Native IV Review

[notos&w]

I received this knife on July 29th and have carried it very consistently since. It is probably my second favorite knife of all time. My first is my Buck Mayo TNT which I have carried for about the last 7 years.

I find it to be a very fine knife. First off, I like the smooth CF. This apparently puts me in the minority. Weight is good; not to light, not too heavy. I don't mind the clip, although I prefer deep wire clips. I didn't look closely when I had the knife apart, but I believe the screws are actually in the metal liners, not the CF as has been reported elsewhere.

The Native design is very functional. The fans of the Native are legion, for good reason. VG10 steel isn't the newest, greatest steel but still remains in my top three. The venerable design is only helped by the full flat grind and tapering of the blade. I like the deep choil with jimping. I do not miss jimping on the spine. I also like having the spine even with the handle (in contrast to the traditional Spyderco hump on other designs). I do not miss the Boye detent at all. As a righty, 4 way mounting is not very important to me. I would prefer the knife without the extra holes.

I do not understand a few things about the knife. First, the lanyard is hole not close enough to the end and is very small. I don't know why it is necessary to begin with. Second, the opening hole seems misplaced in relation to the contours in the handle. I would move the hole back to the location of the word "Spyderco." As it is, I think it is too far forward. That said, I don't have any problems opening the knife.

I have two complaints, one serious and one relatively minor. The minor problem is the "birthmark" on the liner. It appears to be a minor crack but should be of no functional consequence. Obviously I'd prefer it not be there. The major problem is the lock's fit and finish. There is minor vertical blade play but that isn't too important or uncommon. My gripe is that the internal finishing was rough. Even my wife noticed it how poorly polished the surfaces were. When I first posted about this, I received no recognition of the problem (other than a post by Sal in a different thread where he said they were still working on improving the lock design for the FRN version) so I opted to disassemble the knife and polish the surfaces myself. A few minutes and some 400 grit sandpaper later, things are improved. It is still not as smooth as every other Spydie I have though. I haven't taken it back apart to see if I can get it smoother. This is extremely disappointing on a $160 knife.

In summary, I would recommend the knife to anyone looking for a high performing, high class knife. I admit there are likely better values out there but if you want a solid performer with fantastic looks, consider the knife. I like it, you just might too. I am eager to see the FRN USA model.

[spoonrobot]

What surfaces did you polish? My Native IV was a little rough but once I added lubrication it smoothed out and was on par with most other lockbacks. I found the hole a little more difficult than the FRN Native due to the lack of beveling on the handle.

I've noted that lock bars and some of the internal faces of liners have been pretty rough but I haven't noticed any rough finishing on any moving parts. My Barong and Khukri have very obvious marks from dull stamping machines on the interior of the liners but they're kind of hard to spot.

[notos&w]

What surfaces did you polish?

The rounded rear portion of the blade and the mating surfaces of the lock bar. I had already tried adding lubrication. It was not that. You could feel the imperfections/irregularities as you opened the knife.

The other internal surfaces are not visibly rough, as I have seen on some other knives.

[dialex]

Thanks for the review and enjoy your fine knife.
I think that the Native IV is an improvement, but I heard that many preffer the older model. Anyway, I like the new handles' shape better (not to mention the full flat grind)...

[bh49]

I find it to be a very fine knife. First off, I like the smooth CF. This apparently puts me in the minority. Weight is good; not to light, not too heavy. I don't mind the clip, although I prefer deep wire clips.
The Native design is very functional. The fans of the Native are legion, for good reason. VG10 steel isn't the newest, greatest steel but still remains in my top three. The venerable design is only helped by the full flat grind and tapering of the blade. I like the deep choil with jimping. I do not miss jimping on the spine. I do not miss the Boye detent at all.

In summary, I would recommend the knife to anyone looking for a high performing, high class knife. I admit there are likely better values out there but if you want a solid performer with fantastic looks, consider the knife. I like it, you just might too. I am eager to see the FRN USA model.

+1 on all these point
Very good review, thank you. Native 4 is one of my favorite knives as well. I like it a lot. Just two little things I am not crazy about is:swedge and clip. Price also could be a little lower for CF/VG10 combination. IIRC, once Sal commented regarding the price, that this knife made by contractor, who is one person company, so quality, and F&F should be about custom level.
To tell the truth I didn't see F&F better than on my Spydercos made by Moki.
Both of my Native had the "birthmark".
Still, I love this knife and would recommend to anybody.