There is a point in the knife market where the question stops being what a blade will cut and becomes what you want to look at while you carry it. The WE Knife VARG WE25074-DS1 sits firmly on that side of the line: 2.96 inches of Fafnir Damasteel, a polished gray titanium handle, multicolor carbon-fiber inlays, and a $675 price.
Fafnir is a Damasteel pattern, and the important thing about Damasteel is that the pattern is in the steel, not printed on it. It is a powder-metallurgy stainless produced in Sweden by laminating and forging dissimilar alloys, then finishing to reveal the contrast. That means the blade performs like a modern stainless rather than like historical pattern-welded iron, and it also means you cannot refinish a scratch out of it without destroying the pattern. A Damasteel blade is a commitment.
The handle is the quieter half: polished titanium with carbon-fiber inlays, a conventional frame-lock layout, and WE's usual standard of fit. At 2.96 inches the VARG is a compact knife, sized for an office or a city rather than a job site, and that is consistent with the materials.
The comparison that matters is inside the VARG lineup. WE also offers VARG configurations with CPM MagnaCut blades, and those are the versions to buy if you intend to use the knife. MagnaCut is the closest thing the industry has to a universal stainless: high toughness, high corrosion resistance, good edge retention, and it tolerates thin grinds. It will cut better than Damasteel in any practical test, and it costs materially less.
Against WE's own NexoMorph at $558.70, the choice is different again. The NexoMorph runs a 2.95-inch M390 drop point and a transforming handle that converts from a conventional 6.98-inch open knife to a roughly 5.42-inch push-grip tool. It is a mechanism you buy for the mechanism. The VARG is a material you buy for the material.
Verdict: the DS1 is for the buyer who wants Fafnir on the blade and will accept that it is jewellery with an edge. If you want a VARG to actually carry and sharpen, buy the MagnaCut version and put the difference into ammunition or a better sharpener.
We earn a commission if you make a purchase through these links, at no extra cost to you.