Abe
Idaho

Apr 05, 2025

Pros: Blade Material, Blade Sharpness, Ease of Opening, Handle Feel, Handle Material, Lock Ease of Use, Lock Type, Overall Quality, Pocket Clip, Sheath, Weight

Cons: None

PERFECT EDC

I've had the Native 5 Salt with MagnaCut for over a year now, since it was first released. I literally cannot think of a better every day carry knife for the average person. It takes everything I throw at it without breaking a sweat. Stays nice and sharp for a long time, but it's not hard to sharpen. Extremely light, you won't even notice it's there. I have had many people ask about it when they see it, and they are all impressed when they handle it. I can't think of a single thing I would change.

E
USA

Jun 21, 2023

Pros: Weight, Ease of Opening, Handle Material, Pocket Clip, Blade Material, Overall Quality, Blade Sharpness

Cons: None

Worth the wait

I was on the waiting list for a little over a year for this bad boy. Just got it in the mail today and it was well worth the wait. Spyderco always seems to crush the competition when it comes to making blade steel.

Dee
Honolulu

Oct 15, 2022

Pros: None

Cons: None

All of the below

Black sharpie on the scales = looks baaaaad. Renew as necessary.

Spock
Abilene, Tx

Jun 27, 2024

Pros: Blade Material, Blade Sharpness, Ease of Opening, Handle Feel, Handle Material, Lock Ease of Use, Lock Type, Overall Quality, Pocket Clip, Weight

Cons: None

Best Factory edge ever had

Yes. Mi OCD, I have or have had a plethora of Spydies, and most from KCI. Other brand too. Extremely impressed with the Spyderco MagnaCut [as well as Spydie K390 and ZDP...] compared to everything else AND after 30 years around tool and die making, specifying steel, working with them, grinding and making tooling, etc. LW This Native 5 LW in MagnaCut has the BEST Factory edge I have EVER seen. In performance and stability for a knife edge. KCI service and timeliness? You guys have treated me like family and like I belong and like I matter! Wow! This is 2024... When I say this thanks, I mean it! SS... I really mean I hope ya'll get rich! As knife nerds, someone has to!

Jt
North Carolina

Feb 22, 2026

Pros: Blade Material, Blade Sharpness, Lock Ease of Use, Lock Type, Overall Quality

Cons: None

Native salt in magna

Bought this for son in law as gift. He loves it. Great fit and finish for FRN, love the satin magnacut blade. Lock back works in either hand. Hard to lose this with the color which works well for boating and fishing.

Yt
U.S.A. Earth

Jun 04, 2021

Pros: Weight, Ease of Opening, Pocket Clip, Blade Material, Overall Quality, Blade Sharpness

Cons: None

An excellent knife let down by the yellow scales

I can certainly understand the lack of reviews on this knife, after all it is a no-frills lockback knife with no premium materials (minus the blade steel itself) that costs $130. Realistically an EDC knife that can see a lot of food prep could have been achieved much cheaper with something in 420J2, even a specialty knife meant for wet work can be served by 420J2 (and the steel had/has been used for decades for such tasks). That said LC200N is functionally corrosion proof for typical daily operation and yet has much greater edge retention over 420J2 and the even more corrosion resistant steel, H1. The Native series is lite weight thanks to FRN scales and no steel liners with balanced dimensions (not too small and not too large for EDC), lending itself well to unobtrusive and unnoticed carry. Ultimately this is a great pocket knife for food prep that can double for all other standard EDC tasks, and even if you forget to wash it off after cutting up fruit or other food items, you can rest assured that even if you forgot about the knife for a month afterwards, it won't be a horror show of corrosion when you go to use it. My only gripe is one that I won't knock the rating down for, after all I bought the knife knowing full well it was yellow. That of course is the gripe; yellow scales. The yellow makes sense for what the knife was designed for, work or play out on/in water, thus high vis yellow. It would have been nice if the Native 5 had been offered with black or at least darker scales but sadly it was not.

Andrew
Pound Ridge, NY

Oct 12, 2025

Pros: Blade Material, Blade Sharpness, Ease of Opening, Handle Feel, Handle Material, Lock Ease of Use, Lock Type, Overall Quality, Pocket Clip, Weight

Cons: None

Extraordinary Knife

The Spyderco Native 5 Salt Folding Knife is an extraordinary knife. Extremely well crafted, this knife is only as heavy as it needs to be, and the tolerances are very tight. This is a beautifully designed and very high-quality folding knife. I can honestly say that this knife represents one of the best examples of quality materials, outstanding design and precise manufacturing to make an extremely practical and beautiful folding knife for every day carry. Couldn’t be better.

Recks
Honolulu , Hawaii

Jun 30, 2023

Pros: Weight, Ease of Opening, Pocket Clip, Blade Material, Overall Quality, Blade Sharpness

Cons: Handle Material

Spyderco native 5 magnacut

Waited a while for knife to become available. I was worried that that “out of stock” meant Spyderco had material problems or manufacturing problems. Knife Center kept me informed of order status and when it was available I asked that knife be checked prior to shipping. The knife arrived flawless. So far knife has performed as well as my Spyderco para 2 magnacut but more compact and lighter to carry. The only change I will doing to this knife is swapping out the scales.

