WE Knife Exciton Review

The Exciton by WE Knife Co. has detailed construction and materials that set it apart from a standard pocket knife. It has a thumb hole and flipper openers with a button lock to keep the knife from misfiring. The titanium handle adds strength and durability. It is a limited edition knife.

The WE Knife Cybernetic is a svelte folding knife with classy and clean lines. Its blade is a mix of standard and tanto lines with a subtle secondary edge. It features a black 4” stonewash finish CPM 20CV blade with a plain edge and flat grind. The handle is 5” black stonewash finish titanium with extended tang and black pocket clip configured for right hand tip-up carry. It is a manual folding knife with front flipper tabs and frame lock for opening and closing.

The WE Knife Exciton came in a standard branded cardboard box, in which most of WE Knives come.

The package contained standard items that most WE Knife packages do:

• Carbon fiber cleaning rag
• Knife sticker
• Warranty card
• Manual detailing the product specifications
• Ten-year anniversary sticker
• ‘Love your new knife’ card,
• Silica packet
• WE Knife catalog
• WE Knife authentication certificate
• A black nylon pouch
• WE Knife Exciton

The knife itself turns out to be in the perfect dark-gray immaculate condition with 6A4V polish and spotless shine. It had contoured edges, an ergonomic titanium handle with a titanium tip-up carry pocket clip, and a gray-finished CPM 20CV drop point blade with exceptional edge retention and razor-sharp compound hollow grind.

It is an easy flipper knife with a button lock deployment that makes it easy to operate. It does not have a lanyard hole at the bottom. The handle is very smooth and decent in size: 4.63” being easy to handle from an average to large-sized hand. There is a WE Knife logo on the pivot cover, next to which is the button that opens and closes the knife. Pushing the button smoothly slides the blade in. You can open it up either using the button or using the flipper action with your wrist.

The blade lacks a thumb stud, but there is a thumb hole for single-handed action. That makes it a dual deployment knife. There is a slight jimping along the spine of the blade as well as on the top for a better grip. The blade length is 3.63” with a thickness of 0.13”, which makes it best for EDC tasks. However, any length less than 4” can feel a bit too small. The blade width is 1.35” with a hardness level of 58-60 HRC.

The overall length however, is big enough for a portable EDC knife. The 8.28” long knife does feel ample in the hand, yet lightweight, weighing only 4.38 ounces.

The WE Knife Exciton is a limited edition knife, so if you want to order you must do so before it gets sold out.

The gray-finished drop point blade with a hollow grind extends up to less than 4” and features a superior quality CPM 20CV stainless steel blade. The blade profile is ideal for EDC tasks like cutting paper, ripping open packages and slicing through cardboard boxes. It is 1.35” wide with a plain edge and a Rockwell Hardness level that matches up EDC tasks. The knife hardness level determines how easily the blade will chip. But too much hardness can also compromise the blade’s sharpness. Hence, an ideal hardness level has to balance out the cutting performance.

Toughness of a knife represents the knife’s ability to resist damage like cracks or chips when subjected to sudden hard force. It is less standardized than measuring hardness, but the harder the steel the less likely it is to be tough.

The WE Knife Exiton’s gray finish protects the blade from tarnishing, rust, and scratches. However, regular maintenance is required to ensure the longevity of the finish. The blade is very corrosion and wear resistant itself with good edge retention. CPM 20CV has higher levels of chromium, making it highly corrosion resistant.

It has a thumb stop at the rear of the blade to protect the finger from sliding down the blade with a little bit of jimping at the back for better hold. Right alongside the jimping is the thumb hole used for deployment. It is a trademarked Spyderco deployment mechanism that works smoothly each time. It also assists single-handed opening, along with the flipper that allows a single thumb opening action and opens the blade right up all the way.

The blade of Exciton has a slight finger choil, but not enough for a sharpening choil. However, it is relatively easy to sharpen.

The titanium handle of the WE Knife Exciton has a sleek design made of 6AL4V titanium with titanium tip-up carry pocket clip. The WE logo is etched on to the pivot where there is usually a pivot screw. The knife is held together by two small body screws, so it is easy to disassemble to clean and put back together.

The handle is 4.63” long, which is long enough for a good grip in an average to large-sized hands. The handle is 0.48” thick, which may feel too thin for comfort, but makes it lightweight. The pivot however contains caged ceramic ball bearings, which makes the flipping action much smoother.

There is a slight curved bend at the bottom of the handle to hook the knuckles for a firm grip and to protect them from thrashing on the surface when performing kitchen tasks like chopping vegetables and fruits on a chopping board. It also helps with other outdoor tasks.

