Emerson Elvia Review

I won’t pretend to know anything about knife fighting. I also won’t pretend that I know anything about self-defense with edged weapons. But what I will do, is admit that sometimes owning something just because you like it, is okay. And for the vast majority of the knife aficionado population who know what an Emerson Elvia is, we can likely agree that this knife is made more for battle than it is for utility. But, is it possibly more than that? Can two big names in the knife world, from backgrounds with similar aspects, collaborate to make a knife that’s unique, good for utility, and apparently a good fighting weapon? But of course.

As Mr. Emerson says on the product page for the Elvia knife, he’s known Ed Calderon for over 20 years. Most of those years, the relationship was quiet to the public, because Ed was a counter narco terrorist agent, and worked carefully in that field for many years. Ed is now on a different path, and now has a career that he titles Non-Permissive Environments Specialist, which basically means he teaches individuals or groups different aspects of defense, and escape. All this to say, he knows what he’s talking about in terms of fighting knives. Bringing Emerson Knives on to design a knife that will work in Ed Calderon’s world, as well as our more vanilla day-to-day life, was a great choice. Emerson Knives are known for tactical applications, and this knife is obviously no exception.

The Blade

The Elvia blade is very unique. At first glance, it looks like a karambit style  blade. But it’s actually made in the reverse of a karambit, and more closely resembles a hawkbill or talon style blade. The edge faces the same way, but the handle puts the grip in the reverse of a karambit. This is to simulate a fruit knife, which is what Ed’s mother carried throughout his childhood in Mexico. So, using a hooked blade shape that’s 2.7” is perfect for this application.

It’s ground somewhat thick, but has great durability. It also utilizes Emerson’s typical chisel edge, meaning the blade has a conventional “V” grind for the primary bevels, but has an edge that’s only sharpened on one side. This aids in a much “sharper” edge, as one side is flat, and one side is sharpened. This attribute is also to help in “field sharpening”, when typical sharpening methods are not available, but this blade shape in particular brings a bit of sharpening challenge to the table with its extreme curvature.

Comprised of the same blade steel as the majority of their production knives, the Elvia is made from 154CM steel. The powdered version of this steel, CPM-154, is typically slightly better in edge retention and edge stability with a more balanced steel matrix, but Emerson’s knives are not built around maximum edge retention. They’re made for knife fighting and hard use, typically meaning opening things like concrete bags, cutting heavy rope, light to medium prying ability, and more abrasive materials than the typical pocket knife would endure. And they work great in this regard.

Deployment and Lockup

As with most Emerson knives, the Elvia uses the thumb disc as an opening method. Many of Emerson’s knives also have an “Emerson Wave” patented feature that allows the knife to be drawn from the pocket and snagged on it’s way out, allowing the blade to be fully deployed as it is drawn from the pocket. Fun fact – this was originally a design Ernie used to stop a foe’s blade from getting too close to the user as a hook to catch the opponents blade, but when he realized it worked for deployment, it was brought to production and continues to be used today. The Elvia does have both “Waved” and “Non Waved” blades, and our example for review and testing is a non waved variant. But I digress, the Elvia on our unit with the opening disc works as expected. It’s easy to grab with the thumb or middle finger to flick open, or to slow roll to it’s open position.

Although it’s looked down upon by many knife critics these days, the Nylatron (similar to Teflon) washers used in the Elvia (as well as the majority of Emerson folders) are exceptionally smooth once they’re broken in. I have read and seen many videos of users saying Emerson folders are “stick-slippy”, but if the knife is left with the factory grease or left to run dry, they’re very smooth. Newer Emerson folders, since around 2018, have gone away from the old double detent system and use a single detent now. This offers a much more crisp detent when closed, a smoother action in deployment, and a firm hold on the blade from coming open in the pocket.

Lockup on the Elvia is great. There is no blade play in any direction, but it does suffer from the extremely common lock stick Emerson folders are known for. I don’t see an issue with this as the liner on the lock side is raw titanium, and will eventually work out of the lock stick once the mating surfaces of the lock are broken in.

Features, Fit and Finish

A common recipe on the majority of Emerson knives is G10 handle scales, phillips and flathead screws, Nylatron washers, 154CM blade steel, one steel liner and one titanium liner, and a thumb disc. And the Elvia falls right in line with this feature set. It’s quite plain, and although it is a bit boring in composition, the overall style and look of the Elvia puts this feature set to the side and allows the knife to shine in it’s own unique way. The G10 scales are extremely grippy, and will shred a pocket faster than the blade of the Elvia will open a package. They will tame themselves in the level of aggression over time, but they sure are abrasive when the knife is fresh out of the box.

The Elvia is a nice pocket knife size overall, at 7.2” overall. With only 2.7” of blade length, and a blade stock thickness of .125, this is a stout, tough little blade. Even the tip looks like it would be somewhat fragile, but alas, the thickness of the stock carries out nearly all the way to the end of the tip. With a weight of 4.5 ounces, it’s a little heavier than one may expect by it’s size and profile, but that weight is distributed in a way that is balanced in hand, and carries in the pocket in a lightweight feel.

