WE Knife opinions

I only have experience with Civivi but if that's what they do on the low end, I'd have high hopes for WE. The Civivi knives have been exceptional for the price.

On the bigger issue, there are good companies and bad companies everywhere. I'd prefer to buy American-made knives but how much would the comparable American knife cost? I'm not wealthy. I see knives as tools for use. I understand that EDC knives could get lost, damaged, or destroyed. So getting a quality knife with decent materials and a great action for under $50 is a big deal for me.
 
slyraven said:
That doesn't make sense to the situation, because the exchange is messed up when its pitted against national companies who have to charge more for their items because they pay electricity and higher wages. So a 300 dollar knife made here can be sold to us by WE for $200.

of course, it all gets a little fishy about "brand" and advertising costs..so that's really hard to determine.

you are incorrect that they do not have a lower cost, they pay employees less even with the exchange rates, those employees simply live where they work in full blown paid for by the government communities, and pay way less in resources like electricity if they pay at all. They pay less in regulation costs and workers compensation and healthcare etc. The government heavily subsidizes their industry to stay dominate on a global scale.

What you are describing is a 1 to 1 exchange but its not so simple as that.

So, in my opinion, its not fair to say..but..but..china products are high quality and cheaper than the US! Its simply no contest with their advantages Us companies have to at least pay a minimum wage and may times to get good skilled talent they have to pay an actual living wage on top of regulations, on top of workmans comp and top of insurence, on top of health insurance on top of unemployment on top of taxes that do not favor manufacturing here on top of high energy costs.
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Viper Tecnocut is producing great knives selling for $200USD. They are manufacturing and exporting under the Euro, more valuable than the USD. You can pick up an Orso in M390 Ti for $200 = $177EUR. Did it cost Viper more or did it cost them less to buy the materials to make that knife? Less - paying in EUR vs buying the same materials priced in CNY. You think the profit margin is in "cheap labor" but it's really in the devalued currency. We "see" it priced in USD.

Making a blanket statement that China.gov subsidizes manufacturing, employee housing, and even electricity for WE, Kizer, Reate and other specialized private business knife manufacturing is absurd.

WE is located in Guangdong province, an economic hub representing a measurable portion of China's total GDP. 100 million people live there with a total GDP of 1.5 trillion USD. That's equal to the total GDP of Mexico. Perceptions of where these knives are being made, the economic conditions, and the type of labor involved needs to change.
 
I wasn't super impressed by my first couple WEs more than a year ago. Since then their designs have improved and I've found no flaws and exceptional value in many of their knives including the WE Practic and Wisp and Civivi Courser and Wyvern.
I applaud WE for responding to market requests for thinner blade stock and thinner grinds.
When I first discovered the higher end Chinese knives I was enamored by Reate but lately I've been disenchanted by their thicker grinds.
Kizer is a distant third IMO although they've improved their quality consistency.
To sum up, I think WE is absolutely crushing it. They are partnering with talented designers and Massdrop to bring a lot of great knives to market. My next WE will be the Keen.
 
I had that WE Tyche in blue. The I liked the handle finish but the blade I hated so I sold it. I found out later on that the finish on those knives is some kind of coating that wears real easily. I saw two people selling used ones on the exchange, and the finish was worn on the back of the handle just from flipping it and his finger rubbing on the coating. That's not acceptable for a 340.00 knife, that people are asking 500+ for now. Had 2 others, well made but got bored with them and sold em. I don't like the current trend with those ugly holes in the blades ,cleaver blades, and similar trends the Chinese knives are doing lately.Someone posted on the forums here that these knives have no soul; I think hes right,theres just too many designs being pumped out and flooding the market.
 
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goldie said:
I had that WE Tyche in blue. The I liked the handle finish but the blade I hated so I sold it. I found out later on that the finish on those knives is some kind of coating that wears real easily. I saw two people selling used ones on the exchange, and the finish was worn on the back of the handle just from flipping it and his finger rubbing on the coating. That's not acceptable for a 340.00 knife, that people are asking 500+ for now. Had 2 others, well made but got bored with them and sold em. I don't like the current trend with those ugly holes in the blades ,cleaver blades, and similar trends the Chinese knives are doing lately.Someone posted on the forums here that these knives have no soul; I think hes right,theres just too many designs being pumped out and flooding the market.
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Having tons of options is not a negative in this hobby lol.
 
