CIVIVI Stormhowl Pocket Knife, Folding Knife with 3.3" Damascus Steel Blade Aluminum Handle Flipper and Button Opener Cool Knife for Gift,EDC C23040B-DS1

The media could not be loaded. I would normally give this 4 stars, because for $100 you can get a full Titanium Kubey Nova vs Aluminum, but those are in 14C28N steel while this is with a 9cr10cr stainless Damascus, which is beautifully done. This knife doesn't particularly do anything wrong, other than a lanyard pin that seems to be an after-thought and requires a whipping knot to keep the lanyard tight and off the blade.Also, this knife somehow has a normal feeling detent, despite being a plunge lock, so it's not until the blade is very close to being closed that it will just suck the blade in the rest of the way. That raised the score too. A lot of plunge lock button locks offer resistance to closing sooner (while the blade is more open) and over a longer travel of the blade (like a crossbar lock). But this feels more like a detent ball on a liner lock. One reason I like the $55 Remette Rhino so much is that it's a button activated liner lock, so it has a real ball detent, as I usually avoid button locks for the most part.The blade is gorgeous, and the etch shows some nice shiny swirls of the polished steel. The clip point shape is perfect in balance with the handle, with good jimping. And the flipper tab is well jimped for a good grip when flipping. The flat ground blade is thin, sharp, and slicey, because the geometry works with the thin tall blade. The sharpening choil is almost big enough to use as a finger choil, but not quite; and looking at the blade and flipper, there was definitely room to make it bigger.As far as the action goes, it is nice and smooth, and flipping is nice and snappy with a nice sound when it smacks open. The blade is also well centered. Beating the back of the blade on a wood board doesn't cause the lock to fail either. It can drop closed if held in the right position when depressing the button lock, and squeezing the button hard does not compress the scales that could freeze up the action. There is minimal lock button stick and the button is well recessed to prevent accidental engagement. There is no detent lash or pivot lash; and there is no side to side play when closed or open. If you want to use this as a gentleman's knife at work, and not have it smack open aggressively in front of your peers, it is easy to grip the blade and open quietly two handed.The handle and scales are thin, but not quite Bugout thin - maybe 1mm thicker? I'm going to guess it's closer to 3 oz than 2 oz, but still very light. The milling on the scales offers good grip, unlike the Civivi Altus that I returned a while ago with smooth scales, or the CJRB Pyrite with smoth steel scales. But the milling doesn't cause discomfort with a tight grip. It offers right and left sided clip positions, although I wish there was an aluminum filler tab for the side opposite of the clip - As it is, only one of the 2 empty screw holes is filled (with a standoff screw).This would possibly be a competitor to the steel CJRB Pyrite, and I might like this more, but the cost for this is a bit more as well - $25 more without Damascus and $15 more with the Damascus option. The Stormhowl feels much lighter than Pyrite, and I prefer a flipper instead of thumb studs or thumb holes. You also get a more ergonomic handle and better grip on this knife, due to the milling, plus a bit less weight with this one. But you don't get as nice of a finger choil or lanyard hole as on the Pyrite. I feel that the Damascus or the baseline Nitro-V is as good as AR-RPM9 or Damascus in the CJRB, so no loss there.I suppose, after writing this and flipping the knife for a while, I have one real complaint. The button must be pushed deeply into the handle to disengage the blade, like below the surface of the recess. It is recessed well enough to prevent fully depressing the button all the way by accident. But in the winter my thumbs get dry and cracked, and trying to squish the button in deep enough to unlock the knife repeatedly has been causing some discomfort to my dry cracked fingertips. This would be my ONLY reason should I have to return this, and switch back to my more bulky Vision FG for light duty with a nice Damascus blade like this.It's still easier to unlock this than a liner lock like Terzuola ATCF Lite with poor access (when my fingers are like this); but some button locks have a little easier access to the button at the very bottom of it's travel where it will release the blade without digging in so deep.

The media could not be loaded. Joe Cheung is an awesome knife designer who owns WE Knives Civivi Knives and Sencut Knives.In house designed Knives keep the prices reasonable. Civivi Stormhowl red aluminum and Damascus style blade is beautiful and very comfortable with the addition of a Civivi Titanium colored clip.Civivi Stormhowl is centered out of the box and sharp. Civivi packaging is first class. Civivi Stormhowl button lock action is smooth and easy to open and closure is very easy. Civivi Stormhowl Flipper tab jimping is perfectly executed. Civivi Stormhowl lanyard pin is great, no extra hole in the scales. Thanks Joe Cheung for excellent contributions to the knife world. Definitely recommend and will purchase more from WE / Civivi / Sencut Knives via Amazon. Amazon shipping is 1st class and fast, next day delivery.

This is my first button lock knife. I researched these for a while before making a purchase. I looked at several brands and styles. I purchased this one for a few reasons. First, I liked the milled aluminum body. The aluminum is pretty lightweight and the milling provides some extra grip and style. I also appreciate the contour of the body. It provides a very secure grip with the indentation for the index finger when closed in the hand. The second reason was the mechanics. I'd read several reviews about how well the Civivi button locks work. I was not disappointed. I love the flipper tab. It opens smoothly with a satisfying click at the end as it locks in place. No issues with it staying locked so far. I can close it with one hand by pressing the button and letting gravity close the blade. Super smooth action and one hand capable. As my first button lock knife, I feel like this is a major upgrade compared to a frame lock or other similar mechanisms that require two hands or at least a hand and a leg to close. I like it so much that I'm almost ready to spend all my money to become a knife collector.

This is a very nice flipper blade. It has a very smooth opening action. Blade is very beautiful. The only thing I didn't like on the flipper area is that it has very sharp corners. So I took my grinder and took off and rounded the edges to make it a little more comfortable opening the knife.

Civivi makes GREAT knives at affordable prices. Period. I have about a dozen at this point, so I’m trying to only pickup ones that really catch my eye. I really liked the look of this blade with aluminum scales and two tone blacked blade and scales. It’s super smooth and the button lock is perfectly responsive. If you are looking for a nice mid range flipper with a decent steel and button lock, as long as you like the look, this is a great buy. A+

Arrived on time. Good knife with texture in the handle for a better grip. Sharp, flipper works quite well, and this is what I expected from the overall knife. Good purchase.

Love it.. Very ergonomic, love the overall design and aggressive clip point. Seems well made, fit and finish are excellent like every other knife I have from them. The steel is questionable being Chinese, but it's good enough for EDC if your EDC is like that rest of us. Opening boxes and mail haha.

I really like the look of this knife, blade is very sharp. The price was great cause it was on sale. After a bit of oil the push button worked great, it’s better than a liner feels a lot safer in my opinion. I would by another Civivi