Spyderco Forums

Hello Everybody,

I am planning to purchase the CruCarta as my first Manix and I was wondering, is it possible to mod it with some aftermarket parts, especially ball cages or scales? There is little data on that on the internet, mainly coming from Flytanium's product pages and a singular reddit post and the information from those on the topic is pretty mixed - when we are talking about the cages alone, there are two (one reddit comment and one Flytanium product review) voices stating, that the Flytanium cages fit well, but there is yet another comment saying, that two of Flytanium's cages that the person purchased do not work with this one. When it comes to the scales, I have not seen any comments on the compability yet, apart from the alleged statement from Flytanium that they do not fit.

So the question is: owners of the CruCarta Manix, have you tried to mod it in anyway? How did it go? Owners of both CruCarta and G10 version: Could you confirm, that both of them are of the same dimensions, especially width, and that their ball cages are of the same size?

Thank You all in advance for any feedback!

Dear MintLemonIceCream:

Welcome to the Spyderco Forum.

Stay safe,

Mike

Dear Mike,

Thank You for the welcome!

I haven’t tried opening mine up yet since i like the crucarta the way it is.

But in comparison side by side i see no difference between both the crucarta and the g10.
The screw placement is the same when put on top of each other and the thickness seems to be the same aswel so i would guess the screws will be the same in that case either.

I do am curious when someone tries around here but my idea is that someone from flytanium (especially about the scales) is thinking of the wrong knife and has the Para 2 in mind instead. The Manix is just scales on top of liners like it always has bin so they should fit now aswel.

I installed a titanium ball cage in mine, and what I've noticed is the ball causing more resistance on the blade tang notches in the open and closed positions, which I'm guessing acts as the detent on the open. I can see additional wear on the notches from the ball as well...I'm thinking the cage post might be slightly too long for the CruCarta versions..or the standard Manix 2s have a larger space for the cage post. The concern I have is the ball eventually rounding off the notches on the blade and wearing a groove on the tang.

Hello, everyone! I'm really happy to join the Spyderco community :-) I have the same question as MintLemonIceCream, who started this post, but for the Native 5 crucarta. Do you know if the custom scales available on the market for the Native 5 G10 models are compatible with the Native 5 Crucarta? Indeed I understand that the Native 5 Crucarta scales are recessed to accommodate the small metal liners on which the washers ride at the pivot point. Thank you for your help!

denis04 wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 17, 2025 2:15 pm

Hello, everyone! I'm really happy to join the Spyderco community :-) I have the same question as MintLemonIceCream, who started this post, but for the Native 5 crucarta. Do you know if the custom scales available on the market for the Native 5 G10 models are compatible with the Native 5 Crucarta? Indeed I understand that the Native 5 Crucarta scales are recessed to accommodate the small metal liners on which the washers ride at the pivot point. Thank you for your help!

I have no plans changing my scales on the Native Crucarta , I like original scales . If I was wanting to change the scales I would contact the maker to insure they will fit . It may save you some frustration. MG2

I contacted RGT, and they replied that they don't know, which is why I asked this question in this post, in case any users have already tested it. Without certainty, I won't order it.

It's pretty new. You might reach out to AWT. There usually pretty up on things...

Info@appliedweaponstech.com

denis04 wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 17, 2025 2:15 pm

Hello, everyone! I'm really happy to join the Spyderco community :-) I have the same question as MintLemonIceCream, who started this post, but for the Native 5 crucarta. Do you know if the custom scales available on the market for the Native 5 G10 models are compatible with the Native 5 Crucarta? Indeed I understand that the Native 5 Crucarta scales are recessed to accommodate the small metal liners on which the washers ride at the pivot point. Thank you for your help!

I expect that the RGT Native 5 scales will fit the CruCarta Native 5 if you leave out the baby liners. The RGT scales are not made to accommodate the baby liners. Those liners aren't there on a typical G-10 version.
I expect that the only reason the liner-ettes are even there is because the unlined micarta wasn't rigid enough to maintain a D shape for the pivot and dimensionally stable enough to maintain the relationship of the pivot to the pin that the lock bar pivots on.
I would be willing to bet that Spyderco did not redesign the pivot or the pin.
The RGT team is GREAT to deal with. I suspect that if for some reason they don't work, they'll probably let you return them.

Hmm. Anyone have a picture of the N5 Crucarta disassembled? Curiosity has been piqued!

cjk wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 21, 2025 3:25 pm

denis04 wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 17, 2025 2:15 pm

Hello, everyone! I'm really happy to join the Spyderco community :-) I have the same question as MintLemonIceCream, who started this post, but for the Native 5 crucarta. Do you know if the custom scales available on the market for the Native 5 G10 models are compatible with the Native 5 Crucarta? Indeed I understand that the Native 5 Crucarta scales are recessed to accommodate the small metal liners on which the washers ride at the pivot point. Thank you for your help!

