First introduced in 1997, the Native has become a mainstay of the Spyderco product line and a flagship of their American-made stable of knives. The design has evolved steadily over the years, reaching its current state of the art in 2012 with the release of the Native 5. The latest addition to the Native lineage is the Native 5 Lightweight, which combines the Native 5’s engineering refinements with the weight-saving advantages of an injection-molded fiberglass-reinforced-nylon (FRN) handle.
This knife’s full-flat-ground blade is machined from CPMS30V stainless steel and has a durable, non-reflective Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) coating. Its ComboEdge cutting edge provides extreme cutting power, especially on fibrous materials. It also includes an index-finger choil for a forward-positioned grip that allows enhanced control during detailed cutting tasks. A highly evolved back lock mechanism—one of the defining features of the Native 5 design—locks the blade securely in the open position and, along with the blade’s Trademark Round Hole™, allows ambidextrous one-handed opening and closing of the knife.
The linerless injection-molded FRN handle features a deep Bi-Directional Texturing™ pattern for maximum grip security and includes four sets of threaded stainless steel inserts to mount the reinforced hourglass clip for tip-up or tip-down carry on either side of the knife. Like the blade, this knife’s clip, clip screws, and all other metal hardware are also black coated, making it an ideal cutting tool for environments where light discipline is a concern.
