Lightweight? NO - Heavyweight!

coolio

coolio

Joined
Jan 15, 2015
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Today, just in time for my birthday (this weekend), the mailman brought me a present. I have been drooling over the Spyderco Native 5 for some time now. I have owned Spyderco knives before, mostly smaller ones like Firefly, Dragonfly, Manbug, Cricket. I felt it was time to move "up." My criteria was a) made in Golden (I used to live there) b) less than 3" blade, no serrations c) lockback. I have long wanted a Native, and now I have one. It's a "Lightweight" FRN version, but all signs point to Heavyweight!:D First of all, the knife itself is a thing of beauty. This design is just perfect. The feel in-hand, both open and closed, brilliant. The jimping on the spine (and a little on the lock too) and the choil are nice and grippy. I like to hold my knives close to the blade, so the finger choil on the Native5 is just what I expected - really great control. The lock - wow, what a great sound the "click" is - rock solid. CPM S110V was super sharp right out of the box. [edit - this is the best slicer I've EVER bought straight out of the box - so far paper and cardboard have lost bigtime!:D] The light swedge on the blade is a good looking touch. The blue FRN is a little darker than my photos show, very smart looking I think.

I am very happy with my new "Heavyweight N5!" Thanks Sal and Spyderco Crew!:thumbup:







 
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I have a "Heavyweight" Native in the standard black and S35VN...its an amazing knife and yet its amazing to me just how much improved the dark blue makes the 'lighter' Native look. I gotta stop looking though....I **cannot** buy another knife for a while!! :D
 
The Native is the knife that started it all for me. It's definitely an all-around perfect EDC in my estimation. :thumbup: Let us know how it performs for you over the next few weeks!
 
Native 5 is one of the best designs around, and the Native line is a definite classic. REEEAAALLLY want one of those s110v Native 5s, but I already have the titanium version. Might get the s110v lightweight Manix 2.
 
That's just simply a great looking knife! And carries and cuts just as good as it looks!
Nice shots.
I've been wanting to pick up a LW version as well.
 
I really like that blue one. I had a Native-5 lightweight, but returned it. Your pic has me rethinking that decision.
 
FRN Natives are great! I had one of the Native 3s and always really liked the knife. I'm not sure if I sold or gave it away. I very patiently awaited the LW-5 from its announcement to its availability (a long time!). But then I couldn't justify it. My fancier knives have always gotten the better of me.
Fast forward to now. I'm flying to my better half's folks house for x-mas and rather than check a bag just because I would really like to have a knife with me for the week (in this case I would bring a Hinderer XM-18) I decided to finally get that Native and just have it delivered there! I'm pumped!
 
I carried a Native 2 LW for many years, and expected to love the (G10) Manix 5, but didn't.

Can anyone who has a Native 2 LW and Native 5 LW let me know if they feel similar?

John
 
this_is_nascar said:
I really like that blue one. I had a Native-5 lightweight, but returned it. Your pic has me rethinking that decision.
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Glad to help.:D

SpeedHoles said:
That's just simply a great looking knife!
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Thank you sir!

archieblue said:
I decided to finally get that Native and just have it delivered there!
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I like the way you think.:thumbup:

FriarPhenn said:
Let us know how it performs for you over the next few weeks!
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Will do!
 
