Spotlight: WE Knife 815 Double Helix pocket knife

One of the most interesting WE Knife releases for 2018 is the WE Knife Double Helix. Stunning, but this tool has more in store than you might expect at first. What about that amazing feature on the sides of the handle, for instance? In this Spotlight article we will tell you all about the WE Knife Double Helix.

What kind of brand is WE Knife?

In 2016 we first became acquainted with the Chinese WE Knife. This, however, didn’t mean that we hadn’t seen any knives produced in the same factory before. After all, for over ten years the factory behind WE Knife had been producing great pocket knives for famous brands. The next logical step? Take those years of experience and establish your own brand: WE Knife.

WE Knife designs and produces top-quality knives,  made from only the best materials. They use the high-end types of steel also used by the best American and European manufacturers. Many people need to actually hold a WE Knives knife in their hands to believe that so much quality can be produced for such amazing prices.

WE Knife is one of the pioneers who helped change the concept that knives produced in China are moderate budget knives. Fortunately those days are long gone! Today many amazing knives are produced in China. These knives are often of even better quality than those produced by Western manufacturers.

WE Knife Double Helix 815

Let’s start with the basics:

• Blade length: 8.4 cm
• Total length: 19.8 cm
• Weight: 130 grams
• Type of steel: CPM S35VN
• Handle material: titanium

In terms of size we could say that the Double Helix is a ‘medium-sized’ pocket knife. Large enough to have enough grip even with large hands, but not that large that you might have difficulty controlling it. A good EDC pocket knife, but because of the top-quality finish and the remarkable mechanism it could also function as a gentleman’s knife, even though it might be a tad too large for that.

Slide Lock

The most remarkable aspect of the WE Knife Double Helix is its lock. This special mechanism is located on the outside, and responsible for the name of the pocket knife. On both sides of the handle you can spot a titanium curl. This is a spring that presses a steel bar against the back of the blade. This patented ‘Slide Lock’ has never been seen before.  It might remind you of other locking mechanisms because a steel bar is pushed right into the back of the blade. But that is where the comparisons end. After all, the fact that the spring is located on the outside of the handle is unique.

When opened and closed this lock will keep the blade firmly in place. As such you need to unlock the knife to open it. It will never open when you don’t want it to. The blade has been enhanced with a nail nick that offers you enough grip to use your other hand to pull the blade from the handle. You could also, after some practice, by simply retracting the lock far enough pull the blade from the handle with a flick of the wrist. 

The WE Knife Double Helix was designed by the WE Knife team. It was an in-house design making it even more remarkable that the people behind WE Knife managed to create such an innovative design. Usually these types of mechanisms are the result of collaborations with custom knife makers. Experts who work on a mechanism in their own workshop for years in order to finally collaborate with a brand to introduce the design to the public. Conventional knife companies often don’t have the time for this type of research and development 

A question we immediately received from knife enthusiasts was if the locking mechanism wouldn’t be incredibly vulnerable as it is located on the outside. That is fortunately not the case. After all, titanium is used for pocket clips and such for a reason. It is incredibly tough and flexible and can definitely handle its own. You have absolutely nothing to worry about!

Excellent milling technique

Some people might still think that modern pocket knives simply roll out of a CNC-milling machine. Add the material, load the program and start looking at the clock. Let us burst your bubble: it is not that simple. With the extremely strict tolerances that are necessary for common high-end pocket knives, more craftsmanship than ever is needed to design the right milling programs to end up with the best finishes. Anyone who thinks that simply throwing money at a CNC-milling machine will leave you with the best knives, is mistaken.

Especially this type of milling work is what WE Knife excels at. Almost all We Knife knives are enhanced with extensive milling work in the titanium handles. All with an extremely good surface finishing. You will never find any traces of the milling work and all lines are clean.

The six versions of the Double Helix

In addition to its quality WE Knife is also known for something else: the variations of a specific model. The WE Knife 815 Double Helix is, for instance, available in six different versions. Three colour handles combined with two different blade finishes. 

Conclusion

The WE Knife Double Helix 815 is one of the most innovative pocket knives in the high-end market for 2018. A stunning pocket knife with an ingenious design that was flawlessly executed. Let’s hope WE Knife continues on this path of innovation and amazing design. It will, after all, be something we as knife enthusiasts can benefit from!