- Joined
- Apr 15, 2002
- Messages
- 3,376
Spyderco Native Review
I went to walmart today and got a Spyderco native in CPM S30V blade
steel. it is the first knife I own in this blade steel, and I decided
to put it to a few cutting tests to see what it could do. This will be
my edc when I am not at work, so these tests weren't severe or abusive.
I find the blade a little short for general use on the boat, so I plan
on carrying this in my street clothes for utility purposes.
Specs-
length overall 7" (178 mm)
blade length 3 1/8" (80 mm)
blade steel CPM-S30V
length closed 3 15/16" (100 mm)
cutting edge 2 5/8" (67 mm)
weight 2.65 oz (75.2 g)
hole diameter 15/32" (12 mm)
blade thickness 1/8" (3 mm)
handle material FRN
First Impressions-
I have had natives before so I knew what I was getting, and I
wasn't let down. The knife was designed for ergonomic, with a
utilitarian shaped blade, weight reducing swedge, deep choil for
precise controlled cuts, and the texturing on the handle to reduce
slippage both forwards and backwards in the hand. I find the knife
itself to be a good all purpose "Jack of all trades" knife.
Fit and Finish-
Excellent. The native was very comfortable in the hand using
several different grips. It opened smootly, with no gritty feeling,
locked up tight, with no blade play either vertically or horizontally,
and the edge was hair popping sharp right out of the box. The clip is
tight, with no play to it, and the FRN handles are tight to the
backspring, with no noticeable gaps. I got two from walmart yesterday,
and both of them were in the typical condition expected of a spyderco
product. It shaves hair with the lightest pressure and easily slices
free hanging newspaper with both the push and pull cut. The tip of the
knife seems to be somewhat thin, and I expect it to be gone the first
time I use it on something solid.
Ergonomics-
Again, excellent. Cutting without fatigue to the hands is what
this knife was designed for. The choil makes it confortable to choke up
on the knife's handle, to place the hand closer to the cutting edge for
more control over the cutting medium . The second choil, behind the
first, allows for more control when using a push cut. This is what is
promoted in the description of the knife, and with a few cutting tests,
I found it to be quite true. The knife isn't particularly heavy, but
has the feel of weight to it, due to the balace of blade and handle.
The balance point is slightly to the handle side of the pivot pin, on
my knife at least. Therefore the knife feels like it can perform beefy
cutting chores, but is really quite a lightweight knife.
Cutting-
Plastic water bottles (.5L or 1 pint, .9 fl oz)
I cut three bottles. One was in a "paring" cut, one was
a "sawing" cut, and one was a combination of the two.
Bottle # 1-
I cut this bottle in a "paring cut" slicing a spiral
of plastic in a spring or slinky shape from the bottle. S30V easily cut
through the relatively thin plastic with little effort. After this
first cut, the blade's edge was 99%. A section of the cutting edge,
near the ricasso, about a millimeter in length, seemed to either be
chipped, or the burr folded over. I discovered this about 2/3rds of the
way cutting through the first bottle, and noticed it when it
continuously hung up making the paring cut. The edge is otherwise
unaffected as it still slices newspaper, and shaves hair with little
effort.
Bottle # 2-
I used a paring cut for half of this bottle, and a
"sawing" type cut for the other half. I chose these cuts, because they
are the types that most people unfamiliar with using a knife tend to
use. And this knife, at walmart, is geared towards the
non-descriminating knife buyer it seems. So I wanted to see how it
would work for them. I made 1 continuous paring cut for half of the
bottle, and 6 sawing cuts to finish taking it apart into strips. The
edge was seemingly unharmed.
Bottle # 3-
4 sawing style cuts. the edge was still excellent, as
in, it shaved a patch of arm hair with little to no effort, and easily
sliced free hanging newspaper.
Leather scraps-
I cut a 1/4" wide, 6" long strip into pieces with six
pulling cuts. It did not affect the edge that I could tell
I then made five lengthwise cuts through a 3"X3" piece of
leather. Again, I was not able to see a difference in the
sharpness. I like this S30V so far.
Let Me say so far that it has been comfortable cutting with the
belly of the blade, with my index finger in the first choil, and my
thumb on the jimping on the blade's spine above the hole as well as
with my index finger upon the blades spine, and cutting with the point
of the knife. I made all the cuts on the leather with a plastic cutting
board beneath it.
Cotton Cloth-
I made 2 one foot long cuts in a piece of cotton hospital
scrubs, and the knife cut cleanly through them, without hanging up on
the cloth, tearing the cloth, or even fraying the edges of the cuts.
This was a very clean cut, and was made with as little pressure as
possible in the free hanging cloth.
Cardboard-
Next, I cut some cardboard. the first piece I used was an
18"X3" strip, which I cut into pieces with 10 cuts, 3" long each. I
then took a 24"X 12" cardboard case for 32 12 fl oz cans and cut that
into pieces. I made
(4) 2" cuts with a saber grip. this was the most
comfortable grip for me.