goldie said:
I had that WE Tyche in blue. The I liked the handle finish but the blade I hated so I sold it. I found out later on that the finish on those knives is some kind of coating that wears real easily. I saw two people selling used ones on the exchange, and the finish was worn on the back of the handle just from flipping it and his finger rubbing on the coating. That's not acceptable for a 340.00 knife, that people are asking 500+ for now. Had 2 others, well made but got bored with them and sold em. I don't like the current trend with those ugly holes in the blades ,cleaver blades, and similar trends the Chinese knives are doing lately.Someone posted on the forums here that these knives have no soul; I think hes right,theres just too many designs being pumped out and flooding the market.
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Flood away, I say. more options for everyone. Buy the ones that appeal to you and make fun of the ones you think look stupid.
 
akadave2 said:
I was hoping for a harder edge too with the M390. Its a little disappointing.
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What's really said though is how many out there are probably running it at 58 or 59. In that chart linked someone (can't remember who off the top of my head) put out a 20CV blade at just 57!

Pathetic.
 
SeppukuSamurai said:
My friend, I'm going to take a step back and apologize if I've come off like a tool, that wasn't my intention in the slightest. You made a great point when you mentioned that we should both enjoy the knife discussion. I totally agree. That being said, let's get down to it.

I won't even begin to argue that there's A LOT of "cloak and dagger" sort of behavior when it comes to China and their manufacturing practices. I totally agree. With that being said, however, WE knives has been commissioned by multiple established and respected knife makers here in the U.S. in order to produce their "mid-tech" or "production" variants of their knife models. Given that and the fact that I'm pretty sure I have laid eyes on a number of third party Rockwell/steel tests verifying their claims, I can't see why you're discrediting the company solely due to the origin of the manufacturing. Also, they're widely and very well reviewed. Almost exclusively positive, save for design differences. That's really the only issue I've drawn from your posts/statements.

Secondly, I've more or less become entirely disenchanted with the whole country of origin thing. Have you, by chance, looked into DDR/Lucky 13/Heeter Knives? All of them very high-end U.S.A manufacturers (just using these as an example, I could cite many more.) There's an entire Instagram page dedicated to their deceit/folly. Multiple posts here, in regards to DDR, as well. While I wouldn't venture to make any assertions about any of the three companies personally, it definitely illustrates the fact that it's next to impossible, save for laying your own eyes upon it, to verify the veracity of any company's claim.

Either way, I will continue to enjoy knives from around the world. I love my Reates, my Shiros, my Hobacks, my Ziebas, my Marfiones, my Emersons, etc....
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No apologies needed, I myself can get a little aggressive as well in debates, this is a passionate topic! We all love our knives LOL

I do see your point about the origin, it should not be biased based on the country but to give everyone a fair shot and see if they are deserving. Perhaps I need to step back myself and look at things a bit differently. Its true, it is not fair of me to automatically judge a company especially who has been around awhile. I should judge a company by its merits, not from wence it comes.

I appreciate your humbleness and patience. It is not my way to be unfair, so I will move forward more cautiously in judgements. WE has done nothing wrong to me or anyone that I have seen, so I can see I was being unfair.
 
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falar said:
What's really said though is how many out there are probably running it at 58 or 59. In that chart linked someone (can't remember who off the top of my head) put out a 20CV blade at just 57!

Pathetic.
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This is where I mentioned hrc means very little. Because that 20cv was from buck. And it was put through cut tests and shown to perform better than even the higher hrc knives. Bucks heat treatment process includes ln2 cryogenic process.

This is why that chart is kind of bad idea. People see numbers and assume performance based on them.
 
slyraven said:
No apologies needed, I myself can get a little aggressive as well in debates, this is a passionate topic! We all love our knives LOL

I do see your point about the origin, it should not be biased based on the country but to give everyone a fair shot and see if they are deserving. Perhaps I need to step back myself and look at things a bit differently. Its true, it is not fair of me to automatically judge a company especially who has been around awhile. I should judge a company by its merits, not from wence it comes.

I appreciate your humbleness and patience. It is not my way to be unfair, so I will move forward more cautiously in judgements. WE has done nothing wrong to me or anyone that I have seen, so I can see I was being unfair.
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Well said my friend.
 
It may not be everything but man, if that knife performed well as low as 57 it tosses my understanding of blades upside down.

That just seems crazy soft to stand with the best.
 
You can still use the chart as a general guide. But again, the hardness is only part of the equation. How long it holds an edge is hardness AND wear resistance of the steel. Those using the chart just needs to the the Knife Steel Chart app and go from there.