The overall shape of the handle is quite simple and straightforward with minimum complications.

The WE Exciton features a flipper and thumb-hole deployment, accompanied by a button lock, both of which work perfectly in sync to make the knife work. The flipper is one of the most commonly used deployment method, and so is the thumb hole. Both make opening the knife a much smoother action no matter how frequently you operate it. The caged ceramic ball bearings in the pivot make it ultra-smooth.

Button lock on the other hand, is one of the simplest locks to handle. With the button right on the pivot, all you have to do is press it to disengage the blade from its locked position whether you are opening or closing it. It makes the knife automatic. It works with a spring in the liners that springs the blade up and down. It prevents the knife from accidentally opening and closing.

Many reviewers have praised the performance of the limited edition Exciton because of its premium features and functionality. It opens and closes with exceptional ease, given the cage ceramic ball bearings, thumb-hole, and button lock all coexisting smoothly. The pocket clip is tip-up carry, made of titanium and for right-handed configuration. It hangs easily in the pocket of any fabric without creating any hot spots, feels lightweight and takes up very little space.

The blade is razor-sharp and excellent for smooth EDC cutting tasks like paper, cardboard, rope, and used as a kitchen knife. The handle is smooth with contoured edges and fine finishing, yet ergonomic. It will hold up under tough usage, but requires regular cleaning and maintenance for long-term usage.

We started our field test of the Cybernetic with the sharpness test by slicing paper. The action was just as smooth as we anticipated.

Next, we sliced through newspaper, and here too, it cut through the paper like butter. The CPM 20CV showed superior cutting performance with high edge retention, and hard enough to cut through cardboard boxes as well. The stonewash finish stayed intact throughout the usage with barely any scratches or tarnishing.

The handle was very comfy and ergonomic with a smooth grip and contoured edges. It was big enough for large sized hands to hold it comfortably. The black stonewash finish also proved to be beneficial by protecting the knife from dirt, sweat, oil and water.

It is relatively easy to maintain with fewer screws and a simple disassembling process. It is also relatively easy to sharpen, although it can get difficult to sharpen a blade with high hardness. The 58-60 RC is ideal for an EDC.

The knife is lightweight and easy to carry. The nylon pouch is also helpful in carrying the knife safely and securely. It is also quite easy to deploy when using it in the field where you have to open and close it frequently. Although, the front flipper proved to be a bit difficult, putting strain on the wrist, the action was smooth every time. The frame lock works better each time and locks the blade perfectly well in place.

WE Knives Exciton and Cybernetic both have some features in common. Both the knives measure under 9”, feature CPM 20CV blade and a titanium handle. Both are flipper knives with tip-up right-handed configuration and have caged ceramic ball bearings for their pivot. Both the knives come in similar packaging with the same items in the box.

Both the knives pass the sharpening test with exceptional ability. However, the Cybernetic has a superior stonewash finish rather than a simple gray finish on Exciton that protects the blade better against wear and corrosion. Although the Cybernetic may not have a thumb-hole per say, but it does support a thumb-opening action. It has a bit bigger dimensions than the Exciton, but the Exciton is more attractive and costs more. It is also a limited edition in contrast to the Cybernetic. However, the cutting performance and field action of both the knives is much the same.

WE Knives Exciton and Equivik are both superior knives with exceptional features and cutting performance. Both the knives are a bit over 8” long with a blade length of under 4”, featuring CPM 20CV blade and titanium handle, with a pocket clip configured for tip-up right hand carry. Both are flipper knives with thumb-assisted opening deployment. The Equivik does not have a thumb-hole, and instead comes with a frame lock rather than a button lock. The depth of the finger guard of both knives is more or less the same, with a small sharpening choil and slight jimping along the spine.

Both the knives feature the WE brand name etched onto the pivot with two body screws. Both the knives cost around the same figure, although the Exciton costs a bit more because it is exclusive limited edition.

We found the WE Knife Exciton an exceptional knife with banger features and a wonderful cutting performance. It has a superior quality blade with a razor-sharp edge, a sleek yet ergonomic handle, a tip-up carry pocket clip configured for right hand, is lightweight and easy to carry and sharpen. Although its finish may not be as superior as the stonewash, it still protects the knife from getting tarnished.

Many reviewers have praised the knife’s field performance, and it opens and closes smoothly and frequently using both the deployment and the lockup action.

The knife is limited edition, hence costs more. So if you want to order, better do that soon before stock runs out.