Native chief vs Endura?. **Now with pics**

[Pancake]

Good good, let the Native Chief rule your pocket.

[DOUBLE D]

Good good, let the Native Chief rule your pocket.

[kennethsime]

Ok, I just purchased a native chief. I'll Update this thread when I get it with some comparison photos and some thoughts on both models. The Endura in supergold, which is my main edc knife, should be a pretty even comparison to the s30v chief, so at least in terms of steel it will be a fair and even comparison.

Looking forward to those pics.

[DOUBLE D]

So the chief came today. Two of them actually. I buy things in pairs. Quick shout out to the spyderco factory outlet. Very fast shipping.

I'll be posting things as I learn them, instead of all at once. Including pictures. That would take too long to write up and take/post photos of everything at one time I think. I'm not that tech savvy and what might take fifteen minutes for someone else would take me hours. But maybe at the end I'll do a summary/conclusion type thing.

For the record, the stakes are high in this contest for me. I've owned well over 100 spyderco knives, but was unable to justify keeping that much money tied up in knives. So I now sell everything I don't use (except for a backup or two of my favorite users.). For this reason, my collection is down to three knife models. 1. The Endura. 2. The Chaparral. 3. The SE Pac Salt. Each have their niche and fill a role. So I fully intend on selling all of whichever model I like less. Hence the high stakes. Lol


My first impression was that it's not much bigger than the endura when I lay one on top of the other. Nearly the same size. Yet in the hand it feels bigger. Not too big though. It is noticeably wider than the endura. I am surprised by this because the specs seemed really close. The action is smooth and the backlock is nice. This is my first experience with the infamous golden backlock. But the endura is no slouch in this area. I say they are even for my purposes.

After copious amounts of cutting cardboard that I've saved for this moment, one thing becomes crystal clear. There is a severe hot spot on the chief. My pinky is red from it.


Ok dinner time. More to discover, more to disclose when the time permits.

[Wartstein]

.....
For the record, the stakes are high in this contest for me. I've owned well over 100 spyderco knives, but was unable to justify keeping that much money tied up in knives. So I now sell everything I don't use (except for a backup or two of my favorite users.). For this reason, my collection is down to three knife models. 1. The Endura. 2. The Chaparral. 3. The SE Pac Salt. Each have their niche and fill a role. So I fully intend on selling all of whichever model I like less. Hence the high stakes. Lol

......

Endura, Chap and Pac Salt in SE... amazing! Probably exactly what I would choose if I´d restrict myself to "only" three models. (Stretch 1 being the sole other models that I´d also consider).

/ Looking forward to further impressions of the Chief! :)

[VooDooChild]

I gotta say the chief doesnt give me any hot spots, but then again we all have different hands.

[DOUBLE D]

I gotta say the chief doesnt give me any hot spots, but then again we all have different hands.

Definitely true.

My hands are small/medium in length. And the spot that was killing me was on the underside, right where my pinky would rest when not using the finger choil. Which I noticed I hardly use.

I did a lot of food cutting today with both knives. I haven't sharpened either, and while neither are shaving sharp anymore from the cardboard yesterday, they are both able to cut printer paper somewhat acceptably. Normally I would have stropped or sharpened by now, but I'm just seeing what they can do. Plus it's been a long while since I've pushed an edge further than the point where it stops shaving hair. (I got into this knife thing because of the love for sharpening in the first place).

Both knives cut through multiple different foods, raw and cooked, like butter. Both are still very sharp in actual use, and it reminds me how even s30v and similar steels like supergold are just powerhouses, and can go and go and go and still be sharper than most people's every day carry knives. I cut lots and lots of stuff today with them again, and they are still going very strong in real use. The flat grinds are both awesome. Neither one is noticeably the winner or the loser, especially when cutting from the counter on a cutting board. The one thing that I did notice was that when I was cutting food on my plate, the grip I normally have to use for my Endura forces my hand to the very back of the handle. Not sure why, but that's always how I end up gripping it when cutting things on my plate. But the chief being just a bit longer in the handle, makes it feel just a bit more comfortable in that role. It fills out my hand nicer.

