Spyderco Forums

James Y wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 02, 2021 1:05 pm

I’ve gotta stop reading the General Discussion forum. Now I’m jonesing for a Native Chief, and it ain’t going away.

Jim

Jim, I suffer from the same disease... :rolleyes:
Let´s found an "I DON`T need a Chief" - support group... :p
(YES, most Spydies I got I did not exactly "need" from a practical point of view - but in case of the Chief my Enduras really do perfectly all things I want from a knife in roughly that size - still the "you need a Chief" voice in the back of my mind won´t shut up... )

Just buy one. The Native Chief is an excellent knife. I have an S90V and a Rex45 that will be shipped to me within 3 days.

I've been carrying my S90V model since it was released. It pushed all other knives out of my pockets. It is really that nice of a knife.

Naperville wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 03, 2021 12:30 am

Just buy one. The Native Chief is an excellent knife. I have an S90V and a Rex45 that will be shipped to me within 3 days.

I've been carrying my S90V model since it was released. It pushed all other knives out of my pockets. It is really that nice of a knife.

Oh man... don´t do this to me... :D
The REX 45 Chief (certainly my favorite version, though the "base" S30V model would be more than fine too) can even still be found... but I just got a Salt 2 ffg SE, want the Pac Salt in this configuration too, then a K390 Endura SE, perhaps try the S35VN Tenacious LW... it´s not an easy hobby, is it?

Wartstein wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 03, 2021 12:37 am

Naperville wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 03, 2021 12:30 am

Just buy one. The Native Chief is an excellent knife. I have an S90V and a Rex45 that will be shipped to me within 3 days.

I've been carrying my S90V model since it was released. It pushed all other knives out of my pockets. It is really that nice of a knife.

Oh man... don´t do this to me... :D
The REX 45 Chief (certainly my favorite version, though the "base" S30V model would be more than fine too) can even still be found... but I just got a Salt 2 ffg SE, want the Pac Salt in this configuration too, then a K390 Endura SE, perhaps try the S35VN Tenacious LW... it´s not an easy hobby, is it?

The hobby is OK. I have to now plan months in advance to buy a knife of any kind because I'm semi-retired. I saw the Arizona Knives sale of the Rex45 Chief, looked at their payment plans and did the deed. It's not bad, took me around 45 days to get the knife. I'll have the payments completed by the 5th.

When I was working, I bought $20,000 in knives in 2 years! Whole nother ballgame.

I think most of us on the forum have spent more money on a single knife than most people will spend on knives in a decade. And spent more on our collections than most will in a lifetime. Their loss if you ask me :D

I also think you never know if you 'need' a knife for sure until you've carried it a bit

I not going to do a full review yet as I'm waiting on 1 more knife (Domino) to get here then im going to start a thread of my review on all my new spydies. I will say that anyone who missed out on the CF s90v Chief should be kicking themselves :D

Can anyone who has both a G10 model and the S90V CF model confirm if the balance point on the CF version is shifted forward in any noticeable way.

I was surprised how much lighter and more balanced the CF scales made my 52100 CE PM2 feel over my G10 and customised micarta scaled PM2s.

Cambertree wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 03, 2021 5:55 am

Can anyone who has both a G10 model and the S90V CF model confirm if the balance point on the CF version is shifted forward in any noticeable way.

I was surprised how much lighter and more balanced the CF scales made my 52100 CE PM2 feel over my G10 and customised micarta scaled PM2s.

I cant speak for g10 as I refuse to own g10 but I can tell you my CF native chief is balanced perfectly.

Eliteone2383 wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 03, 2021 6:29 am

I cant speak for g10 as I refuse to own g10 but I can tell you my CF native chief is balanced perfectly.

Random, you do know that Domino you have coming in has a CF/G10 laminate scale, right? Looks like you’ll have some G10 in the collection after all...

RadioactiveSpyder wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 03, 2021 6:38 am

Eliteone2383 wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 03, 2021 6:29 am

I cant speak for g10 as I refuse to own g10 but I can tell you my CF native chief is balanced perfectly.

Random, you do know that Domino you have coming in has a CF/G10 laminate scale, right? Looks like you’ll have some G10 in the collection after all...

Yeah I know so does the GB 2. I had to make allowances for those 2 knives unfortunately.

Eliteone2383 wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 03, 2021 6:29 am

Cambertree wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 03, 2021 5:55 am

Can anyone who has both a G10 model and the S90V CF model confirm if the balance point on the CF version is shifted forward in any noticeable way.

