GIN-1 Natives... what the fudge is going on?

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YoungCutter

Joined
Sep 17, 2001
Messages
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Since when did a GIN-1 native show up? I thought it was some kinda urban legend.
I ordered a Spydie Native FRN from 1SKS a couple weeks ago (order still pending due to distributor problems beyond Spark's control) which had a description stating the steel was GIN-1, then again it also said the blade length was 2 7/8" or such... so I posted on 1SKS and was basically assured that no such thing existed, and Spark informed me that he sometimes gets such things wrong.
I really hope I, in reality, ordered a CPM440V Native.
So as a point of curiousity, when did GIN-1 show up? Has Spyderco switched from 440V to GIN-1 in the Native FRNs?
 
Greetings Youngcutter -

I am sure that you will be receiving the 440V Native. The GIN-1 version is an older version of the Native that is no longer produced (much like the Delica will now be produced in VG-10 steel!). Simply a steel upgrade that occurred sometime in the past before I started my knife addiction :D

Great knife there! The Native was my first real knife, and I still use it as my "beater" knife...
 
GIN-1 are the older model... I got mine about a year ago, and most local knife shops still have Natives in GIN-1 and none in CPM440V... Oh, well...
:D
 
Gin-1 is pretty good steel. My Wayne Godard Micarta folder is Gin-1 and it works very well. My Native, bought this past summer in a local store, is 440V. 440V is good, as is ats-34,etc., and so is Gin-1. In fact, I might by a second Native, but in Gin-1. There's one in local store that's
Gin-1 and plain edge that I might pick up.

Vess: Some stores in the Toronto area have the Native in 440V, and at good prices, not list. Try Al Flaherty's, LeBaron, and Europe Bound. But, they probably have the FRN only in serrated. Finding a plain edge, at a discounted price, is hard. Europe Bound also has the NativeII.
 
And I totally agree, GIN-1 is a very good steel... For an EDC GIN-1 is more than enough.:D
 
OOOOOO Natives! One of my favorites.

I have a GIN 1 FRN, a CPM 440V FRN, a 440V Blue G-10 handle Native, and an all stainless AUS-10 one.

The GIN1 is a good "pool" steel (swimming pools, that is). Just rinse it off afterwards in tap water to keep it healthier. I won't try my 440Vs in the pool. (I've heard GIN1 is the same as G-2, and indeed my G-2 old Endura is also swimmable.) ATS-55, on the other hand, has not given good pool service. They don't swim any more.

Every Native has a reason to exist...

Karl
 
Call me crazy, but I don't swim with knives... and if I did i'd front the big bucks for a Mission.

So 440V is the winner :)
 
in the unlikely event that anyone actually cares, my package arrived ysterday complete with a 3rd Generation PE FRN Native (440V blade and boye dent lock) - I am happy.
 
My first real knife was a Native Gin-1. Fot about 2.5 years ago. It's pretty scratched up now, and I can't get it to polish evenly.
 
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