Recommendation? Looking for other options to the WE Banter that is close to the same size and quality

I never heard of sharpening voiding a warranty. What does WE expect people to use dull knives, just to keep a warranty intact? In fact it only states, "improper sharpening."

Warranty

WE KNIFE CO WARRANTY INFORMATION: WE Knife warrants that knives will be free from defects in material and workmanship to the original owner for the life of the product. If a product is found to be defective, WE Knife Co will at its sole discretion either repair or replace the item at no...
www.weknife.com www.weknife.com
 
If it was obviously defective out of the box, why did you use it and then sharpen it?
As for a small knife recommendation, I really like my FerumForge mini Archbishop.
 
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I know you specifically mentioned no Spyderco but have you looked at the Caparral Lightweight? There are many similarities between the Chap and Banter in terms of handle and blade dimensions.

I struggle with the Spyderco “hump” on many models but not with the Chaparral.
 
I don't know I might try and press them again on the warranty. Looking at their posted warranty information on their site they mention modification, disassembly, or improper sharpening as ways that void the warranty. I am not sure if you or the person that you sent it to tried to disassemble the knife but unless it is really easy to tell that it was (stripped screws or still parts loose in a bag) im not sure how they would determine that. If its a good sharpening job you could just quote their own warranty back to them. Improper sharpening IS NOT putting a mirror edge on a blade.

Its not an overly expensive knife but its expensive enough that blade play like that (front to back) becomes a safety issue and any knife warranty department worth their salt should absolutely take care of you so long as you didnt cause the issue by doing something stupid like using a 2 inch blade for batonning.
 
Regarding the initial question of an alternative, check out the SOG Terminus XR LTE, which has a similar form factor and price, and has received good reviews (including a glowing one from Tony at Everyday Commentary, who says it's "one of the very best knives on the market right now"). The handle is a little stretched (longer and less tall) compared to the Banter, but same thickness. Blade length is a 1/8" longer, but it weighs 0.3 oz less than the Banter because it uses carbon liners. And it comes in a grey finish if gold isn't your thing.
SOG-Terminus-XR-LTE-Lock-CF-Gold-TM1033-BX-BHQ-116852-jr.webp


As far as the warranty issue, I'm surprised they said they didn't want to look at it because it had been sharpened. That's a much different response than is typical for them. It might not hurt to message Ben on Instagram, to see if he can provide any insight on the warranty. Even by their own published terms (from their website), "improper sharpening" would give them an out on replacing a blade, but if the knife just needs a bigger stop pin, that shouldn't be a big deal.
 
Reading the OP's posts, I don't see where the knife was ever returned?
TexasBulldog74 said:
It was looking like it was going that direction but I put a new edge on it and they didn't want to touch it after that. Oh well, still cuts but it has blade play that just bugs the heck out of me. I just leave it in my glove box now.
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Did you actually send it in? Or did you just assume they're not going to warranty the defect?
 
I was on a business trip when i bought it one night bored in the hotel room and then the trip got extended another 3 weeks so by the time i got home it was a month later. Then the play didn't develop for about another month or two of casual use (Amazon boxes and cutting tape at work). I contacted where i bought it from and their warranty in store was only 30 days so i was already 1-2 months past that. I emailed WE and got a positive response at first then they asked if I have modified it in any way and I said no initially then i sent a second reply stating that I had sharpened it on my KME and they said if the blade needed replacement and it was sharpened "Incorrectly" they would not warranty it but would only charge me for a replacement blade if necessary and i just dropped it. I sent them another email today after seeing some of the responses and quoted their warranty guidelines and I guess i'll wait to see what they say and try and push it a bit. If they do, cool... id love to buy a miscreant but at this point im not going to buy from a place that won't stand by their product because i put a legit mirror edge on the blade. Ive just stopped looking at WE/Civivi because of this even though they have some awesome looking products and my Civivi's have been absolutely perfect in every way.
jill jackson said:
Reading the OP's posts, I don't see where the knife was ever returned?

Did you actually send it in? Or did you just assume they're not going to warranty the defect?
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OrangeBlueOrangeBlue said:
Regarding the initial question of an alternative, check out the SOG Terminus XR LTE, which has a similar form factor and price, and has received good reviews (including a glowing one from Tony at Everyday Commentary, who says it's "one of the very best knives on the market right now"). The handle is a little stretched (longer and less tall) compared to the Banter, but same thickness. Blade length is a 1/8" longer, but it weighs 0.3 oz less than the Banter because it uses carbon liners. And it comes in a grey finish if gold isn't your thing.
SOG-Terminus-XR-LTE-Lock-CF-Gold-TM1033-BX-BHQ-116852-jr.webp


As far as the warranty issue, I'm surprised they said they didn't want to look at it because it had been sharpened. That's a much different response than is typical for them. It might not hurt to message Ben on Instagram, to see if he can provide any insight on the warranty. Even by their own published terms (from their website), "improper sharpening" would give them an out on replacing a blade, but if the knife just needs a bigger stop pin, that shouldn't be a big deal.
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Ive toyed with the idea of that exact blade... I don't know how true this is now but in my teenage day's SOG's were just kind of garbage... at least thats from my memory of them but to be fair I probably bought my SOG's back then from places like walmart lol, so they were clearly not their best stuff. I am a Call of Duty junkie (and collect knives even in that game LOL) and it reminds me of a weapon pack i bought in the early days of Modern Warfare i think was called the XRK?... i might pull the trigger on it, i love how ugly it is with all the gold.
 