Mo2 said:
This is where I mentioned hrc means very little. Because that 20cv was from buck. And it was put through cut tests and shown to perform better than even the higher hrc knives. Bucks heat treatment process includes ln2 cryogenic process.

This is why that chart is kind of bad idea. People see numbers and assume performance based on them.
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falar said:
It may not be everything but man, if that knife performed well as low as 57 it tosses my understanding of blades upside down.

That just seems crazy soft to stand with the best.
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You need to learn about heat treatment, grain size refinement and cryogenics.

Also I'm not sure if you read what I even said before. But hrc is not an indication of a good heat treatment at all.

Mo2 said:
Sharpening can't tell you everything you need to know but gives some perspective... But you could sharpen the same model but 3 different knives completely and they may sharpen differently. Or ssme MFG with different models with the same steels. The ht process in mass production isn't an exact art imho.

Not to mention hrc isn't going to tell you how well the ht actually is. It won't show you grain size. It only shows hardness. You can perform 3 different heat treatments and still get the same hrc in each. Each of those three blades will have different properties. One could have been poorly done, but all we can read is the hrc which sucks. Because hrc is not an indication of a good heat treatment or performance.

Edit to add...
This scares me with some of these nobie knife brands that are in the spreadsheet .. The makers see them and want to imrprove the hrc... But will they be doing the ht right or just artificially inflating the hrc.
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I don't think anyone into knives really understands how more important the heat treatment and geometry is than the composition or hrc. And that's fine. We're all hear to learn.
 
(Having tons of options is not a negative in this hobby lol.) This is the kind of reasoning that are putting many of us in the poor house or keeping us up late at night ; hahaha
 
Mo2 said:
You need to learn about heat treatment, grain size refinement and cryogenics.

Also I'm not sure if you read what I even said before. But hrc is not an indication of a good heat treatment at all.



I don't think anyone into knives really understands how more important the heat treatment and geometry is than the composition or hrc. And that's fine. We're all hear to learn.
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I do know about grain size. At the end of the day hardness still matters a lot though or all the top cutters wouldn't be in the mid-60s like on rocksteads and high-end customs using more exotic steels.

That's why a knife coming in at 57 and performing great is mind-boggling I'm going to go look for that test now.
 
falar said:
I do know about grain size. At the end of the day hardness still matters a lot though or all the top cutters wouldn't be in the mid-60s like on rocksteads and high-end customs using more exotic steels.

That's why a knife coming in at 57 and performing great is mind-boggling I'm going to go look for that test now.
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Here's a good and simple read on cryo and what it can do for knife performance

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/any-questionson-cryogenics.218762/#post-18720941
 
akadave2 said:
I dont think I will have any issues with fit and finish as I have seen very good work done from China in the guitar realm. My only concern is even though they are using M390 steel, how good is their heat treat? A pretty knife is great and all but Im a sharpness snob if nothing else.
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Have you been able to set up a spy cam in Spyderco, ZT, or Benchmade headquarters to verify their heat treat?
 
(I stopped reading after one or two pages, so I'm not sure where we are in this thread, but I'm probably taking the discussion in another direction.)

As far as quality goes, I've owned We knives before -- as well as Kizers -- and I think both of them do a great job. The action is often very, very good, and the fit and finish -- even when it's tricky, like with carbon fiber inlays -- is *usually* quite good, as well. My objections to We are almost entirely on aesthetic grounds, which means that if you and I don't share the same tastes, you won't agree with me:
  1. Feminine. Some of their knives look, well, a bit feminine to me, with the choice of ano color -- particularly the pink ones. You may say that their are lady knife collectors out there, which is a fair point. Maybe that's is the demographic We is going for with those knives.
  2. Snakeskin. I've seen at least one knife of theirs that has scales patterned like snakeskin. Too much. Too froo froo.
  3. Non-matching hardware. This drives me crazy. They'll make a beautiful knife where the top half of the scales is anodized blue, and the bottom is carbon fiber. Very, very nice. Then they'll ruin the look by using yellow screws and pivot because they couldn't be bothered to make hardware to match. I've seen this on some of their newer models, where they have three identical knives that only vary in the ano, and only one knife has matching hardware. I want to go all Louis C.K. on them when they do this.
  4. Non-torx screws. Thankfully, this problem is on the way out, I think. Many of us remember the days of trying to use that weird little tool in the We star screws.
Out of all of these problems, 1 and 2 are pretty personal in taste, and 4 is either gone or will be gone, but 3 still remains a problem that I think many would agree is borderline ugly.
 
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