I stropped both knives after this, on bark river black green and White compound. I didn't feel like going and getting the diamond pastes. The Supergold2 came back to shaving sharp. Not the greatest shave ever, but definitely shaving. Not so much for the s30v. Keep in mind, I didn't sharpen the endura prior to all the cardboard. Last time it was sharpened was probably two months ago, and it's been running on strops ever since. It's hard to justify grinding away perfectly good steel when some stropping brings it back to shaving. So the edge that's been my every day carry for months, is miraculously still shaving. What an amazing stainless steel Supergold2 really is. Now I can't knock s30v completely. I've seen the videos showing how some knives take 3-5 sharpenings to expose steel that's not overheated and to bring out the full edge retention and the properties it's capable of. So maybe there's some of that going on. I have had s30v knives before that I've loved the edge retention, the response to strops, and the ease of sharpening. That's actually why I chose Supergold2 on the endura in the first place. I wanted s30v, and supergold was the closest I could get. Perhaps it's even better. But I won't go that far yet.

Between the Endura and the Chief, for my hands, the Endura is the clear winner in comfort. The edges being rounded off (champhoring?) is so much nicer. The Chief feels blocky at the edges of the g10, and it hurts when I grip it tight. to the point where I will probably sand them down if I keep it. Whenever I grab the Endura, it feels like a nice pair of jeans that I've had for years. The Chief feels like a new pair of skinny jeans in my hand. If I was cutting thick or highly abrasive stuff all day requiring a sustained firm grip, It's the Endura for me.

But it's not over yet

Ps, I'm on mobile, any typos I'll try to go back and fix.

[zuludelta]

Thanks for the detailed comparison Double D. I've been eyeing the Native Chief for a while now & have always wondered how it compares to the Endura 4 (my favourite big folder) in terms of ergos.

[Pancake]

Hey Double D, when I got my Chief, after one day I contoured the G10 scales and it went from good to excellent. You can try it, it's not hard, just some sandpaper, but wear a good mask for sure.

[DOUBLE D]

Hey Double D, when I got my Chief, after one day I contoured the G10 scales and it went from good to excellent. You can try it, it's not hard, just some sandpaper, but wear a good mask for sure.

Awesome to hear!. I think I'm definitely going to do it.

Hopefully I'll be able to snap a bunch of pictures and measurements today to post.

Also, it feels weird people calling me DOUBLE D. Dave will be fine lol!

-Dave


Also, could you post a picture of your work?

[DOUBLE D]

Here is a bunch of comparison pics in the one imgur link.

https://imgur.com/a/ipP9JtW

Maybe another time I'll get them all posted on the forum individually. If anyone wants any other angles or specific shots let me know.


I'll bust out the computer later and write up a good long summary of my thoughts on the two from the short time I've had them, and my plans for them

[Pancake]

Hey Dave, here is one pic that I made some time ago.


It definitely made the grip better. I don't know why it did not came from a factory like this

[DOUBLE D]

Wow that looks great. Looks like it was done by a machine.

[Pancake]

Thank you. I did made a small paper template and I marked my lines on both sides, so the contours are more or less similar. Majority of material was taken off with small chainsaw file, but you can do it with some sandpaper on a dovel. Just be careful not to take too much material off. Go slowly and check your work often. Finish to whatever grit you like, I guess it was 400, certainly not any finer. Then a bit of buffing with cloth with chromium oxide.
If I were you, I would just round the corners and then feel how that changed the grip.

[DOUBLE D]

[DOUBLE D]

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[ThomC]

You really eat with a grip so far away from the blade ? I know the hump isn't ideal for a table grip, so I thought the Chief would fit your hand better since it has a continuous back from tip to butt (no smutty joke)

[DOUBLE D]

[/quote]

You really eat with a grip so far away from the blade ? I know the hump isn't ideal for a table grip, so I thought the Chief would fit your hand better since it has a continuous back from tip to butt (no smutty joke)
[/quote]


Yea, for some reason whenever I'm cutting something on my plate my hand lands there. Maybe it's to keep my hand from getting dirty from the food by not being too close. I'm not sure. It just always happens

[Theldraskien]

I’m actually curious how the Police 4 compares to the Chief in the larger backlock category. Anyone have comparison pics for this two?

[DOUBLE D]

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