I needed to trust my knife to not fail in a life or death situation, I’d much rather have the WE. Feels stronger and tolerances seem tighter. Just something to consider.

More to follow in coming days…

 

[Bob Denman]

I believe that the clip on your Elementum uses recessed screw heads...
Nothing for your pockets to get caught on.

 

[Monofletch]

I noticed WE/Civivi started doing that with the clip screws. My Synegy3 has recessed screws.