WE Knife's Notchline Won a Blade Show Award and Costs $235

Awards are usually marketing, but occasionally the jury gets it right. The Notchline WE25047-2 took Blade Show's 2026 Factory Imported Fixed Blade of the Year, and the spec sheet explains why: a 3.45-inch CPM S35VN blade at 0.17-inch stock, a 7.5-inch overall length, and 4.36 ounces on a hunting pattern built for control.

Details that matter on a hunting knife: cutting edge length is 3.31 inches, handle length 4.05 inches, handle thickness 0.71 inch, blade hardness 58-60 HRC, flat grind, and CPM S35VN rather than the Bohler M390 WE uses on its folding limited runs. S35VN is the correct choice here — it is tougher than M390 at the same hardness, takes a keener edge more easily, and resists the corrosion that comes with field dressing in wet conditions.

The 0.71-inch handle is the design decision worth calling out. Most production hunters run a slimmer grip, and most of them transmit shock badly when you are working through a rib cage. A thick handle also indexes your hand without needing a finger groove, which is why the Notchline looks plainer than its price. At $235, WE is asking production-plus money — into Benchmade and Bark River territory — and the answer to that is the award, the steel and the sheath.

Compare it with CIVIVI's Lattice at $69.40, a 2.02-ounce, 2.83-inch Nitro-V fixed blade designed as a small companion knife. The Lattice is a neck knife; the Notchline is a dedicated field blade. Compare it with Kubey's Destroyer at $110 and you are looking at the opposite philosophy: 8.31 inches of D2 built to chop, versus 3.45 inches of S35VN built to dress game precisely. For most hunters the Notchline is the more useful knife.

Verdict: the best fixed blade WE has shipped in years, and the first one where the price is justified by geometry rather than finish. Buy it if you hunt or want a serious camp knife under five ounces. Skip it if you need chopping capability — that is a different tool entirely.

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