Native Chief first and ongoing impressions thread

[Enactive]

The Chief continues to please! On today's walk, i used it to chop some overgrown blackberry bushes. Then i found this nice backlit web.

[Enactive]

Cheers to all! Mid summer toast to Spyderco! The Chief keeps on delivering.

Smoked sockeye and a li'l IPA.

[Genotoxic]

Just received the chief a few days ago! Originally I said I wasn't going to buy just the plain S30V version but I took my Maxamet Native 5 LW to work with me for a couple days and that got me thinking maybe it needed a big brother... few youtube videos later and guess what showed up at the door.

Really surprised by how nicely done the knife is, the little pamphlet all Spydercos come with says that its basically been a design in the works for pushing 20 years now and it shows. It is definitely a huge knife with some presence but they also managed to make it super slim and handle to blade efficiency is great. Weight is amazing for its size and its as solid as I could ask for... no need for steel liners here.

If you've ever used a Native basically all the ergo and cutting performance transitions over to here, this knife is just scaled up unlike the Shaman which is a significantly different knife. That being said, with the extra length the behind the coil grip is amazing and I can almost choke all the way back behind the primary finger groove and still get a full grip. Not matter what way I grab the knife I'm always able to get a comfortable grip. Also with a stretched out blade I find the first inch at the tip cuts like a demon because its so thinned out due to the length over the Native which already cut great so cutting performance on this knife is off the charts!

Overall I like this knife a lot more than I thought I would and I will definitely be into more variations in the future, Sal and Eric designed a really solid knife here and hopefully sales are good so we see more variants!

[Enactive]

Word!

Just received the chief a few days ago! Originally I said I wasn't going to buy just the plain S30V version but I took my Maxamet Native 5 LW to work with me for a couple days and that got me thinking maybe it needed a big brother... few youtube videos later and guess what showed up at the door.

Really surprised by how nicely done the knife is, the little pamphlet all Spydercos come with says that its basically been a design in the works for pushing 20 years now and it shows. It is definitely a huge knife with some presence but they also managed to make it super slim and handle to blade efficiency is great. Weight is amazing for its size and its as solid as I could ask for... no need for steel liners here.

If you've ever used a Native basically all the ergo and cutting performance transitions over to here, this knife is just scaled up unlike the Shaman which is a significantly different knife. That being said, with the extra length the behind the coil grip is amazing and I can almost choke all the way back behind the primary finger groove and still get a full grip. Not matter what way I grab the knife I'm always able to get a comfortable grip. Also with a stretched out blade I find the first inch at the tip cuts like a demon because its so thinned out due to the length over the Native which already cut great so cutting performance on this knife is off the charts!

Overall I like this knife a lot more than I thought I would and I will definitely be into more variations in the future, Sal and Eric designed a really solid knife here and hopefully sales are good so we see more variants!

[Enactive]

I'm curious if there are any new owners of the Native Chief that have first impressions, or other folks who've been carrying and using them have ongoing or revised impressions? I still like mine a lot and count it in the 'permanent collection.'

I don't carry mine all that much except in the backcountry and out at the cabin. In town it is mostly too big, except for some on-the-go blackberry pruning on some trails and stairs i use. :spyder: :D The handle is long enough for a choked-back snap cut which is great on green vines and canes. The blade is so thin and slicy near the tip that it cuts super efficiently that way.

I love the darn thing and look it weighs nearly the same as this Waynorth (which is built to spec on a GEC 86 frame and pattern) but so much more edge. On second thought, with both blades the Jack knife wins for combined edge length. :D They are totally different knives i just realized that they weigh almost the same.

That i don't carry the Chief more has, so far, kept me from getting a K390 Police or the LW. I do find my most-used and carried folders fall into the 3-3.5 inch blade size range. I like the bigger folding knives, just don't use them as much. I do often just go fixed blade when i want something longer than that.

The Chief carries super well. I often carry it unclipped in my front right pocket and it generally stays standing up well positioned in the corner of the pocket against the seam. The backlock provides extra peace of mind with the strong self-close.

[VooDooChild]

Carried mine the other day and its great. Although at this point Im just convinced Golden makes the best backlocks on the planet in terms of use and operation. Will probably buy any backlock from them.

[Enactive]

Carried mine the other day and its great. Although at this point Im just convinced Golden makes the best backlocks on the planet in terms of use and operation. Will probably buy any backlock from them.

Yeah, man.

It's a helluva knife. :cool: :spyder:

[Pancake]

Going to say like this: I am not a fan of having two same knives, but Chief is the only one that I am considering buying a sprint run.

[brj]

[Wartstein]

Going to say like this: I am not a fan of having two same knives, but Chief is the only one that I am considering buying a sprint run.

