CIVIVI's Button Lock Elementum II Gets Blue and Purple Aluminum

The Elementum is the knife that made CIVIVI, and the Button Lock Elementum II is the version for people who wanted a fidget-friendly lock without leaving the family. The C18062PD-2026 BSW finishes it in blue and purple anodized aluminum with a black stonewashed blade carrying an etched pattern.

The numbers are compact rather than tiny: 7.06 inches overall, a 2.96-inch blade, 2.73 ounces, and a handle that is 0.48 inches thick. That is a knife that disappears into a jeans pocket and still gives you a full three-finger grip with a bit of handle left over, which is the whole reason the original Elementum sold the way it did.

Nitro-V is the steel, at 58 to 60 HRC, with a hollow grind. It is a nitrogen-alloyed stainless in the same family as AEB-L, designed for good toughness and better corrosion resistance than the 14C28N it resembles on paper. Hollow-ground Nitro-V is a deliberate pairing: the grind does the slicing work, the steel resists chipping behind a thin edge, and sharpening on a ceramic rod takes a minute rather than an afternoon.

The button lock changes the character of the knife. Where the original Elementum is a liner lock that opens with a flipper tab, this one adds a button release and caged ceramic bearings, so it can be flicked open and dropped shut one-handed. CIVIVI's own note that the button is tuned for a specific detent is worth taking seriously: button locks from any maker can develop blade play if they are flipped constantly.

At $120 this is the most expensive Elementum shape CIVIVI sells outside its limited editions, and the aluminum handle is what you are paying for over the $50 G10 models. Verdict: worth it if you want a small button-lock knife with a real handle material and a colorway that is not black; skip it if the $40 to $60 Cogent already does the same job for half the money.

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