I expect that the RGT Native 5 scales will fit the CruCarta Native 5 if you leave out the baby liners. The RGT scales are not made to accommodate the baby liners. Those liners aren't there on a typical G-10 version.
I expect that the only reason the liner-ettes are even there is because the unlined micarta wasn't rigid enough to maintain a D shape for the pivot and dimensionally stable enough to maintain the relationship of the pivot to the pin that the lock bar pivots on.
I would be willing to bet that Spyderco did not redesign the pivot or the pin.
The RGT team is GREAT to deal with. I suspect that if for some reason they don't work, they'll probably let you return them.

Thank you, cjk, for this detailed analysis! It seems entirely relevant to me. However, I won't be ordering one to test it out because I don't live in the US, so the round-trip shipping costs are prohibitive in terms of taxes and delivery fees. For your information: I asked the person who posted a disassembly video on YouTube, in case they had any additional insights.

riclaw wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 21, 2025 9:04 pm

Hmm. Anyone have a picture of the N5 Crucarta disassembled? Curiosity has been piqued!

There's a post on Reddit with a photo

and a disassembly video on YouTube
https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/r ... 585ad79faf

riclaw wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 21, 2025 12:28 pm

It's pretty new. You might reach out to AWT. There usually pretty up on things...

Info@appliedweaponstech.com

Thank you, but I believe that the AWT scales for the Native 5 are only valid for LW versions (and therefore I don't think the crucarta version, given how it is configured) … ?

Thanks for the photo and link.

I put Rockscale Design scales on my CruCarta Manix 2 XL and they went on perfectly.

denis04 wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 22, 2025 12:27 pm

riclaw wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 21, 2025 12:28 pm

It's pretty new. You might reach out to AWT. There usually pretty up on things...

Info@appliedweaponstech.com

Thank you, but I believe that the AWT scales for the Native 5 are only valid for LW versions (and therefore I don't think the crucarta version, given how it is configured) … ?

AWT makes different scale kits for the lightweight Native 5 and the G-10 Native 5. They make stuff for both.

I have totally modded my Crucarta Manix to the point it has a 15V blade and shredded gold cf custom scales so yes its the same as other Manixes to mod.

denis04 wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 22, 2025 12:24 pm

cjk wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 21, 2025 3:25 pm

denis04 wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 17, 2025 2:15 pm

Hello, everyone! I'm really happy to join the Spyderco community :-) I have the same question as MintLemonIceCream, who started this post, but for the Native 5 crucarta. Do you know if the custom scales available on the market for the Native 5 G10 models are compatible with the Native 5 Crucarta? Indeed I understand that the Native 5 Crucarta scales are recessed to accommodate the small metal liners on which the washers ride at the pivot point. Thank you for your help!

I expect that the RGT Native 5 scales will fit the CruCarta Native 5 if you leave out the baby liners. The RGT scales are not made to accommodate the baby liners. Those liners aren't there on a typical G-10 version.
I expect that the only reason the liner-ettes are even there is because the unlined micarta wasn't rigid enough to maintain a D shape for the pivot and dimensionally stable enough to maintain the relationship of the pivot to the pin that the lock bar pivots on.
I would be willing to bet that Spyderco did not redesign the pivot or the pin.
The RGT team is GREAT to deal with. I suspect that if for some reason they don't work, they'll probably let you return them.

Thank you, cjk, for this detailed analysis! It seems entirely relevant to me. However, I won't be ordering one to test it out because I don't live in the US, so the round-trip shipping costs are prohibitive in terms of taxes and delivery fees. For your information: I asked the person who posted a disassembly video on YouTube, in case they had any additional insights.

After thinking a bit more about it: there could be another function for these small liners: to ensure more precise positioning (of the pivot axis in relation to that of the stop pin) than that provided by the holes in the Micarta canvas, whose texture is perhaps coarser than that of the G10. In both cases (rigidity and/or manufacturing tolerances), I note that the micarta custom scales offered by RGT for the Native 5 do not have these small liners, which is puzzling because I imagine they are functional given RGT's usual manufacturing quality.

cjk wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 22, 2025 1:57 pm

denis04 wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 22, 2025 12:27 pm

riclaw wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 21, 2025 12:28 pm

It's pretty new. You might reach out to AWT. There usually pretty up on things...

Info@appliedweaponstech.com

Thank you, but I believe that the AWT scales for the Native 5 are only valid for LW versions (and therefore I don't think the crucarta version, given how it is configured) … ?

AWT makes different scale kits for the lightweight Native 5 and the G-10 Native 5. They make stuff for both.

Yes, absolutely, thank you for the correction! But I forgot to mention that I was interested in blue micarta scales (I had spotted the RGT's blue linen micarta) and AWT seems to only offer aluminum scales for the Native 5.