(2) 12" cuts- 1 in the saber grip, and one with my
index finger on the spine of the knife.
(2) 24" cuts in the saber grip.
The point half of the knife shaves effortlessly, but now, the
half of the cutting edge towards the ricasso does not shave at all, but
still CUTS very very easily. I stropped it on the cardboard back to
shaving sharpness, slightly less than it was out of the box, owing to
the tiny chip at the base of the blade.
(1) 12" cut through the base of the box
In order to complete this c ut, I had to exert significant
pressure, pushing downwards on the blade. I started in the saber grip,
and drew the knife towards me, from ricasso to tip, but the blade
tended to hang up about 1/3 of the way through the cut. I shifted to a
"hammer" grip to complete the cut. The cardboard did NOT curl beneath
the blade, which led me to believe that it was the blade SHAPE, not the
sharpness which was responsible for the difficulty here. The blade is
hollow ground, and does not lend itself to fine slicing. I did however
apply enough pressure to partially disengage the lock, and the knife
DOES have the boye dent.
(25) 2" cuts through cardboard. These cuts were not
effortless, but again, I think it is more due to the shape of the
blade. It is excellent for a utility blade, but as a slicer, I'd
probably want something flat ground.
After cutting the cardboard, the knife no longer shaves hair
without "pulling" at it, and it did not slice the newspaper with a push
cut without tearing it. The pull cut on the newspaper took a little
more pressure than it did at the beginning of these cutting tests but
the knife is by no means dull. It was still sharp enough to cut through
3/8" nylon three strand dock line with one cut, pushing the edge away
from me with the line bent around the blade, and the knife in the
bight. I made 2 cuts like this, and then made 20 pressure cuts (rocking
style cuts) on the 1/4" strands of nylon that made up the piece of
rope. The native made short work chopping the nylon up. This was on a
plastic cutting board. The rope did not affect the sharpness of the
knife very much.
Overall impression-
I like this knife. It is going to be my edc for a
while. My first time using s30v impressed me with the edge retention. I
have yet to sharpen it on the sharpmaker, so I don't know how easily it
will take a sharp edge, but I don't think I'll need to sharpen it for
some time. It is a comfortable knife to use and carry, and it seems to
be a good all around edc for general cutting chores. I probably won't
take it on the boat, where I prefer a longer blade, but it will be my
"off duty" edc for a while I think. It is a GREAT knife for the value
(around $40), easily accessible, inexpensive, and excellent quality (as
expected from spyderco). Get one of these. You won't regret it.
Pete
I went to walmart today and got a Spyderco native in CPM S30V blade
steel. it is the first knife I own in this blade steel, and I decided
to put it to a few cutting tests to see what it could do. This will be
my edc when I am not at work, so these tests weren't severe or abusive.
I find the blade a little short for general use on the boat, so I plan
on carrying this in my street clothes for utility purposes.
Specs-
length overall 7" (178 mm)
blade length 3 1/8" (80 mm)
blade steel CPM-S30V
length closed 3 15/16" (100 mm)
cutting edge 2 5/8" (67 mm)
weight 2.65 oz (75.2 g)
hole diameter 15/32" (12 mm)
blade thickness 1/8" (3 mm)
handle material FRN
First Impressions-
I have had natives before so I knew what I was getting, and I
wasn't let down. The knife was designed for ergonomic, with a
utilitarian shaped blade, weight reducing swedge, deep choil for
precise controlled cuts, and the texturing on the handle to reduce
slippage both forwards and backwards in the hand. I find the knife
itself to be a good all purpose "Jack of all trades" knife.
Fit and Finish-
Excellent. The native was very comfortable in the hand using
several different grips. It opened smootly, with no gritty feeling,
locked up tight, with no blade play either vertically or horizontally,
and the edge was hair popping sharp right out of the box. The clip is
tight, with no play to it, and the FRN handles are tight to the
backspring, with no noticeable gaps. I got two from walmart yesterday,
and both of them were in the typical condition expected of a spyderco
product. It shaves hair with the lightest pressure and easily slices
free hanging newspaper with both the push and pull cut. The tip of the
knife seems to be somewhat thin, and I expect it to be gone the first
time I use it on something solid.
Ergonomics-
Again, excellent. Cutting without fatigue to the hands is what
this knife was designed for. The choil makes it confortable to choke up
on the knife's handle, to place the hand closer to the cutting edge for
more control over the cutting medium . The second choil, behind the
first, allows for more control when using a push cut. This is what is
promoted in the description of the knife, and with a few cutting tests,
I found it to be quite true. The knife isn't particularly heavy, but
has the feel of weight to it, due to the balace of blade and handle.
The balance point is slightly to the handle side of the pivot pin, on
my knife at least. Therefore the knife feels like it can perform beefy
cutting chores, but is really quite a lightweight knife.
Cutting-
Plastic water bottles (.5L or 1 pint, .9 fl oz)
I cut three bottles. One was in a "paring" cut, one was
a "sawing" cut, and one was a combination of the two.
