Five More Spyderco Knives Come Out of Amsterdam

SpyderCollector has concluded his coverage of the Spyderco Amsterdam Meet with the reveal of five more knives. Among the inbound releases are a bigger brother for the Native and multiple extensions to Spyderco‘s various budget lines.

This also marks the first year that SpyderCollector has taken video of the prototypes at the Meet. If you’re curious to see how these knives look and operate in hand check out his website for the footage starting today. “Doing video wasn’t as much a decision as it was an opportunity I got this year,” explains SpyderCollector, AKA Wouter or Mr. Blonde on the forum. “I hope it gives a better impression of what the knife is like in the hand.”

Native Chief

According to SpyderCollector, the Native Chief is an idea the company’s been playing around with for years. “The first concept model was shown back in 2000 or 2002 on the forums,” he recalls. “It never made it to production and the knife ended up in the Spyderco Native mini museum at the Spyderco Factory Outlet in Colorado.”

On paper, the Chief is a larger version of the G-10 Native 5, with the same construction and a blade length just over 4 inches. And while the lineage is clear, the Native Chief looks less ‘related’ to its predecessor than other bigger/smaller versions of existing designs. The blade narrows down to an acute tip, and the handle looks thinner in relation to the rest of the knife compared to the standard Native 5.

The lockback, standard Spyderco clip, and overall construction all perfectly echo those seen on the standard G-10 Native 5. SpyderCollector notes that this knife is his particular favorite among the 10 prototypes he was able to show this year. “To see a new Chief, completely in the style of the current Native 5, is awesome. I have to get one.”

Sage 5 Lightweight

Yet another Spyderco standby is getting the lightweight treatment, this time the Compression Lock-equippedSage 5. As has been the case with most of the other Lightweight releases, few if any details have been changed on the actual design itself other than the obvious material swap. The new dressing saves a ton of weight, bringing the Sage 5 LW to down to a stunning 1.86 oz.

Along with the recently-announced Para 3 Lightweight, the Sage 5 LW will lead the charge for FRN-handled Compression Lock knives. SpyderCollector notes that normal knife scale polymers can’t stand up to the tension of a Compression Lock and it took Spyderco time to find the right one for these knives. “I see a lot of positive feedback on the lightweight Sage 5 too, together with the earlier revealed Para 3 Lightweight,” says SpyderCollector. “This is a new direction for Spyderco; lightweight Compression Locks.”

Emphasis and Small Efficient

Spyderco’s Efficient budget model is growing in two different directions, with a larger and a smaller model coming out. The larger version is called the Emphasis, and it scales up the blade size to 3.58 inches alongside a matching increase in handle size. On the other end of the spectrum there is the Small Efficient (no clever name here yet), which shrinks the Efficient blade from 3 inches to 2.48, and knocks the weight down to 2.25 oz.

Both the Emphasis and the Small Efficient prototypes have deep carry wire clips rather than the standard Spyderco clip seen on the original Efficient; whether this is a fluke of the protos or something we can expect to see in the retail release remains to be seen. “The value folders too, are getting better and better each year,” SpyderCollector tells us.

Byrd Harrier

Finally, SpyderCollector also documented the latest addition to Spyderco’s Byrd line, the Harrier. This is a mid-sized model with a 3.38 inch blade, perhaps making this the Byrd line equivalent of the incoming Endela. The steel on the prototype is 8Cr13MoV, and the handle was made from G-10 with a carbon fiber overlay.

Knife in Featured image: Spyderco Native Chief