The WE Knife Company Banter is a nod to BladeHQ’s Knife Banter YouTube series and was designed in partnership between Knife Banter’s Ben Petersen and WE Knife Company.

It’s a simple design, with a short handle and a boxy overall aesthetic. The spear point and handle profile have all been done before a thousand times over. It is, admittedly, plain.

But this little pocket knife is the top-selling WE Knife here at White Mountain Knives. In fact, it’s not just the top-seller among WE Knives overall; the top three WE Knives are all variants of the Banter, giving it the top three spots.

What can we say? “WE” love it. These are our top five favorite reasons the Banter is worth the hype, and we’re sure our customers agree.

The Knife Steel
Even though this basic design has been done before, WE Knife company really hit it out of the park by making this little knife with S35VN steel. Other knife manufacturers might have been content to get away with Sandvik, 420HC, or even 8Cr13MoV, but not WE. They went straight for super steel.

There’s a reason they call it that. This steel contains over 1% carbon (1.4%, to be exact) which gives it the ability to take an exceptionally hard heat treatment for a ridiculously long-lasting edge. The one ding against this steel is it’s really hard to sharpen; but taking into account the next few factors, we’ll give it a bye.

Normally, with high carbon and better edge retention, you get a steel that can be somewhat brittle, like 1095. That’s not the case with S35VN, because it contains 2% molybdenum, 3% vanadium, and a smidge each of tungsten and silicon. This results in a steel that is not only very hard and resistant to wear but tough as nails.

Bringing it all together is the fact that S35VN holds the bar high on corrosion resistance as well. It also contains 14% chromium, delivering the holy trinity of knife steels: edge retention, toughness, and corrosion resistance.

It’s probably the single best thing about the WE Knife Banter.

Detent and Deployment
To say that it’s tough to make a knife that stays closed when it's supposed to, locks solidly, and is still easy to open - fluidly - would be a grandiose understatement. It is very resource-intensive, not to mention difficult, to do so.

That’s why so many cheap pocket knives have some degree of detent rock, have gritty, stiff, or tight bearings, or throw so much side to side or back and forth sway in the blade, even after lockup. They are the calling cards of a cheap, poorly designed, slovenly executed folder.

None of them is present in the Banter. The detent is secure, but the action is crisp and lockup is sound. It’s also nice that there are thumb studs on both sides of the blade, and worth mentioning that once disengaged from the detent, the knife flicks open with a minimum of effort.

The Blade Profile
This is the prime thing that “has been done before,” but despite the lack of novelty, it just works. There is a sentiment that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and WE Knife Company sure didn’t. They just made it better.

The thing about the short spear point of this knife, which features a high (but not full) flat grind, is that it just works. It’s great for almost everything.

It has plenty of belly and a short straight edge, which makes it great for slicing - probably its strongest attribute. It’s also great for carving and detail work. The point is fine enough for piercing, but not as fragile as a clip point, needle point, or even the point on a trailing knife.

The other thing that’s great about it is the symmetry. One of the overlooked advantages of the spear point was that it could be rotated easily, in order to drill holes through soft materials like wood.

WE could have gone with a straight back, a drop point, or even jumped on the tanto bandwagon with this little folder, but we have to say, we are sure glad they didn’t. Evidently, everyone else agrees.

The G10 Scales
This is another thing that is becoming pretty standard. Modern knives that are designed for the EDC crew typically have G10 or Micarta scales. And if it’s not G10 it's carbon fiber. And if it’s not carbon fiber it's GFN. You get the pictures.

Synthetics may be plain, but you can customize them in all sorts of ways. WE Knife Company offers the banter in a bunch of colors, which makes this little knife more attractive to a wider audience.

But customizability is not G10’s biggest asset, even if it is the reason so many of these knives sell. What makes G10 great is the fact that it's basically indestructible. G10 will not absorb water, blood, fat, grease, or oil. It will not corrode or break down under the influence of sunlight. It can withstand heat, cold, chemical exposure, and more.

It’s also physically tough. G10 is hard and strong, resistant to cracking, chipping, and breaking. Like other high-end modern synthetics, it has the best of both - no, all - worlds.

What’s great about that is the fact that EDC knives need to go strong with a minimum of attention. If you put this thing away wet or dirty, the scales (and possibly the steel) won’t mind. You can take it out later, brush it off later, and it’ll work just the same.

Should you abuse your knife? Absolutely not - but if it’s made of G10, at least there’s not much you can realistically do to damage the scales.

Fit and Finish

Finally, we can’t say enough good about the fit and finish of this knife. They’re just excellent. There are no roughly machined spots or overhangs on the scales, and blade centering is good if not great. The action is smooth, there are no noticeable blemishes, and the knife lacks noticeable hot spots, not only generally, but also those that would arise from poor quality control during assembly.

In a word, it looks and feels like a knife worth three times the price, which brings us to the final argument: the affordable pricing of the deal.

Here at White Mountain Knives, you can get this gem of the WE Knife brand for under $110. Other knives using the same premium materials and exhibiting the same fit and finish typically cost three times as much if not more.

Does that mean there aren’t other steals out there? It sure doesn’t. It just means that the Banter is one of the best of them, and we have to admit, our customers noticed. They weighed in with their wallets.

All in all, if you’re looking for a solid EDC knife or just another to add to the rotation, you really can’t go wrong with a Banter, especially at this price point. Pick one up for yourself, and if you have any questions you need answered before buying, shoot us a message at WhiteMountainKnives@gmail.com.