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reswright
3850
Oct 8, 2019
checkVerified Buyer
Inexpensive but boss
This was my third Civivi and so far my impression of them is extremely solid. They make good knives out of midrange materials like D2 and 9Cr18MoV. Because it's a budget line, you aren't seeing the titanium and super steel that their parent company WE Knife are known for, but unlike any other budget line on the market, the finishing on the material is superb. Everything's beveled, everything's radiused, everything's smooth as a baby's behind. You take it apart and you see that it's all like that on the inside, too, even though most budget knives have crap looking insides. I just start smiling when I see that someone's polished the inside of the liner on a factory knife. I'm that weird guy that thinks that kind of stuff matters a lot, so I really like seeing Civivi putting in the work in a spot in their knife which, say, at least 3/4 of the people buying it will likely never even see. I saw it. :) Civivi also has one other thing going on that isn't quite common yet in Chinese knifemaking -- they trust in their materials enough to slim their work down. A lot of Chinese brands, especially ones pitched as 'budget', are thick, heavy knives with heavy liners and heavy blades. Built like daggers. They're wide in the hand and heavy in the pocket and can be hard to use in a nimble fashion on a lot of tasks as a result. Civivis are notably slimmer by comparison -- and despite this comparative lack of bulk, but they don't feel cheaper or less well made by any stretch. Like I said, it amounts to putting faith in your materials and design. The Baklash is a little lighter than the other two Civivis recently offered on Drop, with more of a harpoon blade shape, so if those looked a little light to you, this one might be worth a try. But should you? That is to say, if you want a Civivi, should this be the one you try? I mean, there is a school of thought out there that just because a knife has a five star rating doesn't mean you need to own it. To be honest, my answer to you depends on you. Do you need to be able to work it all day long without needing to stop and touch it up? Then look at the D2 Civivis instead if you're interested in the brand.. Is your knife much less useful to you if you don't have a razor edge on it, and you don't mind a little touch up with a ceramic rod or tungsten carbide or whatever? Then this is worth considering, esp at $39. This knife has 9Cr18MoV steel. That's a formula of stainless analogous to 440B stainless steel. What that means compared to a knife made with D2 steel -- the more common choice in Civivi knives -- is that it will dull considerably sooner than the D2 will. D2 is both strong and tough, in steel terms. It can't take the keenest possible edge (the alloy structure fails if you grind the edge too thin) but it CAN take a beating. If you're one of those guys who needs a knife that's gonna cut twine and cardboard all day long without taking a break to touch up the edge on your steel, then you don't want one with 440B steel. The trade off is that 440B is considerably easier to sharpen, and MUCH easier to sharpen to a razor's edge. Where D2 might crack or chip, 440B gives way with force -- and can be smoothed back into position using a steel or ceramic honing rod. And you can do that with D2... if you've got your black belt in sharpening knives and have the muscle memory to work with ceramics and tungsten carbide, by hand, without dinging up your edge. For the rest of us, it's kinda not a can-do situation. If you patiently read thru all that and really you're just going 'is it good? If it's good I want to buy it. Just frickin' tell me if it's good' then -- yes, it's good. Very good. Think of the best work you've seen out of CRKT, than double the amount of work spent on finishing the surfaces and radiusing the edges -- it's kinda like that. I like the Baklash probably the best out of the three Civivis I own. It flips so nicely and simply that I haven't even bothered taking it apart.
Recommends this product? Yes
stoutdog
305
Dec 8, 2019
reswrightThanks! I think you covered it thoroughly. The only issue I have is the use of tungsten carbide for a sharpener. I've heard it's too aggressive and removes more steel than needed therefore I have always used ceramic stones or a strop.
reswright
3850
Dec 8, 2019
stoutdogwhat I hear is that tungsten carbide takes an extremely skilled hand, because you have to get the balance just right or you do one of two things -- chew up your edge, or nothing. But if the balance is right, it's just another high hardness tool for redistributing the steel on your edge. I use ceramic, because I don't have that magic balance.
stoutdog
305
Dec 8, 2019
reswrightThanks! I appreciate you sharing your expertise and knowledge.
stoutdog
305
Jan 22, 2020
reswrightGreat review! Did you notice how well done the clips screws were done? Completely flush. I can't understand why this isn't more prevalent.
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