Native 5 FRN in S90V

[Matus]

What is the deal with the Native 5 in S90V and those light cyan FRN scales? These seem to be rather easy to get and the price is pretty reasonable. I am getting curious about this steel plus Native 5 is a really cool knife. I am just surprised that the price is rather low. Anyone got one of these?

[VooDooChild]

Theres no deal with them, they just arent popular, pretty much because of the color.

S90v is usually in more expensive models, but it also usually gets paired with carbon fiber which drives the price up. A lot of frn models that get s90v have a closer to normal price. My manix 2 lightweight with s90v was not much more expensive than the regular manix 2 lighweight.

I also think a lot of fans of the native design might already have a different version in s90v and therefore passed on this one.

I would say get one if you want it. I actually like the lightweight more than the g10 model.

[mikey177]

VooDooChild is correct. I already have a Native 5 LW in S90V from Cutlery Shoppe, so I couldn't justify getting another one just for the cyan scale color --although I was really tempted to do so :)

[mitchwalcott]

I bought the C41PTBL5 model for my girlfriend as one of her Christmas gifts. She has been very happy with it so far, but I have not used it enough to comment on the S90V steel. (I have the C41CBL5 with SPY27, which I use a lot.)

The Native 5 is a great knife due to its ergonomics. So, whichever steel you end up with, you will likely be pleased.

[Sharp Guy]

The scales are a little too light in color for me but I'd buy one to use RIT dye on if I didn't already have a Native 5 LW with S90V (2015 Forum Knife).

[eRoc]

What is the deal with the Native 5 in S90V and those light cyan FRN scales? These seem to be rather easy to get and the price is pretty reasonable. I am getting curious about this steel plus Native 5 is a really cool knife. I am just surprised that the price is rather low. Anyone got one of these?

The CS s90v native 5 was around for a while. I got both the orange satin and dlc. I think those were $90-100 at the time. I did buy the teal s90v for my sister in law, because of the color. If you like it get it. I like s90v in my para 3, and keep the bright orange CS native 5's in my hiking packs.

[Doc Dan]

Are we talking about the Teal N5? (which is really aqua and so cyan)

I am surprised that more people have not snapped these up like they did the Seki models.

The color is nice if you drop it because you can easily see it without it shouting at you, so to speak.

[Matus]

Thank you all, yes I indeed mean the 'teal' color. I will soon get a chance to handle a different steel native 5 and thought that S90V would be an interesting steel to have (and learn to sharpen properly) plus to my understanding it sill has reasonable toughness (compared to something like S110V I mean) but still excellent edge holding. It might pair well with the Para 3 in Cruwear that I have got second hand.

[Xformer]

Isn't S90V a tad more chip prone than the softer S30V ? Not an expert on steal, but that's what I've been told.

[Matus]

The performance of the the steel of course depends strongly on how it is being heat treated, but Larrin found that the S90V is in this regard very comparable to S30V

https://knifesteelnerds.com/2020/09/28/ ... eat-treat/

[Notsurewhy]

It's a screaming deal on an s90v knife. The cheapest you are likely to find, at least from a company I would trust to heat treat it properly. There was at least one case I'm aware of where a company was selling inexpensive s90v knives at around 55hrc which made it perform more like vg10.

If you want to give s90v a try, I'd recommend it. The native lw is a great EDC platform and You should be able to dye the scales to a deeper blue/green pretty easily if the color isn't for you.

[Matus]

Thank you, that is pretty much exactly what I needed ( wanted? :D ) to hear

[Gtscotty]

I like Natives and trying different steels, but I don't think I could get past that color. I like most of the Spyderco FRN colors, especially the blues that s110v and SPY27 come with, but that teal is a bit too loud. I'm guessing it's a love it or hate it color for a lot of folks whereas something like royal blue or navy has wider appeal.

[Donut]

I have the Native 5 Burgundy FRN S90V forum knife. That one doesn't seem very popular either.

