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WE Knife Co. Bringing New Slipjoint to SHOT

January 18, 2019

WE Knife Co. is putting the finishing touches on the Scamp, its second slipjoint design ahead of SHOT Show. The Scamp follows similar lines to the Gentry, WE’s first slipjoint, but in a different size class altogether.

In terms of size the Scamp goes for a smaller footprint, with a drop point blade that is just 2.9 inches long – about half an inch shorter than the previously revealed Gentry. Like that knife, it is positioned in WE’s mid-to-high price bracket and comes with very meticulous, WE-like detail work – in this case an intricately-milled titanium handle, cut with a chevron-like pattern and finished in a black and gold color scheme. Overall, despite its significant drop in blade length, the 1.8 oz. Scamp only weighs a tenth of ounce less than the Gentry.

When we first saw the Gentry prototype last summer, it came in an all-titanium build. When WE brought a more completed model to Blade Show West, the knife was now sporting a combination titanium and carbon fiber construction. “That’s the difference,” says WE’s European Representative Henk Hakvoort. “The proto as shown during Blade West was already pretty much what we wanted (with defined walk and talk and half stop) and the feedback was only positive. So there was nothing else to change.”

In the end the Gentry provides users with a sizable slipjoint blade, measuring in at a full 3.45 inches of S35VN steel. Hakvoort says that both the Gentry and the Scamp, 100% in line with WE’s other high-end offerings, require just as much fine-tuning and precision as any of the modern frame lock flippers in their corral. “A high quality slipjoint is pretty hard to produce in a consistent way,” he says, pointing out that the walk and talk in particular are difficult to dial in. “The tolerances are very, very tight. It needs even more accuracy in tolerances and adjusting to milling.”

The slipjoints mark yet another new market for WE as it continues to grow. According to Hakvoort the company has other interesting, non-standard projects in the works. “Right now we are scheduling a design in collaboration with a German knifemaker,” he says. “We will produce a limited number of this design with handmade Micarta made by the knifemaker himself. So this is very, very exciting.”

The Scamp and the rest of WE’s SHOT Show lineup will be on display next week in Las Vegas.

Knife in Featured image: WE Knife Co. Scamp

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