In another thread I mentioned I had sharpened the swedge on my Native.
This prompted another forumite to ask why I had done that.
Hm.
The elusive obvious.
Sharpening the swedge on the Native makes it a little dangerous to handle.
And I do mean only a little.
But it has lots of benefits.
Yes, in the beginning I cut myself too many times.
However, since then I have learned how to carry and handle my Native so that more than a year goes by between cuts.
Here in Oregon one can carry a double-edged knife unconcealed, but not concealed.
I carry my Native in my waistband, and a good lawyer could argue that either way.
Personally, I consider any folder concealed unless carried in a sheath.
Whether it sticks out of the top of a pocket or out of the top of my waistband seems the same to me: concealed, albeit unintentionally.
If it came to a legal issue, I would justify myself by saying, truthfully, that I did not intend to conceal the knife; as much of it shows as would show if carried in my pocket; and, culturally (Oregon culture), if not legally, we perceive a folder clipped inside a pocket as unconcealed.
I spot 'em all the time.
OK.
Arguable, eh?
As to the "why" of sharpening the swedge:
1. holding the knife in the paintbrush grip, with the thumb remaining in the Spyder hole, one can more easily and safely open boxes by pushing away from himself;
2. with the knife held in the reverse/ice-pick grip, little finger in the choil and the ham of the hand on the unsharpened portion of the back edge, one can either pull or push (try it); and,
3. regardless of grip, double-edged knives have an inherent advantage in a self-defense scenario, in terms of both the power of penetration and in the ability to cut either way.
I sharpened my swedge intially using a GATCO fixture to set the bevels, and then a crock-stick V to finish the edge.
It took about an hour from start to finish.
As far as handling the closed knife, I find keeping my ring and little fingers off of the knife, until ready to open it, sufficient to keep me from cutting myself.
That discipline with the ring and little fingers takes a while to develop and involves a few little cuts before the proper habits set in.
I notice when I move my Native to another carry position, due to temporary circumstances, I have to handle it a little more consciously, and I kinda nicked myself once.
Interestingly, I further notice I handle my other folders, most notably my Chinook II, as if it has a sharpened swedge (it doesn't).
I see no drawbacks to handling my folders as if they all have a sharpened swedge; and it has, in fact, set my hands up for a faster and more graceful opening than I experienced before sharpening the swedge of my Native.
Man, it looks sharpened, anyway; so, why not?
It amazes me, though, that no one else has done this.
I imagine someone has, and they just don't see a reason to talk about it.
One could very easily redesign the Native grip so it would cover the swedge and protect the user from a sharpened swedge.
I have a John Greco fixed-blade that has almost exactly the same shape a Native would have if it had a butt swell to cover the swedge, and the Greco feels so good in the hand.
This shape especially favors the saber, paintbrush and ice-pick grips; and sorta disfavors the baseball bat (thumb wrapped over the index finger) and hammer (thumb alongside and in front of the index finger) grips.
If Spyderco ever did create a design variation of the handle that covered the swedge, as I have described above, I imagine Spyderco's lawyers would advise Spyderco to deliver this knife with an unsharpened swedge, leaving the option to the buyer.
Given the low cost and high value of a Native, I have considered sending a new one to someone like Gene Osborn, and paying him to put a new handle on it (like the present Native but with a swedge-covering swell), just as an experiment.
If I ever have the spare cash laying around, I'll do it and let everyone know how it worked.
This prompted another forumite to ask why I had done that.
Hm.
The elusive obvious.
Sharpening the swedge on the Native makes it a little dangerous to handle.
And I do mean only a little.
But it has lots of benefits.
Yes, in the beginning I cut myself too many times.
However, since then I have learned how to carry and handle my Native so that more than a year goes by between cuts.
Here in Oregon one can carry a double-edged knife unconcealed, but not concealed.
I carry my Native in my waistband, and a good lawyer could argue that either way.
Personally, I consider any folder concealed unless carried in a sheath.
Whether it sticks out of the top of a pocket or out of the top of my waistband seems the same to me: concealed, albeit unintentionally.
If it came to a legal issue, I would justify myself by saying, truthfully, that I did not intend to conceal the knife; as much of it shows as would show if carried in my pocket; and, culturally (Oregon culture), if not legally, we perceive a folder clipped inside a pocket as unconcealed.
I spot 'em all the time.
OK.
Arguable, eh?
As to the "why" of sharpening the swedge:
1. holding the knife in the paintbrush grip, with the thumb remaining in the Spyder hole, one can more easily and safely open boxes by pushing away from himself;
2. with the knife held in the reverse/ice-pick grip, little finger in the choil and the ham of the hand on the unsharpened portion of the back edge, one can either pull or push (try it); and,
3. regardless of grip, double-edged knives have an inherent advantage in a self-defense scenario, in terms of both the power of penetration and in the ability to cut either way.
I sharpened my swedge intially using a GATCO fixture to set the bevels, and then a crock-stick V to finish the edge.
It took about an hour from start to finish.
As far as handling the closed knife, I find keeping my ring and little fingers off of the knife, until ready to open it, sufficient to keep me from cutting myself.
That discipline with the ring and little fingers takes a while to develop and involves a few little cuts before the proper habits set in.
I notice when I move my Native to another carry position, due to temporary circumstances, I have to handle it a little more consciously, and I kinda nicked myself once.
Interestingly, I further notice I handle my other folders, most notably my Chinook II, as if it has a sharpened swedge (it doesn't).
I see no drawbacks to handling my folders as if they all have a sharpened swedge; and it has, in fact, set my hands up for a faster and more graceful opening than I experienced before sharpening the swedge of my Native.
Man, it looks sharpened, anyway; so, why not?
It amazes me, though, that no one else has done this.
I imagine someone has, and they just don't see a reason to talk about it.
One could very easily redesign the Native grip so it would cover the swedge and protect the user from a sharpened swedge.
I have a John Greco fixed-blade that has almost exactly the same shape a Native would have if it had a butt swell to cover the swedge, and the Greco feels so good in the hand.
This shape especially favors the saber, paintbrush and ice-pick grips; and sorta disfavors the baseball bat (thumb wrapped over the index finger) and hammer (thumb alongside and in front of the index finger) grips.
If Spyderco ever did create a design variation of the handle that covered the swedge, as I have described above, I imagine Spyderco's lawyers would advise Spyderco to deliver this knife with an unsharpened swedge, leaving the option to the buyer.
Given the low cost and high value of a Native, I have considered sending a new one to someone like Gene Osborn, and paying him to put a new handle on it (like the present Native but with a swedge-covering swell), just as an experiment.
If I ever have the spare cash laying around, I'll do it and let everyone know how it worked.
