Native durable enough....?

batosai117

batosai117

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Jun 5, 2007
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Is the Native durable enough for a variety of outdoor tasks?

For some reason, and I'm sure the rest of you spyderco owners feel the same, I just got really attatched to my Native again after picking it up from Wally World yesterday. I've owned them before, but since the last one was sold off, I've really missed it.

Now that it's back, I would like to know if any of you have put your Native to the test? I realize that it isn't going to perform miracles (although the cool blade shape makes me wonder;)), but will it hold it's own under stress? If you have used your Native to an extreme, did it make it to cut another day?

Thanks ahead of time, J.
 
Let's put it this way, just the other day I had to trim a number of dry hardwood branches for my wife. I push cut the knots with the Native and the blade didn't roll, chip, or go dull. As well, I was torquing the handle quite a bit and everything held rock solid. I am very impressed with my Native. :thumbup:
 
I'd say if you bust the Native, you should have been using either a fixed blade or a pry bar :D If you like your Native, and it seems like you do, it should be plenty tough for most outdoor knife tasks. FRN is very durable stuff, and will flex before breaking.
 
Glad to hear such positive feedback, I myself am quite surprised how attatched I've become to the Native. I've always been more into folders with at least 3 1/2" blades, and usually of the Buck, Benchmade, or SOG line of designs. It's just something about spyderco I guess :D.
 
My Grandson and myself used our Native III's this past October on a 4-day camping/hunting trip. Cut wood, rope, dressed about 8 of those Man-eating tree rats (squirrels). Cut through the hide, cut through some bones, tested mine afterwards and it was still sharp enough take some hair off of my arm. Love those Natives!
 
pkdmslf said:
My Grandson and myself used our Native III's this past October on a 4-day camping/hunting trip. Cut wood, rope, dressed about 8 of those Man-eating tree rats (squirrels). Cut through the hide, cut through some bones, tested mine afterwards and it was still sharp enough take some hair off of my arm. Love those Natives!
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Great :thumbup:, glad to hear it could take so much punishment. I guess mine will be pampered compared to all of that :o.
 
My Native continues to impress me. I had to cut some polypropylene u-channel wear strips the other day. Rather than go back to the shop and get the hack saw - I cut them with the Native. I had to make 12 cuts through this 3/4 inch high-density wear resistant plastic. It took some serious pressure to make the cuts. The Native took it all in stride and still had a respectable edge afterwards. It didn't sail through stuff like a fresh edge but it still cut clean the rest of the day.
 
For home reno style abuse, the Native 3 with Spyder-edge of mine gets lots of use. A couple of summers ago it was used to finish cutting cedar siding planks from the house, I had gloves on and was putting alot of body weight on it. Held up fine. Trimming old caulking or cutting putty, carving lock recesses, stripping lumex, it does that and more. A very good, tough, nice sized knife.
 
Right now I'm not a Native-lover, I'm not realyl attracted to them but they are growing on me.

btw, great name, gotta love Rurouni Kenshin :)

Tom
 
LOOKABIRD said:
Right now I'm not a Native-lover, I'm not realyl attracted to them but they are growing on me.

btw, great name, gotta love Rurouni Kenshin :)

Tom
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Thanks, I grabbed that name for my email and halo account, although the numbers at the end are different, I got the 117 from the halo book ;). I was always the "man slayer" on halo 1 and 2, not so much on 3 cause I don't have a 360 yet :grumpy:.
 
I'm looking at both the Native and the Delica. Which would you guys say is better?
 
AARP said:
I'm looking at both the Native and the Delica. Which would you guys say is better?
Click to expand...

Native all the way
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It feels and looks more like a every day user to me,
But if there were no such thing, as a Native, then the Delica.
2cents3fo.gif
 
AARP said:
I'm looking at both the Native and the Delica. Which would you guys say is better?
Click to expand...
Tough call.....Spyderco has transformed me into a big fan of the forward choil grip, so I consequently prefer the Native. Now-a-days I find myself instinctively choking up on every knife I grip. That can be a dangerous habit on a knife without a guard !

Some folks, however, are not fond of the forward choil on the Native or the spear point blade shape....and hence much prefer the Delica. Being able to hold each in your hand would probably help you make your decision.

I especially like the ergonomic hand filling grip on the Native III.

There is no wrong call picking one over the other; both are REALLY great knives !

- regards
 
"There is no wrong call picking one over the other; both are REALLY great knives !" Gramps your right! REALLY great knives.
as they say diffrent pokes
poke5ri.gif
for different folks.
 
I have a Native III and a Delica. I prefer the Native III, even though I wish it did not have a choil. But Gramps is right. They are both good blades. I like the added heft and thickness of the Native blade. Has good balance, too.
 
I've only had my Native 2 weeks, but it's one of the BEST bargains for a great knife (especially at Wally-World).
Compact, sharp and tough.

What more could one ask for in a EDC blade? ~ ; - )
 
Maybe this review is of interest:
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Set/2292/nativerev.htm
For those that are not familiar with the name "Perrin": He has designed two of Spyderco's fixed blades (bowie and streetbeat) and is recognized as established MaA rather than a Mall Ninja.

Personally, I think the Native has great ergos, IMHO better than those of the Delica, but I am not too fond of the blade grind. I would love to see a Native full flat ground without the swedge, or maybe with just a "chamfered spine like on the Caly Jr., but that's just me. The Native has, IIRC a slightly thicker and sturdier handle than the Delica III, but that might just be an impression, I have never measured and compared the thickness. It is definitely sturdy enough for my purposes. I think in general, all of the FRN Spydies are a lot stronger and tougher than they look.

At the price, the Native is an absolute steal. One of the best bargains in the knifeworld.
 
We hosted an controlled archery elk hunt (Starkey Exp. Forest, NE OR) and I ended up helping the biologist do a necropsy on a very large bull (would have scored ~380 ). His scalpel couldn't even get through the hide, so I loaned him my Native. Afterwards, I just washed it in the creek...it didn't need re-sharpening. It's still my EDC. Small enough to be handy, tough enough for some really big jobs.
 
Thanks for the link HoB :thumbup:. I'm really impressed with the Native. Such a small knife, but damn the blade is sharp. I can't seem to get it dull :D.
 
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