Native CF - Love it.

[dashunde]

I started buying nice knives around 1997.
I went through loads of knives in the first three years - mostly BM's, MT's, Spydies.
Although I liked most all of them, none really captured my idea of the perfect knife.
I bought a Sebenza, sold all of the others and had'nt looked back.
(I always kept my trusty Dragonfly though... ats-55/stainless)

A few weeks ago I saw a few pics of a Native CF - I bought one right away.
Wow.

A couple of thoughts...
- It doesnt need jimping on the spine - just fine like it is - comfortable, good looking.
I dont care for big thumb ramps either, I like to pick my own spot for the thumb.

- The lock-back is probably my second favorite lock type, my first pick is the frame-lock, but thats Reeve territory as far as I'm concerned. The lock-back on a edc workin' knife is great by me. I dont like liner locks - none of them, regardless of who made it.

- The index finger choil - excellent, love it, I use it every time.

- I'm really liking this VG-10, and I've always liked flat-grinds. Takes a great micro-toothed slicing edge on a diamond hone. Excellent cutter.

- It's light and the pocket clip is in the right spot. before the Seb I was a tip-down guy and I tried it that way for a few days, but alas... I am a tip-up convert nowadays. It carries nicely either way.

- With a normal grip, the tip is exactly where it should be, not too high or low relative to the thumb and index fingers. And with the choil, and without a thumb ramp, the tip is never too far away.

- It can be taken apart and cleaned up. The hardware is notched and fits well. Assembly is easy. Sweet! :)

- It's fit, finish, and overall sense of quality is excellent. The radius/chamfer of the CF around the edges is nearly cnc-perfect.

- It's thin in the pocket, but doesnt feel undersized in the hand. It also feels solid.

- For the first time I've found a knife that I reach for... (choking on this)... as often or instead of the Seb. Yep, the Native 4 CF is that good. :p


Now, A couple of suggestions...
Make it exactly the same in G-10 and Stainless versions. Cheaper, and still just as good.
A S90V blade would be sweet.
Loose the lanyard hole and use the stronger/solid pocket clip with ever-so-slightly longer screws.

[The Deacon]

Native IV is an excellent knife. I do wish they'd either left the spine full width or just used a thinner blade. Never could see any purpose to narrowing a spine. Also wish they'd used either the textured CF that's on the Stretch II and Superhawk, or the type that's on the Walker lock Sage and Terzuola SlipIt. Native handle, while not completely unstructured, is not as structured as some models, so a handle material that offered more traction wouldn't hurt. Am looking forward to the FRN version, both for the texture and the extra thickness. And, after test driving the Manix 2 pilot and being extremely impressed by the performance of 154CM, am really hoping they offer an economy version of the Native IV in it.

[bh49]

IMHO Native4 is a great knife, certainly better that any of previous Native models. 3" blade make it very universal and acceptable in many environments. FFG and VG10 sound great for me. I am not big swedge fan, but I like swedge on Native4, it is giving him some charm. I love CF texture, but I don't mind if it would be the same as on Sage. For me Native4 is slightly upscale knife, which is good for dress-up occasions (loose in the pocket) or if you work in the office, so with all my respect to Paul, I do not like peel-ply CF idea for this model (sorry). Clip is the only thing I am not crazy about. I do not care about lanyard hole and prefer low riding wire clip. I will buy couple of Forum Natives (at least I will put my best efforts to do so), so I am not sure if I will be interesting in FRN Native4, but G10/154CM sound like very interesting combination for me.
Roman