C12 Civilian
The Civilian is a knife with special qualities. It’s a collectors dream with all it’s variations, different steels, etc. Originally developed for self-defence the civilian is both beautiful with it’s Reverse "S" Blade and very useful if you have self-defence needs but no or little formal training. The C12 SKU is shared with it's little FRN Brother the Matriarch, which is also dealt with in this article.
Appearance in catalogs
The Civilian appears in the 2000 dealer's catalog[1], the 2001 dealer catalog[2], the 2002 dealer's catalog[3] and with the newer bladesteel (VG-10) in the 2003 dealer's catalog[4] The Matriarch appears in both the 2002 and 2003 catalogs.
Designer
History, mentionings from the forums etc.
A little info from Sal on Numbers of CF Civilians from the Spyderco- forum:
There is a change in the quantity of CF Civvies being made. From 500 to 1200. We learned when ordering began that 500 would not be enough. If 100 (half) collectors order all variations (4), that's 80% of the run. After Spyderco crew, there would not be any available for anyone else. I do not believe that this change will affect the long term value of the piece. Thank you for your kind understanding to this change sal[5]
A thread about the Matriarch on the Spyderco forums [6]
Oddities:
- Phil Gibbs was supplied some blades from Spyderco of which he made a few custom double bladed Civilians. These pop up from time to time. [7]
Information from the Spyderco catalog on the web
"In the 1990s Spyderco was approached by a specialized branch of U.S. law enforcement about making a knife for their undercover agents. These plain-clothes LEOs found themselves in situations where they often could not carry a firearm but carrying a knife was not a problem. Most had no formal training in self-defense tactics or MBC but as a last resort could use a blade to protect or extricate themselves from a life-threatening situation. This was how the Civilian model came to be. The Civilian has a patented reverse "S" blade that's intended to be used like an oversized claw. The tip is ground to an ultra-thin profile. Deeply curved and full at the belly, the VG-10 hollow-ground blade excels in slicing and is available fully SpyderEdged. Because of its distinctly specialized features it is not intended or designed for general utility or everyday use. Curved in all the right places for ergonomic use and retention of the knife, the handle is black G-10. Mounted for tip-down carry with a custom curved black clip, the knife rides deeply and unobtrusively in a pocket. One of the most specialized CLIPITS in the Spyderco line-up, the Civilian is available in limited quantities."[8]
Variations
The Spyderco C12 Civilian and Matriarch is a Spyderco that has been made in several variations. The carbon fiber handled Civilian appears in many forms with pouch or box, numbered and unnumbered. In addition, there's also a slight difference in how the handles are put together on the CF variants. Some are all screw construction and some are partially screwed and pinned. It has not been possible to figure out why that is or where the change occurred. There seems to be no system to which is what. These are not listed as variants in the list here due to that.
All variations are made Seki City, Japan and have
- a Back Lock,
- and a Reverse "S" Blade.
Variations of the Civilian
SKU | Handle | Edge | Steel | From/To | MSRP | Note | Number made | Grind | Clip | Clip positions | Collectors club |
C12S | Original first civilian in untreated aluminum with Kraton inlay in handle and in clip |
SE | GIN-1/G-2 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Hollow grind | Kraton Civilian clip | Main? | ||
C12TUFS | Tufram coated aluminum | SE | GIN-1/G-2 | 184,95 us $ (1994) | Aluminum handle is 6062-T6 aluminum | N/A | Hollow grind | Kraton Civilian clip | |||
C12TUFS | Tufram coated aluminum | SE | ATS-55 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Hollow grind | Kraton Civilian clip | |||
C12TUFP | Tufram coated aluminum | PE | GIN-1/G-2 | 229,95$ | N/A | N/A | Hollow grind | Kraton Civilian clip | |||
C12GS | Black G-10 | SE | GIN-1/G-2 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Hollow grind | 3- screw old standard clip | |||
C12GS | Black G-10 | SE | ATS-55 | 214,95$ | N/A | N/A | Hollow grind | Half- moon clip | |||
C12GP | Black G-10 | PE | ATS-55 | N/A | Extremely limited Japan only | less than 100 | Hollow grind | Half- moon clip | |||
C12CFP | Black smooth glossy CF | PE | ATS-55 | 2001 | $229.95 (2001) | Right handed. | ~540 | Hollow grind | Black Half- moon clip | RH, TD/TU | Variant |
C12LCFP/C12CFPL | Black smooth glossy CF | PE | ATS-55 | 2001 | $229.95 (2001) | Left handed. | ~60 | Hollow grind | Black Half- moon clip | LH, TD/TU | Variant |
C12CFS | Black smooth glossy CF | SE | ATS-55 | 2001 | $229.95 (2001) | Right handed. | ~540 | Hollow grind | Black Half- moon clip | RH, TD/TU | Variant |
C12CFSL | Black smooth glossy CF | SE | ATS-55 | 2001 | $229.95 (2001) | Left handed. | ~60 | Hollow grind | Black Half- moon clip | LH, TD/TU | Variant |
C12GS | Black G-10 | SE | VG-10 | late 2002- | $269.95 (2009), $320.00 (2019) | New tip design with thicker grind for added strength | N/A | Hollow grind | Black Half- moon clip |
Variations of the Matriarch
The Matriarch was initially made by request from the South African importer as a small, light and affordable knife for women for self-defence. The demand grew so strong in the US that there was a sprint run of grey Matriarch's before it came into regular production for the US market as well due to growing demand. The Matriarch was brought back in 2012, utilizing the newer Endura 4 handle design.
