First Spyderco - S30v or SPY27?

[Halfbore]

Hi all. Been Lurking for quite awhile. Signed up and still lurking. Looking at my first "good" knife. Narrowed it down to a Benchmade Griptillian or Spyderco Native 5. Leaning towards the Spyderco and today I see the Native 5 in SPY27 is back in stock on their website. I'm still learning steels (there's sooo much to learn). Between the S30v and SPY27, which would be a better choice?

Thanks.
Vince

[Blnd]

Either steel would be fine. I think it comes down to handle color preferences.

I’m not a fan of the cobalt blue so I would probably go for the S30V in black.

[MFlovejp]

I think a SPY27 Native would be a great first Spyderco and good all-around folding knife. I have one and it is a really solid user. It is definitely easier to sharpen than S30V too, which is a plus.

[p_atrick]

If you are okay with the LW model, I would go SPY27. If you are going to get a Spyderco, I say get their proprietary steel (you can get S30V from other brands). It should be a bit easier to sharpen and will have better edge stability. That said, S30V is not an impossible steel to sharpen (I do so on a regular King stone) and I haven't had any issues with chipping.

[TomAiello]

Welcome to the forum!

Personally, I'd go with s30v, because it's much more common in other brands, so you can get a good feel for the comparison between different knives, as you get sucked deeper down this rabbit hole. :)

If you want to try out SPY27 though, no one is going to fault you for it. My guess is that it will become much more common as Spyderco rolls it out in more models.

[JRinFL]

Welcome aboard! Spy27 should be a bit easier to sharpen, but s30V comes in both G10 handles and as a lightweight model. Between those two steels, I'm not sure I could pick one that is "better".

[Matus]

Pick the knife you like better. Most likely you would not be able to distinguish which if these two steels it is made of.

[tonijedi]

Pick the knife you like better. Most likely you would not be able to distinguish which if these two steels it is made of.

Matus is right...

[z1r]

I think the Native 5 is a much better knife than the Griptilian no matter which steel you choose. My Native is in S35VN and I love it. That said, I really want one in SPY27 too.

[Henry_P]

Hello and welcome. Between the two I would choose the Native 5 with SPY27. They are both fairly similar but SPY27 is the new steel. As others have said you probably won’t notice the difference unless it’s through sharpening.

[kobold]

I bought a Native in Spy27 a few weeks ago, it came very sharp, it is very light, no any kind of play, pretty happy with it. It is my fifth Native 5.. and still wanna buy another two or three. :rolleyes:

About the steel: https://knifesteelnerds.com/2020/03/02/ ... -and-more/

[Deadboxhero]

Spy27 should give a great first impression on the brand. It takes and holds a nice edge.

[VooDooChild]

Spy 27.

Also the manix has a lock much more similar to the griptillian if you care.

[Cambertree]

SPY27 would be my choice, but that’s just me.

I don’t think you’d be disappointed with Spyderco’s S30V, if you prefer that knife.

[JohnDoe99]

Hi all. Been Lurking for quite awhile. Signed up and still lurking. Looking at my first "good" knife. Narrowed it down to a Benchmade Griptillian or Spyderco Native 5. Leaning towards the Spyderco and today I see the Native 5 in SPY27 is back in stock on their website. I'm still learning steels (there's sooo much to learn). Between the S30v and SPY27, which would be a better choice?

Thanks.
Vince

There's really not much to the "steel" thing. S30V was intended to be the best overall knife steel back in 2001-ish, which seems like forever ago now. 20 years later, the game hasn't really changed much. SPY27 is just another attempt to alter certain aspects of S30V to meet customer feedback. People used to complain that it was hard to sharpen, and so there was a lowering of carbon and metal contents to increase the grindability of the steel. Now many say S30V is "easy" to sharpen.

I'd say go s30v because those knives will be cheaper than spy27, and S30V will be at least as good overall. Plus I personally tend to favor old, proven war horses, and that is what S30V has become today.

[Naperville]

I like different steels, so for me it's a nobrainer, get the SPY27.

[Gtscotty]

Having owned both models, I honestly think the Native is a better functional design although the Griptilians are certainly no slouches in that regard, and are fidgety-er if you care about that.

I haven't used SPY27 much, but from Larrin's write-up it seems likely to be easier to sharpen than S30V (I didn't notice much difference on my mule) at the cost of a reduction in edge retention. IME, S30V is an excellent all-arounder for normal folders, maybe my favorite, SPY27 should be plenty good and probably not really that noticeably different in actual use. Get whichever handle color you like better, or whichever you can find for a better deal (SPY27 is kind of pricey for what it is).

If you're worried about difficulty sharpening, I'd recommended getting a coarse and fine diamond stone (used cheaper Smiths for years and years) and a DMT angle guide, not too expensive and will handle any steel out there. On diamond, I find that the differences between the sharpening effort required for various blade steels becomes marginal, so I'll trade better performance for a few extra passes any day.

[T.J.]

I’d focus more on the model you like than either of those two steels. You really can’t go wrong with either one.

[Halfbore]

Debated it all day as I have been doing. Decided I liked the blue so settled on SPY27 but then started kicking around the Para 3 and the Manix. Finally decided to just jump and went with my gut and got the Native 5. The biggest draw to the others was fidget-ability and aesthetics some, but I think (or at least convinced myself) the Native 5 was a more solid, better all around knife. Hope I made the right choice. Still trying to convince myself I did.

How long does it take an order from Spyderco’s site to ship?

[JuPaul]

As others have said, the steels are similar enough in performance that you should focus on get the model you like most. With that said, if you like the Native lightweight best, then I say get the spy27. I've really been happy with it on my para3 lightweight - it's super easy to get screaming sharp, and holds an edge plenty well. Plus it's unique to Spyderco, which is pretty special, imo.

Oh btw, welcome to the forum!