Bottle # 1-
I cut this bottle in a "paring cut" slicing a spiral
of plastic in a spring or slinky shape from the bottle. S30V easily cut
through the relatively thin plastic with little effort. After this
first cut, the blade's edge was 99%. A section of the cutting edge,
near the ricasso, about a millimeter in length, seemed to either be
chipped, or the burr folded over. I discovered this about 2/3rds of the
way cutting through the first bottle, and noticed it when it
continuously hung up making the paring cut. The edge is otherwise
unaffected as it still slices newspaper, and shaves hair with little
effort.
Bottle # 2-
I used a paring cut for half of this bottle, and a
"sawing" type cut for the other half. I chose these cuts, because they
are the types that most people unfamiliar with using a knife tend to
use. And this knife, at walmart, is geared towards the
non-descriminating knife buyer it seems. So I wanted to see how it
would work for them. I made 1 continuous paring cut for half of the
bottle, and 6 sawing cuts to finish taking it apart into strips. The
edge was seemingly unharmed.
Bottle # 3-
4 sawing style cuts. the edge was still excellent, as
in, it shaved a patch of arm hair with little to no effort, and easily
sliced free hanging newspaper.
Leather scraps-
I cut a 1/4" wide, 6" long strip into pieces with six
pulling cuts. It did not affect the edge that I could tell
I then made five lengthwise cuts through a 3"X3" piece of
leather. Again, I was not able to see a difference in the
sharpness. I like this S30V so far.
Let Me say so far that it has been comfortable cutting with the
belly of the blade, with my index finger in the first choil, and my
thumb on the jimping on the blade's spine above the hole as well as
with my index finger upon the blades spine, and cutting with the point
of the knife. I made all the cuts on the leather with a plastic cutting
board beneath it.
Cotton Cloth-
I made 2 one foot long cuts in a piece of cotton hospital
scrubs, and the knife cut cleanly through them, without hanging up on
the cloth, tearing the cloth, or even fraying the edges of the cuts.
This was a very clean cut, and was made with as little pressure as
possible in the free hanging cloth.
Cardboard-
Next, I cut some cardboard. the first piece I used was an
18"X3" strip, which I cut into pieces with 10 cuts, 3" long each. I
then took a 24"X 12" cardboard case for 32 12 fl oz cans and cut that
into pieces. I made
(4) 2" cuts with a saber grip. this was the most
comfortable grip for me.
(2) 12" cuts- 1 in the saber grip, and one with my
index finger on the spine of the knife.
(2) 24" cuts in the saber grip.
The point half of the knife shaves effortlessly, but now, the
half of the cutting edge towards the ricasso does not shave at all, but
still CUTS very very easily. I stropped it on the cardboard back to
shaving sharpness, slightly less than it was out of the box, owing to
the tiny chip at the base of the blade.
(1) 12" cut through the base of the box
In order to complete this c ut, I had to exert significant
pressure, pushing downwards on the blade. I started in the saber grip,
and drew the knife towards me, from ricasso to tip, but the blade
tended to hang up about 1/3 of the way through the cut. I shifted to a
"hammer" grip to complete the cut. The cardboard did NOT curl beneath
the blade, which led me to believe that it was the blade SHAPE, not the
sharpness which was responsible for the difficulty here. The blade is
hollow ground, and does not lend itself to fine slicing. I did however
apply enough pressure to partially disengage the lock, and the knife
DOES have the boye dent.
(25) 2" cuts through cardboard. These cuts were not
effortless, but again, I think it is more due to the shape of the
blade. It is excellent for a utility blade, but as a slicer, I'd
probably want something flat ground.
After cutting the cardboard, the knife no longer shaves hair
without "pulling" at it, and it did not slice the newspaper with a push
cut without tearing it. The pull cut on the newspaper took a little
more pressure than it did at the beginning of these cutting tests but
the knife is by no means dull. It was still sharp enough to cut through
3/8" nylon three strand dock line with one cut, pushing the edge away
from me with the line bent around the blade, and the knife in the
bight. I made 2 cuts like this, and then made 20 pressure cuts (rocking
style cuts) on the 1/4" strands of nylon that made up the piece of
rope. The native made short work chopping the nylon up. This was on a
plastic cutting board. The rope did not affect the sharpness of the
knife very much.
Overall impression-
I like this knife. It is going to be my edc for a
while. My first time using s30v impressed me with the edge retention. I
have yet to sharpen it on the sharpmaker, so I don't know how easily it
will take a sharp edge, but I don't think I'll need to sharpen it for
some time. It is a comfortable knife to use and carry, and it seems to
be a good all around edc for general cutting chores. I probably won't
take it on the boat, where I prefer a longer blade, but it will be my
"off duty" edc for a while I think. It is a GREAT knife for the value
(around $40), easily accessible, inexpensive, and excellent quality (as
expected from spyderco). Get one of these. You won't regret it.
Pete
