Brass handles photograph beautifully and then spend the next decade turning brown in your pocket. The CIVIVI Lazar C20013-DS2 is a black hand-rubbed brass front flipper with a 3.31-inch Damascus blade for $110, and whether it is the right knife depends entirely on how you feel about patina.
The numbers: 7.58 inches overall, 3.31-inch Damascus blade, flat ground, 0.12 inch stock, 4.27 inches closed, 0.48-inch handle thickness, 4.37 ounces. The handle and backspacer are black hand-rubbed brass, the liners are black stainless, and the clip is stainless. Deployment is a front flipper, which means you roll the blade out with your thumb along the spine rather than flicking it from a tab.
Damascus at this price is pattern-welded carbon steel, not a supersteel. It will cut, it will etch, and it will rust if you leave it damp — the etching that makes the pattern visible is also a surface that holds moisture. Treat it like a carbon steel kitchen knife: dry it after use, oil it occasionally. The reward is that no two blades look the same, which is the entire point of buying one.
The brass is the other trade. At 4.37 ounces the Lazar is a third heavier than a G10 knife of the same size, and brass work-hardens into a patina that is uneven on purpose. Some people love the way a brass handle wears; some people hate that it smells like a penny. Against the Asticus at $70 you pay $40 more and lose 0.49 inch of blade and 2.4 ounces of weight. Against the Chronic at $57 you pay nearly double for Damascus and brass instead of 9Cr18MoV and G10.
Verdict: a dress knife, and a reasonable one at $110 — front flippers are also the most pocket-friendly mechanism in a suit trouser. Skip it as a user: brass is soft, Damascus is fussy and neither is what you want in a wet glove.
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