Over the last couple years I seem to have become a fan of WE knives. First, I got the MassDrop Keen. The Keen was designed by Ray Laconico and manufactured by WE, and it is one of my favorite knives. WE gave the knife a level of quality that lived up to its beautiful design. Then, Ben Petersen of Knafs Co sent me a WE Banter for review. I enjoyed the design more than I expected, but there was no doubt that it was an extremely well made knife. Next, I took advantage of a Black Friday sale to finally get a knife I’d been wanting since its release, the CIVIVI (WE’s more budget friendly brand) Wyvern. I was particularly happy with the Wyvern; I felt that it kept the quality construction of the WE knives I had despite the more budget friendly (but still more than adequate for practical use) materials, and provided a really great value.
Then, I had an issue with the Wyvern. The detent, which keeps the blade securely in the handle, seemed to have loosened. This allowed the tip of the blade to rise above the frame of the knife, what you might call a “proud tip” in a traditional knife, which I wasn’t comfortable with. I contacted CIVIVI customer service and, frankly, was blown away by the experience I received. The people whom I emailed with were responsive, friendly, and helpful. Not only that, but my issue was fixed by the US based service center much quicker than I expected (or have experienced from some other brands).
After that process, CIVIVI asked if I’d be interested in reviewing any of their knives. Since I had about 10 of them on my (extensive) “To Buy” list, I was excited for the opportunity. I gave them a list of a few I was interested in, and they sent out a Dogma. So, because I always want to be upfront and transparent about these things, I want to be clear that I was given this knife for review and did not purchase it. That said, I always do my best to be impartial and consider how it would affect my opinion of a knife if I HAD purchased it at market price.
The Dogma immediately hit me as a knife strikingly well suited to my tastes. It had the practicality of a modern knife; a nice deep carry pocket clip, flipper opening mechanism, G10 scales, and D2 steel. At the same time, the traditional inspiration is obvious; it has the distinctive overall shape of a Lanny’s Clip slipjoint pattern and the G10 scales are clearly modeled after jigged bone covers. It also has the incredible snappy action I’ve come to expect from WE / CIVIVI, thanks to the dialed in detent and ceramic ball bearing pivot. Another thing that I think WE / CIVIVI does well, and remains true on this knife, is their primary grinds. This knife is made to cut things, but it looks good doing it with its big sweeping clip point blade shape.
Speaking of cutting things, I found the Dogma to work admirably in EDC usage. I cut cardboard, opened boxes, did food prep, assisted yard work, and even some house projects with the help of this knife and it handled all those tasks as you’d want it to. The D2 steel seemed to hold an edge like D2 should, which is pretty well. It’s not a “super steel”, but I don’t need a super steel for my knife use. I haven’t needed to full on sharpen it yet, as stropping has kept it hair shaving sharp. The finish on the steel is a bit unusual, as there is some horizontal wavy or cloudiness in addition to the vertical satin finish. I am not sure what is the cause of this reflection, but it doesn’t seem to affect the performance of the steel.
I do wish the blade cutout was functional. For example, on the CIVIVI Wyvern the blade cutout is a viable opening method (although it isn’t as easy to use as the flipper). On the Dogma I am not able to use the blade cutout for thumb opening, and it seems to be aesthetic only. I’m not sure that it adds much for me aesthetically, so I’d have preferred the cutout either be usable as an opening method or left out completely. It is possible that the cutout was included as a nod to the nail nick or long pull opening methods on the traditional knives that I believe inspired the design of this knife, but it’s not a connection that is immediately apparent.
Overall, I really like the CIVIVI Dogma. I’m happy to see the clip point blade shape more represented in modern knives lately, particularly in Chinese made knives (like the SRM 9201 above). I have found carrying and using the Dogma to be a pleasure, and it has proven to be both practical and enjoyable. I think CIVIVI is doing good things for the market, and there are several knives I’m looking forward to checking out soon from them. If you want a budget friendly modern knife with some traditional inspirations, I think the CIVIVI Dogma is a good option at ~$56.
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