CIVIVIPocket Folding Knife with 3.47" 14C28N Blade Micarta Handle, Button Lock Elementum Knife for EDC C2103B (Olive)

I've had this knife for over a year now and it is as solid as the day I first got it. I have three EDC knives I rotate, to supplement my SAK. One is a cheap Ganzo Firebird, the other is a Benchmade Addamas, and this one. I don't like the action on this one, the others are more fun. But the Elementum is as reliable as the Addamas at a quarter of the price, less heavy, not chonky at all, and has a spectacularly classic profile. Plus, I have yet to need to sharpen it, after more than a year of regular rotation and use. It could use a touch up, but I'm letting it go for as long as it's still sharp enough, to see how long that goes. Super impressive after the general beating it's taken. The zinc electroplating or powder coating is holding nicely, not showing scratches. Really, it looks like a picnic knife, a very functional tool, but quite approachable, utilitarian and efficiently sleek. It might be slightly large as a gentleman's knife, but it would generally serve even so, having extremely clean lines without the clip. I'm a knife guy and I like to fidget, and I don't like this knife for that. But in virtually every other aspect, this is top notch, an elegant choice at a value price that performs far better than it has any right to.

I loved the regular Elementum. I didn't expect to when I bought it. I've got a bit of a budget knife addiction and tend to rotate through my collection frequently. Sometimes changing knives midway through the day when the whim strikes me. The Elementum surprised me though. It's elegant enough to work as a gentleman's carry. It's small enough to be extremely easy to carry. But it's also big and capable enough at cutting to feel like a plus-sized workhorse. It's not especially distinctive or visually exciting. It's just a basic peanut butter and jelly drop/spear point done to perfection. Strangely enough though, all of those disparate facts cause it to straddle enough of the niches in my EDC stable that I didn't find myself rotating blades like I usually do. The Elementum just works and even excels at almost all of the things I need a knife for in a given day.So when I saw the button lock version, I had high hopes that the Elementum DNA would make for something amazing. Apart from in sheer edge retention, 14C28N steel is easily one of the best budget, non-powdered steels as an end user. Easy to get stupid sharp; easy to maintain through stropping or honing. I don't have a ton of experience with button locks but I'm willing to learn.So now that I've been using it so far, how does it stack up? Excellently it turns out. The button lock is fun and fidget-friendly. The blade takes everything excellent about the regular Elementum and tunes up the cutting performance. That super thin hollow grind geometry just cuts for days. The point is keen without be too delicate. The ergonomics are great and the whole package is light, lithe and streamlined. Easy to carry, effortless to use. It has a lot going for it.The pivot does seem to be a little finicky due to the black coated hardware. Needing to be tightened just right to stay fluid but eliminate blade wobble. Which would be fine, but the pivot seems to be prone to backing itself out through use. Which would also be fine if I hadn't run out of Blue Loctite a few weeks before that. So as soon as the new stick of that gets here, all of that should be resolved.Could it have used a flipper tab or thumb stud? Maybe, yeah. But I get why they didn't add one based on the design, which definitely works as-is.Time will tell whether this falls into the same butter zone as the original Elementum. Looks very good so far though.YEAR 2 UPDATE: I'm on my second BLE now. Complete with titanium clip to make sure I don't lose it like the first one. The form factor, lightness, and cutting performance turned this into a dark horse that beat everything else out in my stable. I only carry this one black knife now.I don't miss the flipper anymore. I love the minimalism of the package more. I can open it as fast and with as much or little flash as I need to. Leaving it fidget-friendly without being intimidating. The fact that it locks closed also means it's safe enough to trust near kids, non-knife users and more often, my femoral artery.The black coated hardware eventually polishes smooth, taking all the fuzziness out of the action with it, leaving it drop-shut and glassy.I keep it sharp enough to whittle hair, touch it up in-between jobs and rarely find the need to resharpen. The geometry behind the edge doing 9/10ths of the cutting work. It's effortless to carry, understatedly efficient and bafflingly brilliant at meeting my knife needs.So this IS my knife now...and if I lost or damaged it, I'd replace it with the same.

This is my second element knife. I loved my first one for the blade and build quality. It's a knife made in Taiwan. PS, Taiwanese steel is second best to US manufacture. I lost my flipper Elementum knife a few weeks ago and felt lost without it. I found this new button lock Elementum and loved the idea of Micarta scales. It was 20 bucks more than the flipper model but I said hey, it's amazon -- I can easily return it if I dont like it. Add to cart. It came super quick. And when I opened it like a kid at Christmas and played with the butter smooth action of the button lock, I instantly fell in love. This knife is fabulous in design. Slightly longer than the flipper Elementum, it really fits the hand quite well. The blade is razor sharp and we will see how the steel stands up in the longer term cutting tasks and how well the grey powder coating on the blade stands up to sharpening and rough use. The is an every day carry blade. As other reviewers have stated, it is not a fighting knife -- but it could be used to save your life with proper deployment of the blade. The micarta seems a tiny bit slick, but may improve with use. I'm going to enjoy carrying this knife and will check back in with a 6 month review again. I feel it's a great value and buy at 70 ish bucks and you should go for it and decide for yourself what works for you.

I’ll start of by saying this was a fast purchase for me. I have been looking for a replacement for my daily carry and when I lost it. Civivi came to my mind right off the bat as I had liked what I saw and read.ProsGreat feel in my hand.Nice texture on the scalesEasy to open, (once you get the feel of it)Very sharp out of the boxInexpensive for what it isTight tail clip. Holds place in my pocketTail clip can be removed if neededConsLimited to being a right handed carry only due to the button releaseButton is the release and the lockThis button release as I stated can be a bit tricky. The blade bearings are very good. A bit too good almost. I like how quickly the blade will deploy but with the button being the release and the lock, if you are a bit too aggressive with your flip it will bounce back causing you to flip again to make it lock in place as the blade will not lock until you release the button. Flipping it with your hand down helps but again, until you release the button it won’t lock. This is so far the only negative I can come up with.Overall I like this blade. For a $65 blade it’s a keeper. I will most likely make this my new daily carry.