archieblue said:
FRN Natives are great! I had one of the Native 3s and always really liked the knife. I'm not sure if I sold or gave it away. I very patiently awaited the LW-5 from its announcement to its availability (a long time!). But then I couldn't justify it. My fancier knives have always gotten the better of me.
Fast forward to now. I'm flying to my better half's folks house for x-mas and rather than check a bag just because I would really like to have a knife with me for the week (in this case I would bring a Hinderer XM-18) I decided to finally get that Native and just have it delivered there! I'm pumped!
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Can't wait to hear your thoughts on it! If I remember correctly the first "knife review" I watched on Youtube was your Spyderco Native 3 review! While the 3 was not for me (not enough choil area for my larger hands) once the Spyderco Native 5 lightweight came out I jumped all over it. In fact I bought 2. And yes, while my higher-end knives like the small sebenza, large sebenza and striders usually ended up in my pocket, I always thought the Native 5 LW was the perfect EDC knife out there. In fact, once I saw how nice the blue frn came out on this version, I sold all of my sebenzas and striders and just want to go back to basics with the Native 5 (I am keeping a Military for a bigger work knife). Between its perfect ergos, lightweight and amazing s110v steel, I really think I am going to be set with just having the Native be my EDC for quite some time now. In fact when I ordered it, I bought 2. They are being delivered Monday and I feel like Xmas will come early for me!

On a side note, ARCHIE PLEASE DO A YOUTUBE REVIEW OF THIS KNIFE! I miss your reviews and think it would be awesome for you to review this model since the Native 3 was one of your first knife reviews on Youtube. It will come full circle
 
My S110V version will be here Monday.

I've been carrying the S35VN version of the lightweight as my work knife since it came out. Blue is my favorite color and S110V is a great steel. I have the Manix 2 in this configuration and love the performance.
 
Humint said:
On a side note, ARCHIE PLEASE DO A YOUTUBE REVIEW OF THIS KNIFE! I miss your reviews and think it would be awesome for you to review this model since the Native 3 was one of your first knife reviews on Youtube. It will come full circle
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Thanks man!! The Native WAS my first review! ...mainly because it really did blow me away for the money. I really really appreciate the compliments! My GF really really wants me to start doing reviews again, and I'm hoping this one will be the one that starts it over again!
 
ZuluKilo said:
I have a "Heavyweight" Native in the standard black and S35VN...its an amazing knife and yet its amazing to me just how much improved the dark blue makes the 'lighter' Native look. I gotta stop looking though....I **cannot** buy another knife for a while!! :D
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Yes yes...keep chanting that to yourself like a....ahem..."Mantra". :cool:
 
So far it's exceeding my expectations. The G10 version will be nice, too.

native-black.jpg

blue-native-4.jpg

blue-native-2.jpg

blue-native-3.jpg
 
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I'm a sucker for S110V so already have the manix 2 lw, ordered this and the pm2 from bentobox. This does look like a great knife, always liked the design.
 
I just bought a native5 g10 for my son for Christmas. I had it shipped to him so I've never seen one in person but he loves it. I think that one of those will be the next knife I buy for myself, in the S110V of course.
 
I was showing my sister the new Native. Her critique is fairly typical.

"I wish it were narrower."
"But then it wouldn't fit the trademark Spydie Hole and have that trademark blade shape."
"Oh, yeah, I see, but I wish it had more edge surface."
"But then it wouldn't have the choil, which is another defining feature."
"Oh, yeah I see that."

So it's a design that takes a while to sink in for people. In the meantime, she loved the VG10 Manbug and now she owns at least half a dozen Spyderco.
 
TheOutdoorNerd said:
I was showing my sister the new Native. Her critique is fairly typical.

"I wish it were narrower."
"But then it wouldn't fit the trademark Spydie Hole and have that trademark blade shape."
"Oh, yeah, I see, but I wish it had more edge surface."
"But then it wouldn't have the choil, which is another defining feature."
"Oh, yeah I see that."

So it's a design that takes a while to sink in for people. In the meantime, she loved the VG10 Manbug and now she owns at least half a dozen Spyderco.
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Problem is that your sister was dead-on. The finger-choil on this particular knife really messes up the cutting-blade-length to handle ratio. While not quite as tall as most other Spyderco's because of the hole, I'd like to see the Native with a smaller hole to allow it to be not as tall. I find it very interesting that she (assuming she's not a knife person) was able to quickly point out those concerns. If she held it, I'd be curious to see if she noticed/mentioned the boxiness/chunkiness of this knife.
 
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