CIVIVI Altus Pocket Folding Knife with Button Lock and Thumb Stud Opener, 2.97" Nitro-V Silver Bead Blasted Blade Black G10 Handle C20076-1

My 3rd Civivi knife and the Quality is as good as ever, especially for the price. The Nitro-V cuts every bit as good as my previous bought SM35.

The media could not be loaded. I've been carrying this knife for about 8 months and it's easily taken everything I've thrown at it. It came to me fairly sharp (it only took a little work to get it razor sharp) and it held an edge quite well. My only complaints are: 1- it's a tiny bit too small for every day carry if you're constantly needing a knife, and 2- the blade has picked up some marks that even scrubbing with soap won't remove. I'm only replacing it because of those marks and the point (which I dropped point first on concrete, so can't really blame the knife). Overall, if you're wanting a medium to small knife for EDC, this is a fantastic choice.

This is one of my favorites now. It’s a well designed button lock with a great detent and deployment. Action is great and for me personally, the ability to move the clip to the show side is awesome as a lefty.There are some minor qualms I have with the knife. Mostly, I would have preferred a more west resistant steel (eg S30v, 35vn, 20cv, etc) but that would have obviously added to the price. Nitro-V is a solid all around steel too that has a decently high toughness. My other minor complaint is the knife is a bit thicker than it needs to be in the handle (due to full steel liners and g10 not being nested). That being said, the overall profile of the knife in pocket is very narrow which is quite comfortable.I haven’t had any of the issues that some of the other reviewers are having (lock stick, blade play). It seems that Civivi has gotten that QC under control with my sample.

UPDATE 10/17/2023: I found the Altus that I lost earlier this year! It was in my garage, so now I have 3 Alti. Too many knives but Christmas is right around the corner. Now, I have my eye on a Qubit!UPDATE 4/6/2023: Docking a star due to Civivis not-so-great quality control. So I lost my green micarta the other week and, of course, I had to buy a replacement. Although I also lost my black NItro-V blade with it (I switched blades with my cuibortia one), I was fine with getting the Damscus blade. When I received my new Altus, the button lock was all sorts of messed up AF. It was stuck in the depressed mode and the blade just moved freely. No matter what I tried, the button would not release. I thought the spring may have been missing, but when I took a toothpick and applied pressure to the button from the inside of the knife, the button reluctantly released. Afterwards, I pressed the button, and it immediately locked in the depressed position again. Evidently, the blade was not milled correctly to allow the button to release. I was not about to play Mr. Metal Shop with my one metal file in more lacking DIY tool arsenal, so I ordered a replacement. Got the replacement, and it works fine. What is interesting to note is that they changed the button lock to now have a polished piece where the button locks the blade into place most probably to address some of the button stick issues being reported by many. While a valiant effort, mine still sticks a bit after you spider-flick or thumb flick the blade out with some force. Again, still manageable and not an issue for me, but for those who are more OCD about the button locks sticking, this may still bother you. Civivi really needs to pay more attention to their milling specs on their blades since it seems like there are still many quality escapes reaching customers and, thereby, sullying their brand. Civivi, DO BETTER!UPDATE 5/16/2022: Button lock stick is no longer an issue with my NitroV - no sticking even when I thumb flick with force. When I switched scales, I only switched the scales and kept the hardware the same (i.e. pivot, screws, frame, button, etc.). The Damascus hardware still has a little stick when you thumb flick it out with force, but when you're deploying or closing with just the button, then I notice very little to no stick - still a keeper in my book.ORIGINAL REVIEW:When I first got into EDC knives, I tried various knives with flipper tabs, thumb studs, axis button locks, or flicker grooves. While some styles were fun for fidgeting / flicking, I ultimately decided that speed and ease of deployment was the most important factor to me which thumb studs provided hands down. So I bought the Civivi Pintail that gave you both the speedy & easy deployment with the thumb studs and also provided the extra fidget factor of the flipper tab. However, I eventually found out the flipper tab was no longer practical since I am a righty and carry my cell phone in my right pocket also. The problem with flipper tab on the Pintail was that it would scratch up my phone. I tried to carry my phone in the left pocket, but that was a PITA to get used to. Thus, I move on to search for my ideal thumb-studded, EDC knife. I thought I was done searching for the perfect EDC knife when I found the WE Banter and Civivi Baby Banter. The Banter was the beefy one to carry around on the weekends while doing "honey-do's" while the Baby B was my office carry.But then when I saw this Altus, I was instantly interested. The only thing I was not sure about was the button lock. While I've tried the axis button lock on Benchmade knives, I was not a fan of having to use both my thumb and forefinger to close the blade along with the button itself felt gritty even after cleaning. I never tried this kind of button lock, so after seeing all the Altus Youtube video reviews, I decided to pull the trigger.Once I received the knife, here were my reactions: Thumb Stud? Check. Thinner form factor than my Banter but still elegant to be a gentlemen's office carry? Check. Fit and finish good? Check. It will not scratch my phone in pocket? Check. Blade is 3" or less? Check.With all those boxes checked, the only thing left was the button lock I've never tried. After using it for a little while, I was impressed. While there is some button stick after I thumb flick it out with some force, it is not bad at all. In fact, I prefer the positive feedback of the button lock disengaging with a "click!" Thus, I think I found my perfect EDC knife......for now. Easy & fast deployment, thinner form factor to be dual purpose weekend warrior and office gentleman, easy & fast blade closing, takes less real estate in the same pocket as my phone.......and fidget factor with the button lock as a bonus!The only thing that I didn't like about this knife were the color options. I wanted to get the green micarta with the NitroV black blade, but the green micarta comes with the Damascus steel, and that combo didn't appeal to me since it looks like wearing a white shirt and tie with an old pair of jeans. So what I did is buy 2 Altuses (or is it "Alti"???) - the green micarta with Damascus and the cuibourtia wood with black NitroV - and switched the scales to get to the green micarta with black NitroV that I originally wanted and the cuibourtia with the Damascus which I think is a much better combo and can carry for more business casual occasions. I think Civivi should've originally paired them up like I did, or at least, provide the customer the option to get different blades with the scales you want. For this reason, I gave the "value for money" only 4 stars. Other than that, I'm really pleased with the knives that Civivi is coming out with recently. Now I'm just wondering what they will come out with next that will replace my Altuses.....or Alti.

The media could not be loaded. I’m a knife lover and a knife user like the rest of you. This isn’t the first or last Civivi knife I own. They bring a excellent selection of quality knives to the table! Sharp out of the box and able to handle all of my edc needs. I love all of it, the color, handle, feel in hand, Nitro V, slicing efficiency, and button lock! This knife just fit in all of my edc needs. Bought it for a backpacking trip and now I can’t put it down. It’s so fidgety with the button lock! If you’re on the fence about this one watch the video review I made and buy it, can’t go wrong.

It's all about the ceramic bearing, great knife.

First button lock and I'm very happy with it. The titanium clip from Civivi makes this knife look and feel better in your hand. The stock clips are alright, but they can can get snagged on things.