What came first, the Spyderco Native Chief, or the Steel Will Sedge?

David Mary

David Mary

pass the mustard - after you cut it
Moderator
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Jul 23, 2015
Messages
18,851
I can't help but think one was inspired by the other. Anyone know which knife was released first?

Native Chief.jpg

Sedge.jpg

Between the two knives, I like the size of the Spyderco over the Steel Will, but I like the lock type of the Steel Will, and the handle shape (though I would round the front of the scales more like the Chief), and lack of a finger choil. I owned a Chief before I sold it, but never held a Sedge before. Wondering if anyone who's used one or both would care to share your experiences, comparisons or even just your thoughts on how these two knives might compare.
 
Sedge: June 2020
Chief: May/June 2019

The Chief is one knife in a family, David (including the Native 5, for instance), all sharing design elements.

I agree with you, you can call the Sedge inspired by the Chief, if not worse.

Roland.
 
Here is a Chief family photo:

20210401_140621-01.jpeg


and here the prototype (designed by Sal in 1999?):

capture-decc81cran-2021-04-01-acc80-00.52.21.png
 
The Chief design began in 1994 with the Renegade, which is basically a Chief with a saber grind clip point. They also had the shorter Blackhawk model which evolved into the Native. The Renegade pattern is also very similar to the Benchmade AFCK, which was in development at the same time. The Renegade introduced both the 50/50 choil and humpless profile to Spyderco's catalog.
 
FWIW Blades Canada has 38 of the s90V CF version in stock at the moment. 🤷‍♂️
 
ferider said:
Sedge: June 2020
Chief: May/June 2019

The Chief is one knife in a family, David (including the Native 5, for instance), all sharing design elements.

I agree with you, you can call the Sedge inspired by the Chief, if not worse.

Roland.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I knew about the Native history, forgot about the renegade and AFCK, though I had seen the photos before. I guess I didn't want to word it to seem like I was implying the Sedge is copying the Chief, but the overall look is so similar I have to admit my mind went there.
 
David Mary said:
I can't help but think one was inspired by the other. Anyone know which knife was released first?

View attachment 1603680

View attachment 1603681

Between the two knives, I like the size of the Spyderco over the Steel Will, but I like the lock type of the Steel Will, and the handle shape (though I would round the front of the scales more like the Chief), and lack of a finger choil. I owned a Chief before I sold it, but never held a Sedge before. Wondering if anyone who's used one or both would care to share your experiences, comparisons or even just your thoughts on how these two knives might compare.
Click to expand...

There are two versions of the Sedge, 3.4" and 4"; if you like the size of the Native Chief, the large Sedge would be pretty much the same blade length (Spyderco is listed at 4.08" including the choil).
 
I think that the Sedge looks a lot more like the Benchmade AFCK.

That is why I bought one, because I missed out on the AFCK.

I think that there is enough differences in it for it not to be a clone though.
 
GCG199 said:
I think that there is enough differences in it for it not to be a clone though.
Click to expand...

True, there are significant differences, and it does avoid trademark issues from what I can tell.
 
Danke42 said:
Great. Now I need a Native Chief.
Click to expand...

If you have suspected based on experience that you might like this knife, and you like finger choils, then my guess is you'll love this knife.

ferider said:
My PJ knife.
Click to expand...

This is exactly how I carried mine when I had it. Super light, super slicey. One of the better Spyderco lock backs I've owned. Lack of a full length cutting edge became a deal breaker for me and it made the sell list, after I had removed the handle bump and reground it thinner behind the edge. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad slicer at all, but once I figured out how to dial in the cutting performance of my customs I felt I had to mod all my production knives to do the same. 😊

1626912220143.png

I reground it to .012" behind the edge, though I probably could have gone thinner still. Sold it just over a year ago. I missed it from time to time, while it was still imprinted in muscle memory.

The Sedge with a liner lock and full length cutting edge is very tempting, but I can't afford a folder purchase now, nor justify one when I have my Resilience that I modded to check all my boxes. And it is tip up only, and I prefer tip down. And the Sedge is missing a most important feature that Chief has, which is tip down carry. So I likely won't touch it, even though it looks pretty good.
 
I ve been interested in the Native Chief for a while.
Looking at the pictures in this thread reminds me of the knife I've carried several times in the past week, the Civvivi Governor. Similar blade shape and length (actually, at sub 4 inches, a better length for legality in some states) and hollow ground for good slicing. Only my second D2 blade and this holds an edge better than my first (Rat 1). Well constructed and costs about 1/3 the price of the Native Chief.
 
Governor looks very attractive! If I were a thumb stud guy I would be interested in one but I think I'm at the point where lack of an opening hole is nearly always going to be a deal breaker for me, unless the knife is something extremely special.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top