I was surprised how much lighter and more balanced the CF scales made my 52100 CE PM2 feel over my G10 and customised micarta scaled PM2s.

I cant speak for g10 as I refuse to own g10 but I can tell you my CF native chief is balanced perfectly.

Are you able to show what the actual balance point is?

On my G10 REX45 Chief, the balance point is towards the rear of where your index finger rests in a natural grip behind the 50/50 choil.

My personal preference is to have the balance point a little forward of that point. Not much, but towards the front of the forefinger in that position, or just behind the finger guard formed by the rear of the 50/50 choil.

I’m just curious, as I’m considering the S90V Chief, maybe.

Thanks. :)

Cambertree wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 03, 2021 7:12 am

Eliteone2383 wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 03, 2021 6:29 am

Cambertree wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 03, 2021 5:55 am

Can anyone who has both a G10 model and the S90V CF model confirm if the balance point on the CF version is shifted forward in any noticeable way.

I was surprised how much lighter and more balanced the CF scales made my 52100 CE PM2 feel over my G10 and customised micarta scaled PM2s.

I cant speak for g10 as I refuse to own g10 but I can tell you my CF native chief is balanced perfectly.

Are you able to show what the actual balance point is?

On my G10 REX45 Chief, the balance point is towards the rear of where your index finger rests in a natural grip behind the 50/50 choil.

My personal preference is to have the balance point a little forward of that point. Not much, but towards the front of the forefinger in that position, or just behind the finger guard formed by the rear of the 50/50 choil.

I’m just curious, as I’m considering the S90V Chief, maybe.

Thanks. :)

This is one of the reasons I prefer the Chief to Shaman. Chief balances behind the index choil, Shaman balances in the index choil. I use the further back grip more, sothe Chief made more sense for me.

Eliteone2383 wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 03, 2021 9:02 am

20210403_110041.jpg

Thanks for that. :)

The balance point seems about the same as my G10 REX Chief, surprisingly - maybe just a smidge forward.

Mine has a Ti clip though which also might have a very slight effect.

I often favour the forward choil hold, which accounts for my balance point preference.

One thing I've noticed with my Chief is I use the index choil much more often.

Carrying a Police 4 I'd use it maybe 10% of the time.

With the Chief its about 50-60% of the time.

The lack of a thumb ramp makes it much more comfortable for me.

So here are the mods I performed on my Chief

-installed a Ti Lynch clip in the tip up lefty position. I find the Lynch clips can be more comfortable than the MXG ones, depending on the size of the knife, due to the tab at the bottom of the clip being bent down, rather than curving upwards. I usually give a light sanding to the edges of the clip with 1500-2000 grit sandpaper.

- rounded over the edges and corners of the G10 handles using a sandpaper progression, first by hand, then with the sandpaper on a firm mousepad and pressing the handle edges into the sandpaper. They’re nicely radiused now, and much more comfortable in hand. Although, as Vivi noted, the handle screws are quite close to the edges, so I couldn’t contour them quite as much as I would like.

- I took some strips of sandpaper and slipped them under the pocket clip, with the abrasive side facing the scales, and pulled them under the pinch point, and repeated this a few times, and repeated with finer grits.

I find this is the best way to just hit the exact point you need to to allow the knife to slip into and out of the pocket a bit easier, without chewing up the pocket hems and filing through the threads.

- I sharpened up the blade edge with an Atoma diamond stone progression (140, 400, 600, 1200) to 10dps. Then applied a 15 dps microbevel with the Sharpmaker brown rods for quick and easy resharpening. I stropped the edge lightly with 2.5, then 1 μm diamond paste on leather.

- I also sanded the sharp edges of the lockbar slightly.

I was very happy with this knife when I got it, although it’s better suited for my purposes now.

Cambertree wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 05, 2021 12:21 am

So here are the mods I performed on my Chief

Looks good Cambertree...

I like my thin edges, but I am not quite adventurous enough to thin out an already thin tip like that! At least not on S90V. You’re definitely going to test the capabilities of the steel...

I will most probably chamfer the CF edges eventually.

Just bought rex 45, curious how it will compare to my other spyderco's.

I also prefer humpless and rampless blades. This knife checks so many boxes, I feel ready to buy another one with a different, but also very tough steel. We know what they are. Name your poison.

kobold wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 05, 2021 8:14 am

I also prefer humpless and rampless blades. This knife checks so many boxes, I feel ready to buy another one with a different, but also very tough steel. We know what they are. Name your poison.

K390, 4V, M4, Maxamet...