Native 5 Lightweight Signature Knife with 2.95" CPM S30V Steel Blade and Black FRN Handle - PlainEdge - C41PBK5

Trying to round out my collection of Spyderco knives, I really wanted the Native 5 lightweight as another option for my EDC rotation, and I wasn’t disappointed. Sharp out of the box, easily carried, and the CPM S30V steel is easy to resharpen after being close to being abused. It’s a hard knife to pass up if you’re on the fence for a quality, lightweight, and durable blade that you’ve been looking for. I know, I’ve been carrying a less expensive knife for a long time, for cutting boxes and stuff, but once I got this, it helped me understand why value isn’t always a lower price, it’s also how much time you spend fixing something that you shouldn’t have to fix every week or so.

I love this knife. I have carried a Spyderco Delica 4 and the smaller Dragonfly for years. Although the Delica is a great knife and served me well, I was never thrilled with the look of it. The blade narrowing near the pivot just gave it an urban street look to me and I feel a little self conscious depending where I am using it. Not to say its a bad knife, I have several Delica's. They are good knives. I really liked the Native's blade and handle from the catalog picture and the actual knife did not disappoint when I got it in hand. It just felt right and looked good too. I thought long and hard about whether to get the Native with the FRN hangle or G10. I decided to go with the FRN because of the weight. The FRN model does not have liners and it is lighter, but there is nothing flimsy about this knife. It is perfectly capable of doing anything I need. It feels more secure in my hand than the Delica for heavier cutting jobs. At 2.5oz, it feels comfortable in my pocket. In fact, lighter than my G10 Delica. The knife came nicely sharpened. Of course I had to dull it up shredding cardboard boxes and cutting rope. It held its edge great. It didn't stay shaving sharp, but it kept cutting until I got tired. It was easy to touch up on the Sharpmaker. I have many Spyderco's and this is the first that easily matched the 30 degree Sharpmaker angles with little to no work on my first sharpening. The S35VN steel sharpens a lot like VG10 but stays sharp longer. Its impossible for me to say how much better than VG10 so I'll just leave it at "I'm very pleased with this knife. No regrets. Love it". That said, being a collector/user, I ordered the S110V version to compare. Like the S35vn, the S110 lost its shaving edge during the cardboard shredding. Also like the S35vn, it kept cutting until I was tired. But its much trickier to sharpen. I can do it pretty quickly on diamonds though. I still struggle to get it hair popping shaving sharp but its not worth the trouble because it will quickly get back to a utility edge. On the plus side, that utility edge seems to last forever. I realize I might not be experienced in proper technique with s110v, but I I prefer s35vn. Its just easier to keep the s35v really sharp and its no slouch on edge retention. When its slightly dull, I can bring it back in seconds. I don't do a lot of rough heavy duty cutting. My everyday cutting is more like opening plastic sacks, padded envelopes, cloth bags, cutting string, bubble wrap and some rope. I prefer a level of sharpness that is tough to get and keep with the s110v. The s110v seems to quickly fall below what I want. It often fails to cleanly slice through some of those thin plastics and paper that I cut. I'd say the s110v is more toothy and requires more sawing when cutting certain things where the s35vn stays sharp enough to push through. With either steel, you are getting a great knife. If you are on the fence of what steel to get, I'd say unless you are really looking to try an S110v knife, go for the S35VN. It won't disappoint. If you are not an experienced sharpener, I would also steer you to the S35VN. S110v is different, not necessarily better. As a side note, Spyderco is changing the s35vn to s30vn on the FRN Native sometime in 2018. It should not be a noticeable change.

I didva ton of research and wanted a premium steel made in the USA knife that I could carry. Based on the knives I have and use most, a 3” blade and overall near 7” works best and this or Benchmades mini grip fit the bill. $100 is more than enough for a knife and more seemed like overkill. I have another Spyderco that has really grown on me and just love the more interesting and symmetrical shape. I was worried that the FRN would feel cheap but it doesn’t. The texture is great, the knife is amazing. Razor sharp, awesome finish and great point on it. I really love the made in golden, Colorado, USA, earth on the back. Ergonomics are perfect and has the forward Choil for bigger hands, but I can use the knife without. I bought this pink one so that I could dye it, probably a deep blue or red. I must say the Pink is actually a pretty nice and vibrant color and for a good cause. Love that Spyderco hole too, but it will take time to break in the action with the back lock. This thing is sturdy, light, and super functional. Sadly, my fiancée, who isn’t into knives one bit, grabbed it from me about 10 seconds after i opened it and claimed it for herself. Had no idea how much it was or anything about it, but as picky as she is that should tell you everything you need to know. She loves it and fiddled with it all night during a movie. To address other reviews, yes the picture is dated. Spyderco went from s35 to sv30. I had to do a tad bit of research to know that there’s not a human in earth that can distinguish between the two for using it. They’re both great steels and unless you for some reason need a touch up on toughness, then I guess pay $40 more for something else. Kinda silly to give zero stars for since it’s NOT a fake, and not really inferior in any way.

The only thing that held me back from getting a Native 5 was the fact that it has a back lock. I’m a huge fan of Spyderco compression locks and I have a dozen of them with it. But the blade shape and size of the Native 5 is what made me take the plunge. First thing I did was to add lube then played with the action for a while to help break it in. After just a half hour of that I’m able 1-finger flick it open already. The back lock is super stable and with a firm press the blade drops well where you can single-finger close it. And, I immediately replaced the clip with a Lynch deep carry which is so much better than the stock one. This is also my second Maxamet blade (the other is a sage 5) and this one is mind bending sharp! You can shave hairs right off your arm. My only regret is that I took so long to get a Native 5. Can already see this becoming my favorite!

very good knife....steel is excellent.....size and weight is great for overall use

Good size, light weight and nice salt series!

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Couteaux renomé, ultra leger de bonne dimension avec tranchant hors norme mais pour le faire affuté il faut des affûteurs diamantés. Aucune boutique autour de moi ne les affutes donc tres compliqué pour la maintenance dans l’avenir

Super couteau, pour ma part je l'ai reçu en S35VN donc parfait.

Muy buenos materiales de construccion,una obra de arte un poco pesada,robusta y consistente las Native tienen un gran diseño,para la coleccion.

Ein wundervolles, out of the box sehr scharfes, EDC Messer. Der Stahl ist unglaublich hart und die Klingenergonomie, typisch für das Native, grossartig