The Civic Type R is performance monster. It’s most recent Nurburgring lap time in 2023 sits right between incredible hyper cars like the 2002 run of the Pagani Zonda S 7.3 (4/10ths faster) and 2010 run of Mercedes SLS (6/10ths slower). And all of this is available for under $50,000. The car is so well respected that even car guys with nearly infinite budgets, like John Cena, love the Civic Type-R. If you want to make a value priced, high performance item regardless of what it is, you should start and end your design process emulating the Civic Type R.

On the flip side of the coin there is the cheap garbage made specifically for outlet malls. The problem with this stuff is that as outlet malls boomed, factory returns and seconds weren’t enough to stock stores. So over time, most brands at outlet malls produced entire lines of NEW things just for their outlet retail stores. They look like the real thing, though slightly different, and are, uniformly lower in quality compared to the full price original. They are basically brand-endorsed knockoffs. Virtually all of the main stores in outlet malls now have separate product lines just for their cheaper stuff. There is even a Reddit thread to help people ID the outlet-only stuff. And if you have purchased any of this stuff, unwittingly or otherwise, you know the issue—they are poor approximations of the original.

So this is the Scylla and Charybdis of the gear world—two poles you must successfully navigate—when you make a budget line of stuff. It’s not easy as examples elsewhere in the knife world prove. When Benchmade branched out into its overly complex four tiers of products, the Red line was filled with cheap garbage (except the excellent Benchmade Aphid…I’d love to see that knife back with better steel). Similarly, the Byrd line of knives has been chocked full of warmed over “McDowells” versions of Spyderco mainstays for years. And the less we mention most of the cheap Kershaws, the better.

So, is the Avid 1, the first “budget” friendly knife in the Vero line up, a Civic Type R or a factory outlet model? What makes this even more fraught is the fact that unlike a lot of the cheaper versions of things, the Avid 1 is still really expensive, coming in at around $185 street price for the cheapest version and $275 for the most expensive. That makes the stakes even higher for this knife.

Here is the product page. There are multiple variants with different handle materials and blade finishes, including an exclusive version for Blade Binge. There is a titanium version that clocks in at $275, a staggering price for a “budget conscious” design. Here is a video review of the Avid 1 from Neeves Knives. There are no written reviews. Here is the review sample (purchased with my own money):

TLDR: Missing the Vero Magic, but still a decent knife.

Alt TLDR: Vero makes an Elephant Toenail Pattern.

Design: 1

The Mini Synapse I reviewed a few years ago is still in my collection and I still carry every once in a while. It is a slim, beautiful, and functional knife with enough unique touches to make it feel different from everything else on the market. It had that unmistakable Vero design language. The Avid 1 has some of those cues, but its lack of refinement and the attempt to be all things to all people deployment-wise compromises the purity of the Vero look. And then there is the size. This is a TALL knife. Compared to another 3 and something inches knife, the Spartan Talos, you can see: this is a whole lot of mass for not much more cutting edge.

And that added bulk is another strike against the design. Compared to a Mini Synapse or a Talos, this is not as clean or disciplined a design nor is it as space efficient. The height of the blade, likely done to accommodate the front flipper (which doesn’t work well) makes the knife look much messier and less restrained compared to the Mini Synapse, which tucks the blade into the handle quite well.

There are a few taletell signs that this is not a frontline Vero. They are small details, but that is where Vero thrives and what makes his designs so inspired. For example, the finger groove or box on the Mini Synapse is parallel to the spine handle. On the Avid 1, it is not. It’s as if the stop pin is just slightly off. Another issue is just how messy the lockbar access area is. There are cuts and divots and dents everywhere on the Avid 1, while the Mini Synapse is a simple true arc.

The Mini Synapse is just clean. I know that under the hood it’s complex, but that complexity serves to present minimal lines to the user. Then there is the flipper tab on the Avid 1.

On most, if not all other Veros, it is tucked in nicely. If viewed in perfect silhouette, this one sticks out funny, revealing that it is not a corner shape, but instead, just a protuberance from the blade. These things, of course, are very small, but they are signs that this knife is less of a design masterpiece than a full-priced Vero.

BUT, and this important, none of this makes the Avid 1 a bad knife. Its not. This is the world of the Spyderco Shaman, the Benchmade Barrage, and the ZT 0562. A lot of people like these knives a lot and for good reason—as a cutting tool these knives, and the Avid 1, do good work. I don’t think these knives make the best choice for EDC and the Avid 1 shows why. What do you get for the extra bulk? I’ll wait….oh, nothing, that’s right, nothing. The knife is slicey because the stock is relatively thin and the grind is quite high, but you could just make the knife more compact with thinner stock like the TRM N2, Kershaw Bel Air, Spyderco Chaparral, or the Hogue Deka. There you get something just as slicey or more so without the bulk.

