We/Civivi Quality?

D

Detroit1980

Joined
May 17, 2020
Messages
182
I was just wondering if anybody has ever had any quality issues with any We/Civivi knives? I'm asking because I personally haven't and I find it pretty amazing. It seems like their knives are pure perfection.

I'm just starting this thread because I've tried to find things wrong with the several We/Civivi knives that I've handled and can't find any. The fit/finish, action, blade centering, no blade play, everything is tight and the blades are shaving sharp. The quality is really unbelievable.

I will admit that many We knives are overpriced in my opinion but Civivi may be the best bang for your buck out of any knife out there.

I just really wish some of the American companies would step up their game because I've always been for American made but I've found American made costs much more and the quality for the price can't compete with We/Civivi, especially Civivi.
 
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Sorry - can’t help you. My McKenna arrived perfect, and continues to operate perfectly. :thumbsup:
 
I have been on the fence for a Mini Buster but I'm holding out for the Evo Typhoon drop and Mula X..... only experience I had with WE was the Drakon. It was an amazing knife but more pen style, I like thin flat blades so I sold it.
 
My WE Deacon is perfect. My Massdrop/Ferrum Forge/WE Gent Select CF came with zero loctite on the pivot screw, and would loosen and become off center after a while. Easy fix. Otherwise, both are perfect.
 
While I don’t currently have any We branded knives I have/have had several that they manufactured for other companies and each has been absolutely spot on.

Here’s my current favorite...

DD4C6D40-F30D-4A15-87D4-E0BA85B62AC1.jpeg

...great action/detent and fit & finish, blade centering, and lockup are all superb.
 
I don't own anything made by Civivi, but I have knives made by Artisan, We, Reate and Kizer.
They're all spot on.
 
Pomsbz said:
Not again? We went through this all with all the bashing, politics and hate just a week ago.
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willc said:
Did you just post in the correct thread?

None of the posts here have anything to do with what you posted.
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Pomsbz said:
Yet. :D
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Yours was the first ;):D

I don't own anything from WE but from the opinions of those I respect around here, the quality seems to be very high. If I found one I liked, it was priced right, and I wanted it, quality would not be a concern in my buying choice.
 
I've heard at least one mention of a QC issue with a WE knife on BF, but they seem to be exceedingly rare.

The 3 WE/Civivi knives I have are all great. I was legitimately shocked when I took the Praxis apart and saw the attention to detail they put into the liners - skeletonized, fully polished, and then colored gold. That's above and beyond expectations in the $40 range. The Keen is far better than what you'd get from any other $140 knife I can think of. Stuff like the Kitefin, which has a lot of machining for a $160 knife, shows that they could basically take over the sub-$200 range if they tried. The closest US-made competitor to the Kitefin (i.e. titanium framelock with "premium steel") is the 0450Ti, which costs around $30 more, and while the ZT looks great, it isn't known for its actual cutting ability.
 
Detroit1980 said:
I was just wondering if anybody has ever had any quality issues with any We/Civivi knives? I'm asking because I personally haven't and I find it pretty amazing. It seems like their knives are pure perfection.

I'm just starting this thread because I've tried to find things wrong with the several We/Civivi knives that I've handled and can't find any. The fit/finish, action, blade centering, no blade play, everything is tight and the blades are shaving sharp. The quality is really unbelievable.

I will admit that many We knives are overpriced in my opinion but Civivi may be the best bang for your buck out of any knife out there.

I just really wish some of the American companies would step up their game because I've always been for American made but I've found American made costs much more and the quality can't compete with We/Civivi, especially Civivi.
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There have been several discussions about WE/CIVIVI quality here over the past year or so. You might try the "Search" function and give those threads a read. Some don't always end up productive, but there's good info in them.

WE/ CIVIVI makes a nice knife, but they're not perfect.
I had a WE 605 that had a very poorly tuned detent. I tried adjusting it and it never really hit the sweet spot for dual deployment using flipper and hole. It may have needed a lot of flipping to wear in.
I have a WE Cirrus that feels "unfinished"; a lot of sharp edges that could really use a little bit of work. It's actually uncomfortable in hand.
I have a CIVIVI Shard that came un-centered. After taking apart, cleaning and tuning it's still off a little bit. I guess acceptable for a $60 knife but Benchmade would be crucified for the same centering out of box.

All things said, they're great knives and I don't hesitate to recommend them to anyone considering one. I think we're a little quick to heap praises on a new brand and need to dial down the hype a bit. In my opinion CRK holds the banner for consistent perfection in production knives. WE/Reate are close, but still not there. That becomes significant as WE/Reate prices approach and eclipse CRK. Add to that the relative ease of getting a CRK serviced/repaired and I have to think twice about buying one of these knives at prices above $300.

CIVIVI is probably my current favorite value brand, though.
 
The only WE made knife I have is the Terzuola/Massdrop CTF. The edges of the G10 were rather sharp, and it had an obtuse (>20dps) edge. I ended up sanding the G10 and spending a little time with my sharpmaker to bring the edge to 20 dps, and it cuts much better now. I don't think either issue was all that bad. I wouldn't hesitate to get another knife made by WE, but I'm just not a fan of many of their original designs.
 
I only have experience with Civivi but that's because I mostly like "decent" budget knives. I've had several Civivi knives now and I'm impressed. Overall quality is exceptional relative to similarly priced knives and budget knives in general.

I always take apart new knives for inspection, cleaning, and quality non-toxic lubrication. Out of the box, even the nicer budget knives can have gunk, grime, random tool marks, etc. Every once in a while, I find a couple of loose metal shavings. Doing this gives me a feel for certain brands and relative to price, Civivi is the best. Civivi knives tend to ship with very clean internals. After getting a few of their initial 9Cr18Mov knives with colored liners, I joked that they polished the internals for presentation.

Speaking of 9Cr18Mov, that's a steel I had previously written off due to bad heat treatments from companies like Schrade. After experiencing it through Civivi, my opinion did a 180. Now it might be my most-carried EDC steel between three Civivis and a Real Steel. With a good heat treatment, retention is in the same ballpark as Kershaw's 14C28N. I've come to prefer it to Chinese D2 because summers get humid here and I sweat.
 
I only have one civivi, an exarch, but it is excellent quality. The only flaw was the dull factory edge.
 
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