While I don´t own, but at least could handle a Shaman (feels perfect in hand), I never even held a Chief... Still very tempted by both knives, but I know that I´d actually carry the Chief a whole lot more: Longer edge, lighter, (Golden!) backlock... so if I made up my mind on another large folder it would be the Chief

Pancake, may I ask: How does the Chief feel in real use when held BEHIND the choil (so on the actual handle)?
Just from looking at it (and I know, that means nothing, but still) I am not sure if I´d like it in that grip or not

[VooDooChild]

Going to say like this: I am not a fan of having two same knives, but Chief is the only one that I am considering buying a sprint run.

While I don´t own, but at least could handle a Shaman (feels perfect in hand), I never even held a Chief... Still very tempted by both knives, but I know that I´d actually carry the Chief a whole lot more: Longer edge, lighter, (Golden!) backlock... so if I made up my mind on another large folder it would be the Chief

Pancake, may I ask: How does the Chief feel in real use when held BEHIND the choil (so on the actual handle)?
Just from looking at it (and I know, that means nothing, but still) I am not sure if I´d like it in that grip or not

I cant answer for other people but I personally really like the behind the choil grip on the chief.

[Wartstein]

Going to say like this: I am not a fan of having two same knives, but Chief is the only one that I am considering buying a sprint run.

While I don´t own, but at least could handle a Shaman (feels perfect in hand), I never even held a Chief... Still very tempted by both knives, but I know that I´d actually carry the Chief a whole lot more: Longer edge, lighter, (Golden!) backlock... so if I made up my mind on another large folder it would be the Chief

Pancake, may I ask: How does the Chief feel in real use when held BEHIND the choil (so on the actual handle)?
Just from looking at it (and I know, that means nothing, but still) I am not sure if I´d like it in that grip or not

I cant answer for other people but I personally really like the behind the choil grip on the chief.

Thanks! Your reply is very much appreciated either! :)

[Pancake]

Pancake, may I ask: How does the Chief feel in real use when held BEHIND the choil (so on the actual handle)?
Just from looking at it (and I know, that means nothing, but still) I am not sure if I´d like it in that grip or not

I really like it because it's very generous and you have a lot of room for your fingers. Index fingers goes into first cutout and the rest into the large one. But, I contoured scales on mine Chief and they feel even better. I will post a pic later.

[Wartstein]

Pancake, may I ask: How does the Chief feel in real use when held BEHIND the choil (so on the actual handle)?
Just from looking at it (and I know, that means nothing, but still) I am not sure if I´d like it in that grip or not

I really like it because it's very generous and you have a lot of room for your fingers. Index fingers goes into first cutout and the rest into the large one. But, I contoured scales on mine Chief and they feel even better. I will post a pic later.

Thanks! Looking forward to the pic! :)

[Pancake]

You can see that I contoured the big groove quite a bit, really easy when you have linerless knife.


And shot in my hand, sorry for the quality, I really should learn how to make better pics.

[FreeGolf]

Pretty much confirms I want to go after the orange sprint. Would like to see some real world images though to see how the orange actually looks on it.

[Wartstein]

You can see that I contoured the big groove quite a bit, really easy when you have linerless knife.


And shot in my hand, sorry for the quality, I really should learn how to make better pics.

Thanks a lot! And it certainly looks like you've done good work when contouring the scales! :)

[Enactive]

Going to say like this: I am not a fan of having two same knives, but Chief is the only one that I am considering buying a sprint run.

While I don´t own, but at least could handle a Shaman (feels perfect in hand), I never even held a Chief... Still very tempted by both knives, but I know that I´d actually carry the Chief a whole lot more: Longer edge, lighter, (Golden!) backlock... so if I made up my mind on another large folder it would be the Chief

Pancake, may I ask: How does the Chief feel in real use when held BEHIND the choil (so on the actual handle)?
Just from looking at it (and I know, that means nothing, but still) I am not sure if I´d like it in that grip or not

Wartstein, on the behind-the-choil grip I find that I can get two distinct hammer grip positions. In the more choked back grip (at the very back of the handle) the negative blade angle becomes even greater. I find that position, by giving more reach and the negative blade angle allows a very powerful snap cut. I find this useful for clearing overgrown trail. It is very effective on small diameter green growth e.g. excellent for cutting blackberry vines.

I think you would like it. It carries in my front right pocket very well. It is slim and light for it's size. It's not as comfy for gripping hard as a Shaman, but it is excellent in my hand. I considered contouring mine, but didn't want to make the handle any slimmer than it already is.

[Enactive]

I was just using my Chief this morning and then fondling it a bit. I lubed an adjusted the pivot a couple weeks ago on this guy and my Cruwear Native 5 and they are both as silky as can be. Such nice build quality.

All of my favorable impressions of the Chief remain and i still really appreciate the design and the especially the quality of the backlock mechanism. The blade, of course, is excellent and so thinly ground with the long distal taper.

Since i saw soc_monki's post, i thought i would bump this one too.

Soon we will see the Rex 45 Native Chief! :cool: :spyder: Dunno if i can resist, even though i want to hold out for LC and CruWear. :p

[Enactive]

Chief and Grasshopper