WE Knife Beacon Flipper Framelock Knife, CPM 20CV, Titanium, 20061B-3
[WE20061B3]

The WE Beacon is a medium gentlemen's carry knife. It is under 8" in length, and weighs just 3.65oz. It is just a little smaller than the Rat 1 and the WE Quixotic, and little bigger than the ZT 0450, two knives I think of a fair comparisons. The balck stonewashed blade is CPM 20 CV steel, which is a premium steel. It is Crucible's version of Bohler's popular M 390 or Carpenter's CTS-204P steel. This will provide a combination of impressive wear resistance, and edge retention, but given the high levels of chromium, it is highly corrosion resistant. In Alberta, that is not huge issue - even D2 rarely corrodes in our dry climate - but in some places, that is an important consideration. The blade is a a drop point, flat grind blade with something between a fuller and nail nick running just below the spine. It also has a large finger choil that is nice and allows you to choke up on the knife. The action is buttery smooth and the detent is well tuned. it runs on caged ceramic bearings and it opens with a "snap" using either the flipper tab or using a finger of thumb flick on the nail nick. Mine falls shut once the frame lock is disengaged and the detent ball gets free. But I did tune and oil it a bit to dial it in. The handle is 6AL4V titanium and it is also stonewashed. It is really comfortable to hold either using the flipper tab as a finger guard or with the forefinger in the finger choil and the thumb resting on the jimping that runs an inch plus on the spine. The blade is so thin it is very slicy. It is good for push cuts, slicing, and even a utility cut. What are some of its competitors in my collection? Teh ZT 0450 or the WE Quixotic. The Beacon is, give or take, about a $100 cheaper. It is a think knife like the ZT 0450, so the ZT reminds me of it a bit. On the one hand I think the Beacon may deliver more value, but it does have one annoying fault IMHO. The pocket clip. The pocket clip is just a plain, vanilla fold over deep clip carry clip. It is nice that it is deep carry as neither the 450 or the Quixotic are, but here is the kicker - while the screws are recessed, the clip is not. For a knife just under $300, that is regrettable. So I took one star off for that. Do I enjoy the knife? Absolutely. It is thin, comfortable in the hand, very well made, beautiful, and it is a very nice tool in the garage breaking down cardboard, and at work in various functions. But I would wait for it to go on sale, like I did.