TexasBulldog74 said:
I was on a business trip when i bought it one night bored in the hotel room and then the trip got extended another 3 weeks so by the time i got home it was a month later. Then the play didn't develop for about another month or two of casual use (Amazon boxes and cutting tape at work). I contacted where i bought it from and their warranty in store was only 30 days so i was already 1-2 months past that. I emailed WE and got a positive response at first then they asked if I have modified it in any way and I said no initially then i sent a second reply stating that I had sharpened it on my KME and they said if the blade needed replacement and it was sharpened "Incorrectly" they would not warranty it but would only charge me for a replacement blade if necessary and i just dropped it. I sent them another email today after seeing some of the responses and quoted their warranty guidelines and I guess i'll wait to see what they say and try and push it a bit. If they do, cool... id love to buy a miscreant but at this point im not going to buy from a place that won't stand by their product because i put a legit mirror edge on the blade. Ive just stopped looking at WE/Civivi because of this even though they have some awesome looking products and my Civivi's have been absolutely perfect in every way.
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I'd think it would be up to you whether or not you were happy with the blade and it should have absolutely nothing to do with lockup. So, I doubt they're going to void the warranty over sharpening. I'd send it in and I bet they'd replace it.
 
TexasBulldog74 said:
I was on a business trip when i bought it one night bored in the hotel room and then the trip got extended another 3 weeks so by the time i got home it was a month later. Then the play didn't develop for about another month or two of casual use (Amazon boxes and cutting tape at work). I contacted where i bought it from and their warranty in store was only 30 days so i was already 1-2 months past that. I emailed WE and got a positive response at first then they asked if I have modified it in any way and I said no initially then i sent a second reply stating that I had sharpened it on my KME and they said if the blade needed replacement and it was sharpened "Incorrectly" they would not warranty it but would only charge me for a replacement blade if necessary and i just dropped it. I sent them another email today after seeing some of the responses and quoted their warranty guidelines and I guess i'll wait to see what they say and try and push it a bit. If they do, cool... id love to buy a miscreant but at this point im not going to buy from a place that won't stand by their product because i put a legit mirror edge on the blade. Ive just stopped looking at WE/Civivi because of this even though they have some awesome looking products and my Civivi's have been absolutely perfect in every way.
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Based on their response, I wouldn't be concerned. You've got to remember that there are all kinds of customers out there. That includes knuckleheads who do all sorts of nutty things with knives and then send them in for warranty work. A policy like the one you described covers them and allows them to be sure of the product they are releasing to you upon warranty work. I'd be inclined to trust them if I put a decent edge on it.

I had a warranty issue with a Civivi last year. At the time, Zelrick was handling warranty and service issues. I don't know if he still does but he is well-respected in the community. He talked over the issue with me, gave me some possible solutions, and his best guess for turnaround times. Of course, I hadn't used the knife yet so this aspect never came up.
 
Chronovore said:
Based on their response, I wouldn't be concerned. You've got to remember that there are all kinds of customers out there. That includes knuckleheads who do all sorts of nutty things with knives and then send them in for warranty work. A policy like the one you described covers them and allows them to be sure of the product they are releasing to you upon warranty work. I'd be inclined to trust them if I put a decent edge on it.

I had a warranty issue with a Civivi last year. At the time, Zelrick was handling warranty and service issues. I don't know if he still does but he is well-respected in the community. He talked over the issue with me, gave me some possible solutions, and his best guess for turnaround times. Of course, I hadn't used the knife yet so this aspect never came up.
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Agreed. I highly doubt they will find your KME edge to be "sharpened incorrectly" and I also dont think that the problem would require a new blade anyways since this sounds more like a lockface/stop pin issue than a blade issue. Given what they have said I would think you would be good to send it in and have it looked at. At the very least they will be able to give you a solid answer on what the issue is.
 
c7m2p3 said:
Agreed. I highly doubt they will find your KME edge to be "sharpened incorrectly" and I also dont think that the problem would require a new blade anyways since this sounds more like a lockface/stop pin issue than a blade issue. Given what they have said I would think you would be good to send it in and have it looked at. At the very least they will be able to give you a solid answer on what the issue is.
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They got back to me today asking for pictures/video of the issue so i sent it to them. video is pretty much useless since it doesn't really show it but it would be nice if they took care of it. If they do i'll buy the Miscreant I wanted otherwise im not buying anymore from WE which sucks because i like a lot in their lineup.
 
I know this is a somewhat older thread, but if you haven't seen the WESN Allman, it has a similar shape and dimensions to the WE Banter, tip is different enough it might make a difference in your interest, but some prefer it
 
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