Plethiros by Civivi

I just got my hands on a Civivi Plethiros.  It is a very cool folding knife that has been discontinued, but I was lucky enough to find one.

Civivi Plethiros

Perhaps you have never heard of Civivi.  Let's unpack that now.

Civivi is a division of WE Knife company.  WE Knife was founded by a middle school English teacher who had a passion for knives.  Joe Cheung founded WE Knife Co., Ltd. in 2000 as an OEM manufacturer.  The company quickly became one of the largest Chinese manufacturers of quality knives and tools.  The key word is quality.  WE Knife earned a reputation for always delivering innovative designs made with consistently high quality.  They have grown to be the largest Chinese manufacturer of high-end cutlery.

By 2018, WE saw the knife market expand.  The need for a line of functional, utilitarian, EDC product lines at affordable prices became obvious.  This brought about the formation of CIVIVI Knife.

Civivi contracts knife designers from around the world and produces some amazing knives.  The name Civivi is a combination of the Chinese characters for happiness and joy. 

I've been a fan of these companies since I first saw them at the Blade Show.  They were new, bright, and not afraid to step out into the market with new designs, colors, and materials at affordable prices.

Now back to my Plethiros….

The first thing I noticed was the shape.  I don't think there is a right angle in the entire knife.  The Plethiros was designed by Elijah Isham.  "I always try," Elijah said, "to focus on geometric ratios, proportion, and how raw shape will relate to itself within a design.  I like to utilize hyperbolic and elliptical non-Euclidean geometry most of the time."

Civivi Plethiros  I like the clean lines the deep inset finger guard behind the blade

Unfortunately, Elijah was shot by police officers on I-75 south of Dayton, Ohio, in May 2022.  It seems that he was involved in a car accident and flipped his car.  He made the tactical mistake of pointing a handgun at responding officers.

Moraine Police Chief Craig Richardson testified, "Officers attempted to engage the suspect for approximately 5 minutes.  They gave him, we counted 41 commands over that 5 minutes to put the gun down, which he ignored.”

At some point, Elijah cocked the gun and was shot nine times.

Elijah Isham's maker mark

I'm sorry to find this out on several levels.  I know it will continue to haunt the police officers, I'm sure there are people who loved and miss Elijah, and the world lost an interesting knife designer.  As it's been pointed out, nobody wins a gunfight.

Let me transition back to the knife.

The aggressive blade  and flat grind makes for easy use

The handle is composed of green G-10 with an encapsulated carbon fiber overlay.  The handle sits on two stainless steel, full-length liners.  One side is utilized as a liner lock.  The blade, 4.45 inches of D2 steel, is a true full flat grind with Rockwell hardness of 59-61.  I think that is a sweet spot for D2 steel.  It holds an edge well but isn't brittle.  I can resharpen it easily with my Spyderco Sharpmaker.

For me, the real knife test is how it handles everyday things

The blade rides on caged ceramic ball bearings.  These ball bearings run smoothly with little to no oil, and they are resistant to damage with regular use.  The blade, D2, is almost a stainless steel, just shy by a percent of chromium from what many people consider an arbitrary cutoff.  The real question about stainless steels is how much chromium is bound to carbides and how much is available to form a passive, transparent film of chromium oxide.  This film protects the steel from rust.  D2 contains a smidge of both molybdenum and vanadium.  Both form amazing carbides, leaving more chromium available for rust resistance.

My chief performance test is making firsticks and shavings to build a fire.  I work over my hat to catch all the shavings.  The Plethiros worked fine.

The Plethiros' blade measures 4.45 inches in length and 0.12 inch in thickness.  The high grind gives it tremendous cutting power.  Many people want the closed blade to sit symmetrically between the sides of the knife handle.  They see that as a sign of quality.  I was at one knife designer's shop where the staff hand-fitted the washers to get the blade symmetric.  That's a low priority for me, especially in an everyday carry knife.

The blade sits very even between the handles

The knife has what might appear to be a thumb hole, but it is actually more of a decorative feature.  The Plethiros can be opened like any ordinary folder: grab the blade and pull it away from the handle.  That's the polite, public way of opening any knife.  

The position of the flipping stud lets the knife sit nicely in your pocket since it is in line with the long axis of the knife.  

A small protruding finger of steel extends out from the handle's spine.  It is gimped for friction, and your index finger can catch it and propel the blade open.

The handle is shaped so your hand does not slide forward onto the blade.  The opening flipper is entirely contained by the handle.  That’s a nice touch.  It gives the knife a finished look.

Lastly, the black skeletonized clip can be moved for either right or left side carry, but regardless of the side, the knife is orientated tip up.  That's my preferred method of carry.

When open the opening flipper is completely hid by the handle. 

The name?  Did you think I wasn't going to tell you about it?  Well, in the absence of a ouija board, the best I can find is that plethiros is Welsh for flourish.  I think that's an excellent name for this knife.