Fit and finish is very “Emerson”, meaning it’s well done. But not perfect. There is always a nitpick to be found, like the liners that are not truly finished and have grind lines and metal dust from the factory, an off center blade, or a sub-par action out of the box. Most of these traits are commonly seen as “just the way it is” with an Emerson knife, and gives it character out of the box. An off center blade can usually be fixed very easily by the user, and the action will usually break in to a smooth level quite quickly after some use and fidgeting. And, Emerson Knives has a great warranty, and will fix just about anything an end user may find, as well as sharpening service if you’d rather not dive into the complexity of sharpening a unique blade shape like the Elvia.

Field Test

Using the Elvia is just cool. The hooked tip of the blade makes opening boxes or water bottle packages fun, and not just mundane. Gripping the knife in the intended style, which is with the blade facing downward, is a bit awkward for EDC type use. But in a pinch grip, or traditional grip and the index finger on the blade, most EDC type use is completed with ease. Cutting material like rope or zip ties is also very easily done, with the hooked tip getting under tight material, hooking in, and making the cut. Although I don’t have any pork shoulders or other large cuts of raw meat handy, there are many videos to be found showing the Elvia style blade making some incredibly deep cuts with ease as a fighting style knife. Again, please train and become familiar with this type of use if you intend on keeping the Elvia as a backup weapon, and understand it’s limitations in that regard.

Where the Elvia does not excel is in other common pocket knife tasks. Taking a few long sheets of cardboard and trying to make long cuts to break them down, is not the most pleasurable knife experience to be had. To be blunt, its just terrible. The thick grind gets caught in the cardboard, binds, and pulls sections of the material along in the cut. Attempting to cut any flat material on a flat surface, like rope on a work bench, is also just plain bad. With no flat section of blade to use, one has to come up with an alternate method of cutting with this knife.

Trying to cut up food on a cutting board can be done, as with cucumber, meat, and soft fruit, it’s a decent tool as far as pocket knives go. But again, cutting up an apple or something more dense, the thick blade grind and geometry of the Elvia splits the material well before it actually cuts it. Cutting an apple off a tree – great. Cutting up that apple – not so great. Again, it can be done, it’s just not optimized with a unique blade shape like this.

Alternatives

All these knives available at BladeHQ.

The Elvia most definitely has a unique style and look, but surprisingly does have some competition with other karambit style folders. And possibly the most closely related knife to the Elvia is the CRKT Provoke. The Elvia will likely be the most expensive of our alternative knives in this list, with a retail price of $278.95 in it’s base form with stonewashed blade finish. But the Provoke isn’t necessarily cheap, either. At ~$225, it’s a close competitor in this odd segment of knives. With a 2.4” blade (only .3” shorter than the Elvia), a blade thickness of .20” (vs the Elvia at .125”), and D2 blade steel, there’s a chance the Provoke may have an even tougher blade than the Elvia.

The Provoke is also quite the unique knife, with a hawkbill blade and a manual action, but also with an exo-skeleton of sorts. The moving parts of the knife are all on the outside of the handle, with a Kinematic Mechanism used to lock the blade open. The pocket clip rests flush in the handle when deployed, and the knife comes with an optional sheath if the clip is too odd for carry. The Provoke is made in Taiwan, while all Emerson knives are made solely in the USA, so this is one major difference that some buyers may have a reason to prefer one over the other, and another reason why Emerson knives come at a price premium.

The Spyderco Matriarch 2 is another purpose built knife, with some unique styling to boot. It’s a fully serrated edge, with 3.3” of cutting length, in an FRN handle scale build. Quite the common Spyderco under the hood, with their lightweight variants like the Matriarch 2 having phosphor bronze washers, screw-together construction, and a traditional back lock. The Matriarch 2 uses a VG10 blade steel composition, which has very similar properties to the 154CM on Emerson’s folders. At only $110 and with a longer blade, the Matriarch 2 is much lighter than the Elvia, too, at only 3.5 ounces. The Matriarch 2 also has optional blade finishes (as does the Emerson), with satin or coated blades, as well as with the Emerson Wave, or without. It’s quite a different knife, but carries many similar overall traits to the Elvia.

Conclusion

The Emerson Elvia is a weird, great knife. It comes from a company that has made hard use folders and tactical knives for military and fighting use for decades. Having Ernie Emerson team up with someone with such clout as Ed Calderon, is just plain cool on it’s own. But having that duo come up with a knife that’s unique, fun to use, tough, and executed very well, is just awesome. Buying a knife like the Elvia may not be for everyone, and will likely not be a “one knife, one life” type of folder, but it finds it’s way along the path of the EDC user just fine, just as Ed Calderon has found his way from extreme life and career situations, to a teacher with a civilian life.