WE Knife Banter Review

Ben Peterson, the knife marketing professional, teamed up with WE Knives to create the Banter after 8 years of industry networking.

WE Knife Banter is the kind of EDC folding knife that has everything in under $100. It comes with an S35VN steel blade, a G10 handle scales and caged ceramic ball bearings with a thumb stud opener, liner lock with jimped interface, and a lanyard hole. It has a recessed deep carry pocket clip with recessed screws.

The WE Knife Banter came in a white branded box, which is ironic because it mostly comes in a black box, considering our knife is also black. But it is interesting because it included a black nylon pouch that encased the knife.

The nylon pouch had felt lining inside that cushions the pointed edges of the knife, if any, for safety purposes. It also had two compartments in which you can securely lock in the knife via its pocket clip, so that it stays in place.

The knife opens up very smoothly to reveal the black stonewashed finish blade with a spear point and plain edge.

Right out of the box, the Banter is one of the sharpest and smoothest knives. The caged ceramic ball bearings make the thumb stud action absolutely smooth and easy flowing. It allows the blade to flip out just as easily as any assisted opening or auto knife. It keeps the blade locked in place until you are ready to engage the liner lock to place it back in your pocket.

The pocket clip is very discreet and lightweight, weighing only 2.61 ounces, and is easy to handle. It does not feel as small as it looks. You can hardly feel the knife as it is deep pocket carry.

The Banter’s blade is a classic spear point with a flat grind ending just before the spine. The blade stock thickness is a modest 0.11” with a behind-the-edge thickness of 0.017” that makes it a great slicer. The black stonewash finish does a fine job of protecting the blade from scratches and signs of wear.

The CPM S35VN is one of the best blade material choices for EDC and tactical knives, and common for production and custom knives, from Cold Steel to Demko to Chris Reeves to Spyderco. It is stainless, easy to sharpen, tough, and has a good working edge retention. The steel blade type is also etched onto the blade, along with WIUG, Ben Peterson’s mark, which stands for What Is Up Guys.

The blade also has a touch of jimping on the spine with a simple blade style that makes for a perfect slicer.

The handle of WE Knife Banter is made from black G10, which is quite grippy and ergonomic with smooth edges that does not create any hot spots when sliding it into the pocket. There is also very generous chamfering around the edges.

The front side of the handle has a lanyard hole without a tube, which is good as it makes disassembling easier. There’s the WE Knife logo on the pivot with two exposed body screws on the end. On the back side of the handle, there is a recessed pivot screw, one body screw and one pocket clip screw.

The pocket clip is also black stonewashed with some milling where there are screws, which makes it discreet and easy to carry. The design of the pocket clip, as per Ben, came from the Protech model with some modifications. The idea was to add recessed screws so that the screw heads don’t snag on the pocket when taken out or pocketed. The clip also has very good retention that it does not move around in the hand when in use. The recessed cutout for the pocket clip and the screws makes the handle incredibly smooth while feeling just as solid. The model name, Banter, is etched on the clip, which are actually the first letters of Ben’s family members. The clip is deep pocket carry and configured for tip-up right hand carry.

The Banter uses caged ceramic ball bearings and a ceramic detent ball inside the scales, which makes the opening and closing operation incredibly smooth. The handle scales also have visible nested, partial liners near the pivot to ensure longevity for fidget folding knives. The pivot is held in place by a flat portion, so removing or tightening the pivot screw would not be a problem.

The thumb studs on the handle are anodized titanium and are on both the sides, which is quite economical for the knife’s price. It may just lose a bit of color over time.

The WE Knife Banter features thumb studs as its deployment mechanism and a liner lock for lockup. It is extremely fidgety and smooth to operate. It has a very finely tuned detent ball that the lockup and deployment work flawlessly each time.

The dual thumb studs on either side of the knife are a huge convenience when operating the knife in the field. Just a gentle pressure on either stud sends the blade flying open. The front stud works by pushing from the thumb, while the back stud can be pushed using the index finger. It is quite surprising for a folder at this price point, yet impressive!

It is fun to flick open and close, although there are no washers. The blade coasting along the bearings feels effortless to deploy. It fits totally comfortably in the hand while flicking open the blade.

It almost feels as an automatic knife rather than a manual blade. Once the blade is opened, it remains open, and vice versa. It locks in place in one fluid motion. And there is absolutely no blade play whatsoever from side to side, no matter how you open and close it.

The liner lock works just as smoothly. The lockup position of the liner does not change while applying different levels of force in opening and closing the knife. This is uncommon in most liner lock knives, especially at this price!

The only downside of the liner lock is that it protrudes out away from the handle scales to push it over and release the blade from its locked position. Instead, it is better to have a cutout in the handle for access to the liner lock tab. Otherwise, it becomes a bit difficult to handle with the user’s finger getting under the blade while locking it. Another issue is that you can feel the liner moving on your index finger while using the knife. That is what causes the blade play.

The Banter is easy to carry, is lightweight, weighing only 2.61 ounces, discreet pocket carry, legal in any jurisdiction, opens and closes with ease, and is overall efficient.

We put the knife to test starting with cutting apples. It turns out that the blade is too small for it. It will not cut thin slices of apple in one go. It will only achieve in slicing ¼ of the side of an apple. Although, the blade stock thickness is precise for thin slicing, and the blade shows exceptional edge retention. It is even easier to peel the skin of the apple, although that also takes time due to the short length of the blade. Also, the thumb stud on the blade gets in the way, leaving little cutting edge to work with.

On the other hand, cutting cardboard proved to be an easier feat. It is easier to cut open a small box or package with a small blade. It is even easier to use it as an envelope opener. However, cutting medium-sized boxes was not as simple. The handle feels too short to have a solid grip on. Although, the G10 is great and offers great ergonomics. And although you can attach a lanyard with it, 3.63” is too small a length. A reasonable length should be about 4”. You have to either slide your fingers up on the blade, or have a swaying pinky at the back to have a solid grip.

The liner pushed against the index finger while using the knife, whether it was during apple cutting or box cutting. The jimping also digs into the finger when using. It is not very smooth.

However, shaving down some feather sticks on a 2×4 was easy. The tall flat grind of the blade and the thinness behind the edge proved to cut well. It does fine slicing tasks without any issues. But the handle felt too short again here and the lock gets in the way.

CIVIVI, being WE Knife’s parent company, produces Elementum in the same factory as the Banter and sells around the same price range. It has very similar overall size, runs on bearings, and uses a liner lock. It also features S35VN blade and G10 scales. It also has a smooth deployment and lockup for its price, cuts finely, and has deep pocket carry discreet and lightweight pocket clip. However, it has smoother jimping lines, and an exaggerated finger guard and a finger choil. But the overall construction of the two knives is relatively same.

Spyderco Lil native is another fidget-friendly knife, features S30V blade and G10 handle. However, it is the smaller version of Spyderco Native with only 2.5” blade and an overall length of 5.9”. It is still a viable option in comparison to Banter and comes with a wire deep carry pocket clip. It comes in close comparison to the Banter due to its features and performance.

The WE Knife Banter is an excellent EDC flipper-folding knife with exceptional features for its price point. Its first impressions were great with exceptional packaging quality and everything that came with it. However, it did not perform up to the par in the field due to the blade and handle being too small. But, it is fidget-friendly, opens and closes with immense ease and does a fine cutting job.

When compared to CIVIVI Elementum and Spyderco Lil Native, it came close to the two knives in features, price and performance.