Civivi Yonder and Tacticorix, Damascus blades and a classic look for two entry-level knives

Civivi is celebrating its first ten years with a significant milestone of international significance: the Civivi Yonder folding knife has been voted "Best Buy of the Year", i.e. the knife with the best quality/price ratio, at the Blade Show 2024, the world's most important knife show, traditionally held in Atlanta, USA. We would like to start with this information to present it to you in detail.

Designed by US knifemaker Zac Whitmore, the Yonder takes its name from Education of a Wandering Man, a book by American author Luis L'Amour that is considered a masterpiece by lovers of Western and Outdoor literature. The word mixes the verb "wandering" and the adverb "yonder'". So it identifies the concept as pushing oneself beyond. In fact, Zac Withmore himself is a great lover of American-style wilderness and spends a lot of time in America's wildest places, which are a great source of inspiration for him.

The Yonder is a folder which is immediately recognisable as a member of the Civivi family but with a few original touches, starting with the Spey Point profile blade and the crossbar lock mechanism. The version we present in the photos features a Damascus blade and Guibourtia wood handle, but is also offered with G10 or Micarta handle and with a 14C28N steel blade with stonewashed or black stonewashed finish.

Civivi Yonder, designed in the USA

We start with the blade, which is 73 millimetres long and 2.2 millimetres thick, made of Damascus steel with a beautiful two-tone matte grey/nickel finish. The Yonder has a less pronounced point than a blade with a drop point or clip point profile. This kind of knives is used to perform delicate operations where it is necessary to cut while avoiding the risk of puncturing major blood vessels. The result is a blade that also works very well for cutting paper, ropes, filaments, or for cutting a steak and spreading cheese on bread. The lowered tip with convex edge and diagonal back allows it to be used like a cutter to make precision cuts. It is often found on American Case-style penknives and is recently making a comeback with models such as the Yonder. The thickness of the blade is quite thin: 2.2 millimetres, which contributes to making this knife very light, weighing only 72 grams. Blade deploying is facilitated by a classic double tumb stud and is very smooth thanks to ceramic ball bearing. The new feature of the Civivi Yonder is the "crossbar lock" mechanism, i.e. with a spring-loaded crossbar perpendicular to the blade that engages it when opened.

In order to close it, the peg heads protruding from slots in the handle must be pulled back. This is a very simple but effective system, but unlike the button lock it does not keep the blade locked when closed. This is not a problem, since the blade shows no tendency to deploy unintentionally, but it is good to know. Both locking when deploying and unlocking are very smooth. In addition to acting on the blade thumb studs , the blade can also be deployed by pulling back those on the handle and giving a light flick of the wrist. The handle of the Civivi Yonder consists of a pair of stainless steel plates with a blued finish, with large lightening cuts, on which the completely smooth grips, in this case Bubinga wood, are mounted. The blued steel clip is of the "deepseat" type, i.e. it allows it to be hooked in a very deep position on the edge of the pocket and can be swapped from one side to the other. The care with which the handle components are assembled is excellent and the award won at the Blade Show is amply deserved if one considers that the Yonder in the version photographed costs $94 (around 87 euro), which drops to $67 for the version with G10 grips and a stonewashed 14C28N steel blade. To conclude, the Yonder is a lightweight and space-saving "Compact Folder", ideal for prolonged carry and characterised by very good cutting abilities, even for precision jobs. Clearly, the length of the blade and especially its thickness suggest that it should not be used for heavy work and make it more suitable for those who have small to medium hands.

Civivi Tacticorix, a beautiful liner lock

The second model is called Tacticorix and is larger in size, with a blade 21 mm longer than the Yonder's one. Again, we have chosen the version with a Damascus blade and Guibourtia wood handle, in order to create a direct comparison between the two models, but on closer inspection the similarities stop there. The Tacticorix, in fact, relies on the tried and tested liner-lock mechanism to lock the blade, while for opening it you can choose between the side flipper and the pair of thumb studs on the blade. The latter has a clip point profile with flat grind and a maximum thickness of 3 millimetres. Again, the ceramic ball-bearing pivot assembly is as usual, i.e. excellent, and workmanship is impeccable, with the added spectacular aesthetic effect of the two-tone Damascus that gives this knife a custom look. The factory sharpening is also more than satisfactory.

On the other hand, the Guibourtia wood scales are not very beautiful: we would have preferred them smooth, but you can't have everything. The handle scales are fixed to steel plates that have been extensively cut to lighten them without weakening their structure too much. The clip for "tip up" carry is relatively small and the first instinct is to remove it to let the beautiful essence of the grips shine through, which also lend themselves to customisation.

It should be noted that to avoid making too many holes in the handle, the lanyard loop was made by adding an extra spacer between the handle plates. Certainly, the Tacticorix is more suitable for those with larger than average hands and handles very well.

The double opening option makes it quite versatile and the price, $110 (close to one hundred euros) for the Damascus steel version, is in perfect Civivi style: affordable and convenient. The packaging (and this applies to both knives) is, as usual, very neat and includes the knife itself, a nylon case with zip fastener, two stickers, a microfiber cleaning cloth, two stickers and a catalog.

In addition, to celebrate the company's ten-year anniversary, there is a band around the box with the ten-year anniversary logo. Both models make it possible to indulge the whim of owning a folder with a Damascus blade and precious wood handle prayed for at a price of less than one hundred euros. They are also a nice idea for a gift, given the rich packaging.

Civivi Yonder and Tacticorix technical specifications and prices