Reate vs WE?

Random Dan

Random Dan

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Jan 21, 2012
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I recently discovered Liong Mah's Reate made knives and I absolutely adore his style. I would love to pick a Warrior One but I can't get over the price. I know everyone says that Reate's quality is top shelf and I don't doubt it, but the Warrior costs about twice what you'd pay for a WE knives collab with a really hot knifemaker made out of the same materials, like the Massdrop/Laconico Keen, and I've only ever heard good things about WE knives as well.

Other than it being the only way to get certain designs, what are you getting for the extra $150-$200 cost of a Reate vs a WE?

Thanks!
 
I own both, and I have a pretty good feel for reate vs WE.

In my opinion, Reate is typically heftier. The blades are thicker and robust. Liong Mah knives are on bearings too, and a little more cost goes into the grinds you see Reate putting on their blades.

WE makes a great knife... but the cost difference for the Reate/Liong Mah knives is justified. It’s one of those things you can’t really tell apart in photos, but I can sum it up like this: I’ll fidget with and EDC a WE... but if I’m going to war, I’d take a Liong Mah warrior. It’s just a little more sturdily built.
 
I think the work that Reate does is just a bit better.Not to say that We isnt great either,i think right now these two brands are at the top of the heap.wether or not its worth the extra money is up to the person whos buying it to decide.
 
I too do own the Reate Warrior V2 and We/Massdrop Laconico Keen, I think these are obviously two very different knives and it's like comparing the apple to orange.

Both brands do have pretty good offerings, my only qualm was my experience trying to get service from Reate(for a different knife), I never hear anything back from them after texting/email/webpage inquiry or even after referral to their management from a US knife maker. Luckily, I got it from a good distributor and refunded me within the return period. But still, I probably wouldn't ever want to venture out to get another Reate(unless it is once in a century deal).

However, that's just one sample point from me, so YMMV.
 
WE is a top notch company but the stuff from Reate feels higher quality. Not by a huge amount but it's noticeable. They're smoother and just in general it feels like more goes into them. Whether that's worth the extra $150 - $200, that's going to be up to the individual. For me, I don't buy from them too often but both are good to go and I buy whichever has the design I'm after.
 
My only Reate right now is the Lambert Crossroads, which is one of the finest creations to come from them, and ive had a couple of their models. It feels like a custom made knife..
 
To me, WE and Reate appeal to different audiences.

Reate trends towards large, hefty, overbuilt style knives.

WE makes a little something for everyone, but trends towards lighter and more artistic designs. I've only had one knife that was a better flipper than my Deacon, and that was a full custom Brian Tighe mini Tighe Rod.

I've never owned a Reate, and don't plan to. Just not my style.

As said, apples to oranges. Both are high quality.
 
We is top notch. Have not had a knife yet that isn’t flawless. Centering, fit & finish, etc. That being said my Reate Valhalla is one of the smoothest knives I own & it’s on Reates “low” end. So I wouldn’t think the extra price is unjustified
 
Both reate and we are priced too high. At their price point the high quality alone is not enough. Have to think about the value in the secondary market. You will find difficulties moving LNIB $400 knives of them at $300.
 
I like both Reate and WE.....

The real difference is WE Knives are ground to slice. Most are hollow ground thinner stock. Reate does use more of the “fancy” machine work but fit and finish and build quality are about equal.
 
I've owned both, and Reate is higher quality. I think it'll depend on where you are with the knife hobby. If you expect perfection (or very close to it), and don't mind paying a premium, then Reate is the pick. I would go with WE if you're not willing to pay that premium or want a particular model that WE makes. Reate does small batches, whereas WE deals in larger batches.

I've owned one earlier WE model that was all titanium with M390, sold it after I started down the Reate path. There was nothing wrong with the WE other than having a light detent and thick blade stock. Reate wise, my Baby Machine is perfect, both my SharpByDesign (Brian Nadeau) Evo Typhoon and Void are perfect, my Crossroads has a minor centering issue that infuriates me, and my Jack 2.0 is near perfect. So, apart from my Crossroads, Reate has been consistently superb.

I've only dealt with Reate customer service once. I contacted Shera Fang about my Crossroads centering, she authorized my warranty work and had me send the knife to Cranes Cutlery. They're a great Reate dealer and perform Reate warranty service in the US. Service was exceptional, great communication on Cranes Cutlery's end, but they couldn't get the blade centered and it would have to be sent to China for the factory to inspect it. I just asked for the knife back.

sharp_edge said:
Both reate and we are priced too high. At their price point the high quality alone is not enough. Have to think about the value in the secondary market. You will find difficulties moving LNIB $400 knives of them at $300.
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That's mostly true. I wouldn't call any knife purchase an investment, but WE/Reate do take hit on the secondary market. When I buy a knife, I plan on keeping it. If it doesn't sit well in-hand or I just don't like it in-person, I return it to the dealer for a refund.
 
Can't go wrong with either brand. The Warrior 2 is on pre-order now, so if you wait a bit you might see some Warrior 1's on the exchange for less $.
 
I'd say WE's high-end stuff is right there with Reate, but they primarily focus on different market segments.
Reate gets a lot of positive attention for the production/build quality, and it's for a good reason - their stuff is impeccable.
That's not to say that there's anything wrong with WE's quality, I've had a number of them and all were great, but Reate tends to make knives with a little more going on in terms of things like inlays, which they're known for doing particularly well.

A quote from Tony at EverydayCommentary regarding Reate's quality:
The Sebenza 31 came out or leaked out in dribs and drabs and people seem to all agree that it is a good knife, but not a necessary one. Nick Shabazz put it best when he asked viewers to watch his review of the 21 and mentally dub in “31” each time he said the knife’s name. It would have been nice to see Chris Reeve Knives really push the Sebenza but we basically got a 21 with the Inoski lock interface and the removal of the machine indexing hole. We didn’t even get a new steel despite the announcement of S45VN. None of this would be worrying in a vacuum but with the release of the Micro Evo Gen 2 and the Zulu Spear, its clear that Reate has finally learned how to grind knives. The two machining titans are set to do battle for years to come, but as of May 2020, the clear winner for me is Reate, or, at least, Reate when aided by skillful collaborators like Brian Nadeau and Enrique Pena.​
If you start with the context of a knife made to comparable standards to CRK, the price for a Reate isn't unreasonable.

I have a feeling, based on how some of the designers who collaborate with Reate run their pre-sales, that the pricing on the collaborations is influenced (at least to an extent) by the designer fronting money to fund the production run. When someone with more available capital can fund the production, Reate's pricing can get a lot closer to WE's (e.g., the Eric Ochs + Drop collaborations made by Reate, the Lynx and the Orca, start at $180 and $200). But, the same sort of volume pricing effect happens with WE, and you can get stuff like the Ferrum Forge Falcon for $100 (which is still, years after release, an absurdly low price for a titanium framelock w S35VN).
 
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I wouldn’t judge WE by the Drop Knives- I think their in house stuff is a few steps above that.
If you want to experience a Reate buy an Epoc or new Torrent!!! Just WOW!
 
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