CIVIVIPocket Folding Knife with 3.47" 14C28N Blade Micarta Handle, Button Lock Elementum Knife for EDC C2103C (Dark Green)

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.

Super sharp and very strong and stiff. Looks stunning and opens as smooth as butter. Great knife for the price and is the perfect size even for my large hands.

Very nice

I returned it because I didn't think I'd get used to only the button. Now, I may buy it again for my daughter. She has bad arthritis, and some knives are becoming difficult for her to open and close. I do wish the button was just a bit larger though. Maybe then I'd have kept it. It's hard to break the habit and ease of the Spyderco hole and the lock back.

Awesome

It doesn't take long to get used to one-handed opening. It may not be quite as fast as a flipper deployment, but button opening is certainly more reliable than thumb stud or blade cutout deployment.Pros:Surprisingly lightweight for the blade length.Blade locks firmly shut to ensure it cannot pop open by accident on your waist or in your pocket.Simple blade with no cutouts or thumb studs make it easy to make full-depth cuts and wipe clean.No blade billboarding.Button lock keeps your fingers out of the blade path for better safety.Slim shape with no protrusions and light weight makes it easy to carry. It's easy to forget your even have it.Good action on bearings.Sharp, true stainless blade.Comfortable micarta handle feels good in the hand and against the waist if that's where you carry it.You can open with either a flick of the hand/wrist or go for a slow-open, two-handed pinch grip on the blade spine.Ideas for improvements:The stonewashed blade finish looks nicer in person, but it would make cleaning easier if they offered a satin or polished blade finish.The button is domed outward, so it can be difficult to find a spot to push that doesn't cause discomfort if you are using the button repeatedly. A concave button would be more comfortable.More handle color options for the handles, or an assortment of replacement handle scales would be nice.A flipper option may be nice, but the button-only version needs to stay.The storage pouch is not needed and only increases the price for no benefit for most people.

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.