Native v. Endura4

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Buckles

Joined
Dec 16, 2009
Messages
545
well its time for a new knife. last time i bought a kershaw, and the time before that a benchmade, so its only right to go with spyderco this time. right now im looking at the native and the endura4 as my 2 choices. i like both blades steels so thats not really an issue for me. and the knives arent much different in size either. what are some of yalls opinion? anyone own both? which one do yall like better?
 
id go with the endura right now while they are selling them with the Full flat ground blade and the awesome colors, Im really enjoying mine. not sure how long they will be available for
 
Honestly the whole color thing isn't really something that will make me choose one over the other. I actually prefer just a plain black scale. I'll probably end up getting a pink native for my gf though.
 
if you need the larger blade go for the endura. personally i like the shape of the delica over the native for a similar sized blade.
 
I prefer the Native over the Endura personally. I have both, my Endura sits on my computer desk while the Native is always in my RF pocket. It seems if I want/need a bigger blade, the Manix 2 is always very close at hand.
 
The Native is nice and I have been carrying it but I like my Endura 4 G10 better. I like having liners better than not. Both are great but that is my preference.
 
Buckles said:
Honestly the whole color thing isn't really something that will make me choose one over the other. I actually prefer just a plain black scale. I'll probably end up getting a pink native for my gf though.
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It's not so much about the colors, it's about the blade grind. A full flat ground blade as opposed to a hollow ground blade with a swedge. The full flat grind is a newly adapted change to a classic icon knife.

Endura - Longer blade, more clip options, saber or FFG blade, colors, VG-10 steel, easier to sharpen
Native - Shorter blade, better ergonomics, black or carbon fiber scales, CPM S30V steel, tougher to sharpen

It depends what you want to do with the knife. My preference is the Native, it's a bit more compact and the steel is terrific. As for the Endura, still a great larger size knife, flat ground blade seems prefered for slicing
 
i get what you are saying. i actually prefer the shorter look of the native. how is the edge retention on the vg-10 compared to the s30v? ive heard both are great steels but they each have their advantages.
 
the pin construction of the native makes it a bust for me. with screw construction, you can adjust blade centering, blade play, and blade retention. endura or delica for me. i would even prefer persistence over native.
 
Buckles said:
i get what you are saying. i actually prefer the shorter look of the native. how is the edge retention on the vg-10 compared to the s30v? ive heard both are great steels but they each have their advantages.
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With the right sharpening rig, you can sharpen either to a great edge. In my humble opinion, I think the CPM S30V holds an edge noticebaly better. ;)
 
so i have pretty much decided on the endura. now the question is what color to get? aside from the purple, i wouldnt mind carrying any of them in my pocket everyday. any suggestions?
 
singularity35 said:
the pin construction of the native makes it a bust for me. with screw construction, you can adjust blade centering, blade play, and blade retention. endura or delica for me. i would even prefer persistence over native.
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I don't know your experience in knives, I will not judge you based on what you said.

The Native I that I own has the unremovable pin construction. I do not find it as a problem, it is not cumbersome to clean after or care for. In fact, the Pin construction makes this knife light, there are no Steel liners to secure Torx screws. Cleaning the Native takes the most, a minute. Take it from me, the Native's construction is what makes it a light and yet strong blade. If you're not one to fret over stains in the inside tang of the knife, then the Native is your absolute best choice. Keep in mind I'm not biased by any means, I own multiple Endura's and it's hard to compare them.
 
xtestifyx said:
I don't know your experience in knives, I will not judge you based on what you said.

The Native I that I own has the unremovable pin construction. I do not find it as a problem, it is not cumbersome to clean after or care for. In fact, the Pin construction makes this knife light, there are no Steel liners to secure Torx screws. Cleaning the Native takes the most, a minute. Take it from me, the Native's construction is what makes it a light and yet strong blade. If you're not one to fret over stains in the inside tang of the knife, then the Native is your absolute best choice. Keep in mind I'm not biased by any means, I own multiple Endura's and it's hard to compare them.
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actually I have only little experience with knives, but when your native develops blade play, what do you do? I would love a native with screw construction though. Just my humble opinion, I would prefer lower grade of materials to one with a higher grade but cannot be tuned or tweaked. For instance my silky smooth endura started getting stiff after just two weeks. I cleaned with dish washing liquid then dried with compressed air and oiled lightly. it was still stiff. I took it apart and found out that threadlock had gotten inside on the liner. After scraping off, it was back to silky smooth. Not to knock on pin construction but i couldn't have done that otherwise. also when i got this endura it had a little side to side play. after some adjustments on the pivot the play was gone and lockup was quite solid.
 
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singularity35 said:
actually I have only little experience with knives, but when your native develops blade play, what do you do? I would love a native with screw construction though. Just my humble opinion, I would prefer lower grade of materials to one with a higher grade but cannot be tuned or tweaked. For instance my silky smooth endura started getting stiff after just two weeks. I cleaned with dish washing liquid then dried with compressed air and oiled lightly. it was still stiff. I took it apart and found out that threadlock had gotten inside on the liner. After scraping off, it was back to silky smooth. Not to knock on pin construction but i couldn't have done that otherwise. also when i got this endura it had a little side to side play. after some adjustments on the pivot the play was gone and lockup was quite solid.
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Not to step on you or anything, but I think experience has quite a bit of influence on how well a design works, I also take it you'll never own a Pin construction knife based on said speculation.

Now, to answer your questions...When the Native develops blade play, well it's a Pin Construction, nothing will get loose because the pins are like bones and the FRN handles are trapped within the ends. Your cleaning method sounds very effective, I take the route of using Isopropyl Alcohol 70%+.

About the "gunked up" Pivot now, that issue is really based on the user's fault. A lot of modern day samples are similar to "What if I dropped Loctite in the Pivot bushings?" The issue remains to the one who drops Loctite on his favorite knives' Pivots. The analogy of accidentally pumping not gas but water into your car as fuel, that's a user fault and the car will likely require a Mechanic to remove the water from combustion parts.

Since every single one of my Lock-backs are Granite solid from previous owner and Factory, I cannot comment on blade-play. All my Spyderco knives are tuned to perfection, and the price you pay for them justifies repeated business :thumbup:

I like debating, but there won't be a winner from two hard headed people :cool:
 
I found the Endura to be the more useful design. I couldn't get used to the choil on the Native, and you can't really use the knife without it.

That said, I've sold both of them and stuck with my Delicas.
 
A couple thoughts, mainly to reinforce what has been posted. I have a Native. I love the S30V steel. It really is amazing stuff. However, I also don't like the choil. For me, it removes usable blade. For example, Tenacious is one of the very best shaped Spydies to me. All the blade is usable.

The second thought worth repeating is that the new Enduras have the full flat grind. I don't have one, but I bet they're great slicers.

If it was me, I'd want a full flat grind Native in carbon fiber scales. (Is that called a Sage?)
 
Chewy1 said:
A couple thoughts, mainly to reinforce what has been posted. I have a Native. I love the S30V steel. It really is amazing stuff. However, I also don't like the choil. For me, it removes usable blade. For example, Tenacious is one of the very best shaped Spydies to me. All the blade is usable.
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:thumbup:

That's why I keep saying we need an S30V (or something similar) Tenacious.

But you know, we're in the minority. Most people like choils (they like using their knives by gripping the choil between their forefingers and thumbs, a concept I can't understand).
 
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