[justjohn]

I've got a pair of Native 5 Forum 2015 knives that have S90V Steel blades. It has a FRN maroon scales. Is this the knife in question? I have to say this knife performs like nobody's business. The blade never seems to show any signs of use. Fantastic knife IMHO. :D

[Bemo]

Wish I had been around in 2015 to pick one of those forum versions up. I think Larrin's testing really showed the capabilities of the steel and like was said earlier I trust Spyderco to get the heat treat right. Mine hasn't seen hard use but it's been great. Factory edge was super sharp and it will tear down boxes like a light saber.

[bearfacedkiller]

There have been many S90V Natives. I passed on the teal because I have the 2015 Forum Native and the Fluted CF Native, both of which also sold somewhat slowly. I almost bought the orange CS Native but passed because it was S90V and not XHP. Those CS S90V Natives were also available for quite a while.

I am sure the teal version is a fine knife. If you like the color and want S90V then go for it. :)

[ugaarguy]

I bought one when these first came out because I like the Native, I wanted to try S90V, and I like the teal color. I'm also surprised that these are still available. Most non-knife people who've seen the one I have think it's a nice looking color and that it looks more friendly than a black handled pocket knife. As Doc Dan said, a side benefit is that it's easy to see, but it's not boldly visible like the bright yellow FRN on my Native 5 Salt. If you have diamond or CBN stones, S90V isn't any harder to sharpen than other steels. It just takes a little longer. Likewise, I've found that I can touch it up with ceramic rods and keep it sharp, just like any other steel. It takes a few more passes on the ceramic rods, but a few extra passes on a ceramic rod only take a few more seconds. On the plus side, S90V responds well that little bit of extra sharpening effort. It takes a very nice edge, just as you'd expect from a fine grained steel with high hardness.

Overall, I think they're a great deal for $122.50. That's only $14 more than the regular black handle, S30V blade Native 5 LW; a few dollars less than the new SPY27 blade N5 LW; and $25 less than the dark blue handle, S110v blade version. If you like the color, you should get one. I think you'll enjoy it.

[Cricket Bite]

I had an idea of scale swaps with those who wanted a different color. Just a one for one swap with another user with no money changing hands. What do you think? Start thread that people could post what they wanted and what they were willing to trade. Then private messages for the process. Not sure if this would be against forum rules or not though. IF so then please disregard. I do wish Spyderco would offer FRN scales for sale on some of there more popular models (Native, Delica, Endura). I am sure they would do well on their own.

[Matus]

So I just had a chance to handle Native 5 lightweight. I have very mixed feelings now. The blade shape / geometry is great (excellent, really), the ergonomics of the handle is pretty good (the FRN has some sharp edges on the inside), but opening and closing it one really feels that it rides directly on the plastic scales (one hand opening a closing not a problem though). I would really wish that it had some partial liners with bronze washers. It has that stiff-but-not stiff feel similar to me. And comparing it directly to Brouwer - there is just no comparison how the knife feels and operates. The Native has a better (= larger/deeper) finger choil than Para 3, otherwise the feel in hand was not much different shape-wise.

This was the Maxamet version, which sells in EU for around 200€ or a little less, and at that price it is hard to accept the feel/action. At the same time - one can still get Rex45 for 140€ or the already mentioned S90V from the bay and there I can really see the value. I can not help but WISH that Spyderco would bring a compression lock version.

What caught my attention was the finish of the blade (which looks pretty nice) - it is a kind of stone wash, but one can see pretty clearly the CNC marks underneath - the tool left a very regular thin grinding lines about 250 um apart (I check under a microscope with a scale).

Bottom line for me - this is a great, no nonsense utility blade. If one can get one at a decent price it is a very good value, but I am going to give myself a little more time before deciding on the teal S90V (I actually do not mind the color of the handle at all) as the action/feel is really not my cup of coffee.