SKU | Handle | Edge | Steel | From/To | MSRP | Note | Number made | Grind | Clip | Clip positions | Collectors club |
C12SBK | Black FRN | SE | ATS-55 | N/A | Slightly smaller than the Civilian, original South African distributors model, no Boye dent. | N/A | N/A | Barrel bolt clip | LH/RH | Main | |
C12SGY | Grey FRN | SE | ATS-55 | N/A | Sprintrun version made in low numbers. Slightly smaller than the Civilian. | 500 [9] | N/A | Barrel bolt clip | LH/RH | Variant | |
C12SBK | Black FRN | SE | VG-10 | N/A | Slightly smaller than the Civilian, regular run for the US. | N/A | N/A | Barrel bolt clip | LH/RH | Variant | |
C12SBK | Black FRN | SE | ATS-55 | N/A | Slightly smaller than the Civilian, with boye dent [10]. | N/A | N/A | Barrel bolt clip | LH/RH | N/A | |
C12PBN | Brown FRN | PE | VG-10 | 2010 | 99.95$ (2010) | Sprintrun, slightly smaller than the Civilian, with boye dent. | 600 | Full Flat | Barrel bolt clip | LH/RH | Variant |
C12SBN | Brown FRN | SE | VG-10 | 2010 | 99.95$ (2010) | Sprintrun, slightly smaller than the Civilian, with boye dent. | 600 | Full Flat | Barrel bolt clip | LH/RH | Variant |
Variations of the Matriarch 2
- 2nd generation Matriarch uses the Endura 4 handle
SKU | Handle | Edge | Steel | From/To | MSRP | Note | Number made | Grind | Clip | Clip positions | Collectors club |
C12SBK2 | Black FRN | SE | VG-10 | 2012- | 129.95$ (2012) | Hollow | Black 4-way Hourglass | LH/RHTD/TU | Main | ||
C12BBK2W | Black FRN | SE | Black TiCN coated VG-10 | Mar. 2015- | 1649.95$ (2015) | Emerson wave. Black titanium carbonitide (TiCN) coated hardware. | Hollow | Black 4-way Hourglass | LH/RHTD/TU | Variant |
Most collectible variation
The C12S in bare aluminum or the C12GP in G10 are the two variations believed to be most collectible Civilians. The Carbon fiber Civilians are of course collectors items as well.
The C12SGY grey FRN Matriarch is the one believed to be the most collectible Matriarch, although there might be few of the ATS-55 Black matriarch in circulation as well.
Questions regarding collecting the C12
Some interesting questions we are looking for an answer to:
- Was there ever a G10 Civilian with the gin-1 steel and Boye dent?
- Was there ever a G10 Civilian with the ATS-55 steel without Boye dent?
- Who designed the Civilian?
- How many made of the different knives?
- The carbon fiber Civilian came in both pouches and boxes. When did the changeover happen?
- The carbon fiber Civilian came in full screw construction as well as pinned with a pivot screw and lockbar screw. When did the changeover happen?
Questions with an answer:
Technical information
Typical measurements (mm and grams) of the C12 Civilian:
Length overall | Length closed | Length edge | Hole Ø | Blade thickness | Weight |
233 | 132 | 105 | 12 | 3 | 134 |
Typical measurements (Inches and ounces) of the C12 Civilian:
Length overall | Length closed | Length edge | Hole Ø | Blade thickness | Weight |
9 3/16" | 5 3/16" | 3 3/4" | 15/32" | 1/8" | 4,5 oz. |
References
- ↑ Spyderco's dealer catalog from 2000 is available for download here
- ↑ Spyderco's dealer catalog from 2001 is available for download here
- ↑ Spyderco's dealer catalog from 2002 is available for download here
- ↑ Spyderco's dealer catalog from 2003 is available for download here
- ↑ The entire thread containing Mr. Glesser's comment can be found here.
- ↑ Thread containing some information about the Matriarch can be found here.
- ↑ See this this thread on Spyderco forums for some more information.
- ↑ The C12 Civilian in Spyderco's online catalog
- ↑ Found here
- ↑ [1] Thread on Spyderco forums
- ↑ Confirmed by Spyderco
- ↑ [2] Thread on Spyderco forums