Fit and Finish: 2

Bestech is the OEM and they did a good job. Nothing here is particularly complex or engaging, but what they did was done very well. The “bolster” and the rest of the handle meet up quite nicely.

The clip is mounted with a single flush screw. There is no blade play of either variety—up/down and side to side. The grind is clean and without variation and the plunge lines are crisp and balanced from side to side. There is nothing mind-blowing, but it is all done well.

Grip: 1

With the dips and divots where your index finger goes, the Avid 1 could be better in the hand. The G10 and its straight lines are also not the most textured thing in the world. The clip stays out of the way, but in wet or greasy conditions (which I experienced when I took the Avid 1 camping) the knife is not great.

Carry: 1

Have you ever carried a trade paperback novel in your pants’ pocket? This knife is as thick, as wide, and as heavy as that. It’s a chunk and half for sure.

Steel: 2

S45VN is an excellent steel. I am not convinced that it is worse than M390 and so if this is where Joseph chose to spend his production pennies, he made the right choice (note: spending money on better steel IS ALWAYS the right choice). I have had extensive experience with S45VN since its release and I have never been disappointed. It is not an area of concern for this knife.

Blade Shape: 2

Aside from how tall the blade is, the knife has a superior blade shape. A swedge and an easy drop point blade are always good choices and here, they work. I am glad that Joseph chose not to over emphasize the swedge and make it something like a Bowie, as that would be both aesthetically contradictory and overly aggressive.

Grind: 2

Ah…thin grinds. I love thinly ground steel and here with the modest blade stock, tall blade height, and excellent even blade grinding, the Avid 1 is something of a slicer. I wouldn’t say it is the best on the market, that is still the Spydiechef, but it is not far behind. I’d prefer a shorter blade height and thinner stock, but really the issue is whether or not the knife cuts, and here, it does.

Deployment Method: 1

Joseph, you have been seduced by the Dark Side of Knife Design. They have lured you in with fidget baloney and now there are three ways to open your knife. One, the front flipper, is atrocious and doesn’t really work. The other two are (and were) fine. Leave well enough alone, avoid the lure of trendy features, and stick with what works.

As a side note, the front flipper added significant height to the blade resulting in a knife that is vastly taller than it needs to be, which, in turn, adds weight. The follow on effects of adding the front flipper took this knife from a very good design to an meh design. The promise of what could have been is what really hurts here. Alas, trend hunting negatively impacts yet another knife design.

Retention Method: 2

A wire clip is a thing of simple beauty. It works, it’s not hotspotty, and it is easy to make. Let’s just agree, this is something most knives could benefit from in the future.

Lock: 2

No blade play either way and a simple to disengage lock. It’s messy, but I took some blood out above and I don’t think it warrants a double hit here.

Other Considerations

Fidget Factor: Low

The flipper tab works great, but the other two deployment methods range from usable to useless.

Fett Effect: Low

Stonewashed steel and G10 doesn’t really show wear, but the blue can get dirty. Does that count?

Value: Low

The idea of a “value priced” knife at $185 reminds of luxury work clothes.

Overall Score: 16 out of 20

If there were no other Veros out there, this would be a good but not stunning debut knife. Sitting along side some of the most stylish blades out there, the Avid 1 seems like a bit of a miss. It is festooned with deployment methods, has a blocky, bulky appearance, and really doesn’t hit the market in the right spot given its $185 price tag. It’s not a bad knife, it just comes up short by comparison to its stablemates and to other stuff on the market.

Competition

For roughly the same price (between the G10 Avids and the titanium ones) you can get an TRM N2. That is unquestionably a better knife that fits the exact same market segment. You can also get a Kershaw Bel Air and a Hogue Deka. Both have better steel and are better knives. The N2 costs $244 while the Bel Air comes in at $165 and the Deka hits the street for $117. So the competition in this market segment is absolutely brutal. But I don’t think that is a fatal flaw here. Saying your new knife offering is worse than the best of the best isn’t really a sign that the knife stinks. It’s more a commentary on how competitive the market is right now.

Compared to something like the Spyderco Shaman, which is a similarly tall and chonky knife, the Avid measures up much better. Without the pinchy Compression Lock, I like the Avid 1 better. Similarly, I like the styling and deployment on the Avid 1 better than the ZT 0562. But, for me, these are B Tier EDC knives—vestiges of an era in EDC knives that has, fortunately, passed. In the end, I think the comps situate the Avid 1 nicely. It is not an S Tier or A Tier carry, but it is among the nicer B Tier carries. If you want a knife this size that is S Tier, go check out the Spydiechef. All these years later and it is still the best big production knife I have handled.

The problem is, compared to the rest of the Vero line up B Tier is a let down.

Amazon Links

Zero Tolerance ZT0562

Spyderco Spydiechef