We Knife Co. + Civivi Voted Best Overall Lineup 2021

Presented by: Work Sharp Knife & Tool Sharpeners

We Knife Co. and Civivi are the KnifeNews Readers’ Choice for Best Overall New for 2021 Lineup! This beast of a brand and its budget brother brought forth a batch of blades that could not be beat, even by the likes of Benchmade, Buck, CRKT, Kizer, and Spyderco.

It’s hard to believe, but it wasn’t that long ago that we referred to We Knife Co., in our first article on the company, as an “upstart.” In the span of just six years, We, along with its budget-focused Civivi brand, not only carved out a place for itself in a hypercrowded market, but managed to become one of the most influential forces in the production knife world.

There are two major themes to the We/Civivi success story. The first, and the thing that they had down right from the start, is killer fit and finish and materials. Even the most inexpensive Civivi offering comes expertly finished, with precision action and unexpected details like crowned spines or customized pivot hardware. And We was among the first wave of companies to bring high-performance steels to widespread production knives – stuff like CPM-20V and M390 for the high-end, and D2 for budget blades.

Then, of course, there are the collaborations. After laying the groundwork with in-house pieces, We started recruiting big name and up-and-coming makers for production releases. This not only diversified their own lineup, but helped establish designers like Elijah Isham and Justin Lundquist in the knife world. And at the same time those in-house designs continued to level up, with style and function that matched that of their collaborations.

In 2021, We Knife Co. and Civivi were firing on all cylinders. Returning collaborators put out some of their best work yet, like the Lundquist’s Lumi and Ostap Hel’s Ki-V. Even knife making legend Bob Terzuola joined the fray, with the Tamashii fixed blade. We also saw a cavalacade of cool variations for the Elementum: a button lock model, a fixed blade, even an adorably teensy frame lock version. On the We side of things, there were new knives from Ostap Hel, Lundquist, the Todd brothers, and more; if we listed everything We and Civivi did this year it would be the longest article we ever put together. Few companies can claim to offer something for everyone – maybe that’s an impossible goal; but no company came closer last year than We and Civivi. Congratulations to the crew on a well-earned win!

“WE and Civivi focused this year on providing a lineup of interesting collaborations, new materials, and innovative designs at an unbeatable value,” says We’s Director of Marketing Seth Ercanbrack. “We are thrilled to see that the public has received the 2021 lineup with as much excitement as we did.” Congratulations to the crew on a well-earned win!

And with that, we conclude the 2021 KnifeNews Readers’ Choice Awards – a huge thank you as always to our generous sponsor Work Sharp, and an equally big thank you to you, our readers, for reading, voting, and talking about the best of 2021 with us on social media! Speaking of, we still have our Best of the Rest article coming up, where we talk about some other knife highlights of the year that didn’t snag an award.

AWARDS SCHEDULE

Monday, January 3rd: Best New Tactical Fixed Blade (WINNER: Benchmade 375 Adamas)

Tuesday, January 4th: Best New EDC Fixed Blade (WINNER: LionSteel H2)

Wednesday, January 5th: Best New Outdoors Fixed Blade (WINNER: TOPS Bestia)

Thursday, January 6th: Best New Kitchen/Culinary Knife (WINNER: Benchmade Station Knife)

Friday, January 7th: Best New Slipjoint/Non-Locking Knife (WINNER: Tactile Knife Co. Bexar)

Monday, January 10th: Best New High-End Knife (MSRP of $300 or more) (WINNER: Monterey Bay Knives Sea Otter)

Tuesday, January 11th: Best New Value Folder (MSRP of $100 or less) (WINNER: Civivi Lumi)

Wednesday, January 12th: Best New Folder (WINNER: Demko Knives AD20.5)

Thursday, January 13th: Best Knife Upgrade (WINNER: Benchmade 275 Adamas)

Friday, January 14th: Best Overall Lineup (WINNER: We Knife Co. + Civivi)

Knives in Featured Image: We Knife Co. Saakshi and Civivi Lumi