Kevin- These are my two favorite knife companies. ZT is the only major US company that gets the competition. WE is making M390 knives now too and has many color options per knife. I own both of these knives and would hate to choose. Spyderco and Benchmade need to get on board. My favorite ZT sprint run last year was the the 0801 BRZ. I'm a patriotic American and want the US companies to step up and reach the quality of ZT, Reate, WE. Labor costs are not that big of a factor with CNC machining. Both knives are great. Great comparison and review.
As someone who owns and has heavily used both of these, I would say that the WE is certainly higher quality than the ZT. On my 0452 the stop pin is cracking through the corner of the CF, the blade is slightly warped, and internally the milling and finish looks sloppy in comparison with the WE. That said, I still love my 0452 because it has the most perfect overall profile of any knife I have ever had, and if WE built it I may never buy another knife.
ZT has a great reputation for customer support. Do WE knives stand behind their products as well? They probably do but if not that could be a consideration too.
Good comparison vid, still prefer to daily my ZT knives over most else. But WE at this moment is very underated they will gain momentum and hopefully cut back the number of models for 2017 to help with collecting and resale values, although I do like they have some models now with m390. And to reply to other comments, for there first year in production of these WE models they are leaps ahead in fit finish milling etc then Reate's - Kizers early models. Keep up the exceptional videos and are there any other WE models you are looking to do reviews or buy for yourself?
Hi Kevin, nice comparison thanks for the video. They are both foreign made knives for me so thats not a factor. Definitely a marginally higher fit and finish on the WE, but I prefer the design of the 0452cf, and hard to beat m390!
Apologies in advance Kevin if I sound rude (not my intention), but you've reviewed both of these knives already and we know from what you've said previously the good/bad about them. Comparison video's can be made about any number of similar knives (e.g. the many Delica/Mini Grip/Rat2/Leek//Endura/Rat1/Recon1 and countless others). I would hesitate to suggest that we, the buyers, can make our own decisions based on your excellent original reviews. No disrespect intended to you my Christian brother - just an opinion. God bless.....
Very good comparison. Both great knives. The US companies have to wake-up to the fact that Chinese knives aren't bullshit anymore or they will go the way of Kodak and Xerox.
Ive been after a WE 702a for a few weeks but its rock solid to get one in UK as customs are seizing loads of stuff (illegally i may add) but its UK so people dont make a fuss (think its called pacified by fluoride) haha weve already all been disarmed (against our constitution (billofrights) , if i cant get a 702 im gonna get that ZT man , it looks amazing , i wonder what WE's M390 holds up like against ZT's , would be cool to see a testing video to compare the edge after so many things .
601 is the most attractive we knife to me but i wouldn't sell my 0452cf for any we nor would i trade. i really like the 0452cf and i started with the 0450. probably my 2 most carried knives these days.
we knives designs look mostly very chinaey and its too bad there fit and finish seem doable but Ti from china seems crowded when you have rike kizer and reate in there as well who all do a bit better for the most part , im trying to like them but the pricing is still out to lunch for the most part there are a few M390 models though :P
I don't see any upgrades from the ZT to the WIE The ZT has M390 steel and carbon fiber were as the WIE doesn't have the steel or limited edition quality of the ZT or the steel. Mass produced WIE vs limited ZT, no contest ZT wins
WE is a great company. KnifeNews named them a top five company to watch. ZT is my favorite knife company in US, but WE is top quality. Labor costs aren't much of a factor with CNC.
The ZT uses carbon fiber versus a full titanium construction on the WE do you really think that it is strange that it weights less? And btw your pricing on the WE is way off.. The WE 601 has been sold at BladeHQ for 242$ since release what you are quoting is MSRP and not the selling point in stores wich means that the WE is even less than the ZT store bought.. Right now you can buy the WE 601 for 212$ on BladeHQ check your facts boy
Hey thanks for checking in but the we pricing for about the first year that they were available was 295 for all of their models they dropped their prices about two years ago. The 601 for 212 is a good price recommended buy for sure. As for weight no it's not really a surprise that the ZT weighs less. Have a good one man and thanks for watching
Yes MSRP is 295$ but just like the benchmade 87 was like 600$ or so on benchmades website but at BHQ it was like 90$ cheaper first day of its release. I have never seen the we 601 for full msrp at BHQ. They were sold for 254$ if i remember correctly at the time of its release.
younger people will be drawn to the WE knifes for one subliminal reason... POKEMON! It wasn't until I was at blade show and saw them all huddled together, THESE ARE POKEMON KNIVES! I'll take my knives WITHOUT the cartoon looks please 😁
