What with all the fuss about S35VN and edge-rolling (See the Chris Reeves and Spyderco subforums) I thought it would be timely to publish my own experience of one of the knives in question: the Spyderco Native 5.
I have owned previous incarnations of the Native and although I liked the ergonomics, the aggressive swedge made it look scary to KNPs and it had a lightweight feel (a quality knife nonetheless.)
This version, however, has a lovely FFG blade and only a subtle swedge. The G10 and steel liners add to the quality feel at the expense of weight. The fit and finish of my specimen is exemplary: the newly engineered back-lock feels secure and despite no "Boye-dent" I cannot conceive of a situation where I would inadvertantly disengage the lock during use.
In all, the Native has "grown-up". Pictured here (middle) with a UKPK and a PITS folder:
In Hand: Jimping aids index and thumb grip
The effective hourglass pocket clip has a polished finish and has four-way mounting options. In tip-up positons it sits over the lanyard hole; tip-down it allows access to the pivot screw. The G10 is grippy but doesn't shred pockets, so far. The liners are heavily skeletonised and are seperated from the blade by phosphor-bronze washers. There is no blade play after approx 8 weeks use.
I like low edge-angles with a micro-bevel for most of my small/medium folders. In the case of the Native 5, I lowered the bevel freehand and then put a 30deg microbevel on it.
My day-to-day uses area varied (most use not shown!):
Whittling:
Game prep (four birds total- 3 cocks, one hen):
I also made some feather-sticks a fire:
I took some macro pics of the edge and there were some areas of very slight deformation of the microbevel:
After the fuss about S35VN rolling, I decided to stress the area of slight damage with some specifically targetted, multiple (300+) cross-grain push-cutting onto a log and slicing (albeit on soft green wood):
After this there was no gross damage to the edge:
Macro reveals slight rolling but nothing dramatic:
Edge-on view:
It will still shave loosely held paper (using the area of deformation) but has a grittier feel and there are paper fibres sticking to the edge (not well seen in the pics but I don't have macro capability at present, hence phone pics for these.)
It will no longer shave forearm hair but is cutting well and feels sharp.
In Summary:
A solid little knife which feels great in the hand. A pleasure to use and fondle. Has the "wow" factor for me. Quite heavy for a small knife but I like that.
S35VN didn't stand out as unusually good or bad; my previous Mule review didn't reveal any major shortcomings of this steel but it was almost certainly a different melt batch. This review is not intended as a scientific test of S35VN. Please note the edge was not factory geometry.
Verdict:
Highly Recommended if you "get" the Spyderco design philosophy and need a tough, little work-horse folder.
I have owned previous incarnations of the Native and although I liked the ergonomics, the aggressive swedge made it look scary to KNPs and it had a lightweight feel (a quality knife nonetheless.)
This version, however, has a lovely FFG blade and only a subtle swedge. The G10 and steel liners add to the quality feel at the expense of weight. The fit and finish of my specimen is exemplary: the newly engineered back-lock feels secure and despite no "Boye-dent" I cannot conceive of a situation where I would inadvertantly disengage the lock during use.
In all, the Native has "grown-up". Pictured here (middle) with a UKPK and a PITS folder:
In Hand: Jimping aids index and thumb grip
The effective hourglass pocket clip has a polished finish and has four-way mounting options. In tip-up positons it sits over the lanyard hole; tip-down it allows access to the pivot screw. The G10 is grippy but doesn't shred pockets, so far. The liners are heavily skeletonised and are seperated from the blade by phosphor-bronze washers. There is no blade play after approx 8 weeks use.
I like low edge-angles with a micro-bevel for most of my small/medium folders. In the case of the Native 5, I lowered the bevel freehand and then put a 30deg microbevel on it.
My day-to-day uses area varied (most use not shown!):
Whittling:
Game prep (four birds total- 3 cocks, one hen):
I also made some feather-sticks a fire:
I took some macro pics of the edge and there were some areas of very slight deformation of the microbevel:
After the fuss about S35VN rolling, I decided to stress the area of slight damage with some specifically targetted, multiple (300+) cross-grain push-cutting onto a log and slicing (albeit on soft green wood):
After this there was no gross damage to the edge:
Macro reveals slight rolling but nothing dramatic:
Edge-on view:
It will still shave loosely held paper (using the area of deformation) but has a grittier feel and there are paper fibres sticking to the edge (not well seen in the pics but I don't have macro capability at present, hence phone pics for these.)
It will no longer shave forearm hair but is cutting well and feels sharp.
In Summary:
A solid little knife which feels great in the hand. A pleasure to use and fondle. Has the "wow" factor for me. Quite heavy for a small knife but I like that.
S35VN didn't stand out as unusually good or bad; my previous Mule review didn't reveal any major shortcomings of this steel but it was almost certainly a different melt batch. This review is not intended as a scientific test of S35VN. Please note the edge was not factory geometry.
Verdict:
Highly Recommended if you "get" the Spyderco design philosophy and need a tough, little work-horse folder.
