WE Knife Thoughts

Hackenslash said:
So are you saying that you know the names of current "legit" Chinese knife manufacturers who pay the bills with clones?

Are you saying that you suspect WE is one of them but lack definitive proof in their case?

I'm trying to figure out if you know something you don't want to say or are simply raising a salient question for the sake of discussion.
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Nothing more on this?
 
Hackenslash said:
Nothing more on this?
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Sorry. I dont come back to every single thread ive posted in. The answer is yes, i do know of two manufacturers who make originals under one name and legits under another. But I am not going to discuss the whos whats wheres and whys. Just know they are not WE. My suspicions are irrelevant. when someone asked why some are hesitent about buying chinese knives I used it as an example because i do know that it happens and some other people do to and that the rumors alone have people weary as no one really knows to what extent it happens. But to be absolutely clear I have no evidence of this happening with we. I was speaking literally in the sense that i know it happens. But i wasnt trying to implicate WE. More along the lines of one rotten apple spoils a bunch regardless of who is involved and whether its right or wrong.
 
I found the website for the Wayeah Knives & Tool Co - the original "parent" of WeKnives. You can browse through the (literally) thousands of knives that they've made and likely still offer -

I *loosely* think of it like ZT and Kershaw - same company, with Kershaw and more budget/consumer grade products coming first and then ZT with higher end/enthusiast grade products coming later (I'm going for an analogy, not a direct comparison.)

http://wayeahknife.com/index.asp
 
I've spoken to maker Elijah Isham a few times and he said the guys at WE Knife are some of the most professional he has dealt with. They do put out a great product.
 
There are many opinions on this forum. Here is mine. I will not spend more then 50$ on a overseas printed knife. I get no pride out of a "Chinese knife" I admit some of WE's stuff is beautiful but it goes against my self established principles. Not caving to this has saved me a LOT of money. As our economy struggles support 'merica as much as possible!
 
I have found We Knives are incredibly well built and the action is always great although initially they often had soft detents, they have dialed that in for sure. That said I don't often like their in house designs I have reviewed over 20 and only really likes about 4. The designs are usually to much form over function the slipstream has been my favorite to date. I haven't tried the Eschaton or Zeta yet but the latter looks good. I do think they are priced about right but they won't hold their value as well as some companies so buy the knife you like because your likely to take a bath when trying to sell it. One last point which is I wish they would focus on a smaller number of models focus on R&D and give us knives that work well and look amazing they are capable of it they just produce a lot of flops.
 
My WE Knife 705 is the best built, most precise and smoothest knife I've ever owned. Better than my Sebenza, Hinderer XM-18 and Olamic 247 (sold off the Sebenza and Olamic). Honestly none of those have come even close to the WE 705's precision. They do an outstanding job with M390 and S35VN (not soft and easily deformed) and their machining is superb. I'm not a big fan of buying Chinese knives, but I believe WE is like Toyota/Honda in the late 70s and early 80s. One day the remaining US knife manufacturers will look around and say wait... what happened? Where did our customers go?

I've purchased five We knives and they were all perfect. The only ones that went back to the dealers were the Zeta and 605. They were both extremely well made, but uncomfortable in my hand with too many hotspots. I really wanted to love the Zeta, but the lock release area for the thumb was flush, sharp and just all around uncomfortable. The pocket clip was sharp on the meaty part of my palm and the heel of the handle was pointy and had very squared off edges. The flipper tab was just a little too pointy and small. Love that it points forward, but it wasn't comfortable. The Zeta is really more of an art knife with a very useful blade design.
 
sharp_edge said:
Looks nice! Any idea what would be the retail price?
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Retails for 297.50 which is pricey IMO, just picked up a new Steel Will Modus, M390 blade with similar blade shape and dimentions for 115.00 shipped.
Although I love the looks of the 801 I can't justify almost triple the price for the difference between G10 and TI/CF inserts.

I will wait to see if the price comes down as they have on some of their other models.
 
Has anyone seen pictures of a user WE they could direct me to? The two I've encountered had geometry very similar to a ZT 0450, which doesn't really have much use in my EDC needs.

Are there any especially thin ones or hollow ground models? I love the construction and the look. It's just the blade grinds in the two I handled weren't thin enough behind the edge.
 
kylemiller said:
Has anyone seen pictures of a user WE they could direct me to? The two I've encountered had geometry very similar to a ZT 0450, which doesn't really have much use in my EDC needs.

Are there any especially thin ones or hollow ground models? I love the construction and the look. It's just the blade grinds in the two I handled weren't thin enough behind the edge.
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I own several different WEs and I'd say their greatest weakness is they're not great slicers; they tend to be thick behind the edge. They seem to use a lot of 4mm bladestock which don't typically make for a good cutting edge.

The ones I've handled that were "slicier" are the 606, 615 and 616. Some of the newer 700 series look like they might be better slicers, but it's hard to tell from pictures.

If you're looking for the cutting skill of a Spydie, I don't think you'll find it with a WE. I love the looks of many WEs but I find I don't reach for them if I have some serious cutting to do.
 
Owen K. said:
There are many opinions on this forum. Here is mine. I will not spend more then 50$ on a overseas printed knife. I get no pride out of a "Chinese knife" I admit some of WE's stuff is beautiful but it goes against my self established principles. Not caving to this has saved me a LOT of money. As our economy struggles support 'merica as much as possible!
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Agreed.
 
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