Johan
.

Feb 13, 2026

Pros: Blade Material, Blade Sharpness, Ease of Opening, Lock Ease of Use, Lock Type, Overall Quality, Weight

Cons: None

Good - One thing though

If they add thin plastic washers, it would make it smooth without the need for even oil. At least for mine, I had to eventually wash the hardware, and the oil had to go too. I put in a random plastic washer off a leatherman, and it opens smoothly. Without that though, over time the blade becomes harder to open. I give it a 9.5/10.

Muddog
IL

Feb 27, 2026

Pros: Blade Material, Blade Sharpness, Ease of Opening, Handle Feel, Handle Material, Lock Ease of Use, Lock Type, Overall Quality, Pocket Clip, Weight

Cons: None

Spyderco Native 5 salt

This knife meets all expectations. Just a great looking and operational knife. Magnacut steel can't go wrong. Thanks

Jv
Planchez,

Sep 04, 2023

Pros: Blade Material, Blade Sharpness, Ease of Opening, Handle Feel, Handle Material, Overall Quality, Weight

Cons: Lock Ease of Use, Lock Type, Pocket Clip

Love that Natives

I really love the overall shape and handling of that knife, already have a SPY27 version. The yellow color is not too flashy or shiny i was fearing. And, to me, it matches well with the black hardware. I guess the frn will be easy to rit dye to another color, if i ever want to change it. I don't like the clip, which is a hotspot for me. I will change for an aftermarket one. I hope they will do a compression lock version of this model. The blade is so sharp, and i find the magnacut quite easy to strope or sharpen, despite it's hardness, using diamond stones or diamond compound.

Vlado
Croatia

Feb 15, 2019

Pros: Weight, Ease of Opening, Handle Material, Blade Material, Overall Quality, Blade Sharpness

Cons: Handle Feel, Pocket Clip

The grail knife is here!.... almost.

Well I was not surprised this Valentines when my better half gave me a present box, as I was drooling all over this knife since the specs came out. My previous beater EDC was Salt 1, as its almost the perfect all-around knife when you work in the marine industry; had everything but edge retention. Native 5 Salt was the logical successor to this, as by the tests I've seen, the LC200N has a hell of an edge retention compared to H1, losing only minor corrosion resistance. So I'm looking at it right now and comparing with my previous grail knife: Handle length is the same, though Natives handle is more substantial in the hand and you don't get the subjective feeling that the handle is flexing when using it. Here we get to the first gripe though: design of the handle is not rounded from the upper side, but has more of a square edge, which is less comfortable than the Salt 1 was. Another thing is the thickness of the handle, which is about 25-30% thicker than Salt 1, which is, in combination with different pocket clip, making it stick out more from your pants. Texturing of the handle is definitely better than on Salt. Though design of the blade is a subjective thing, IMO it is much better looking than Salt. Which also means that the spyderhole is smaller, making it a bit more difficult to open (blade is still new, so it's quite stiff when opening, but this will wear over time). We have yet to see opening with sweaty, salty hands, and will it rip skin off the fingers. Blade shape is also much more efficient for my stile of use, so I'm giving it a plus there. If my review stopped here, rating would be 5/5. Now we get to the part where someone decided to have a cruel joke on all of us by the sea: the inside of the handle looks drilled (OK I know all this stuff is molded, but this is my best way to compare), with reinforcing. I was still satisfied here, until I saw that the "drilling" design stretches also around the shaft of the blade. Designers, really? What do you think will happen with even mild use - those holes will fill with dirt and debris in no time. Thus why this knife gets 4 stars. In conclusion, this knife will be a worthy adversary to my favored Salt. Time will tell if the drilled inside will drive me back to Salt.

Timothy S
Benicia CA

Feb 10, 2026

Pros: Blade Material, Blade Sharpness, Handle Feel, Handle Material, Lock Ease of Use, Lock Type, Overall Quality, Pocket Clip, Weight

Cons: Ease of Opening, Sheath

Great knife, but very stiff to open

Great sharpness, quality. Bummed it wasn’t assembled properly.

Rocky
Illinois

Jun 30, 2026

Pros: Blade Material, Blade Sharpness, Ease of Opening, Handle Feel, Handle Material, Overall Quality, Weight

Cons: Lock Ease of Use, Pocket Clip

Native 5

The sharpest flat ground blade I have. honestly I prefer the sage 5 but the price and USA made factor of the native 5 was the decision for this purchase. I absolutely hate the clip. I own a lil native with a wire clip and I love it.if spyderco would stop putting lanyard holes in so many knives, they could place their clips in better tip up positions. not a huge lockable fan, prefer the compression lock. Overall... great tool at a decent price.

Db
Canada

Apr 18, 2023

Pros: None

Cons: None

Almost

Was super pumped to get this knife. But the jimping on the back lock section is cut super crooked and doesn’t match the blade and the swedge on the top of the blade is uneven by 3/16” toward the tip. I recommend waiting to buy this until spyderco works out the kinks. Not super happy with spyderco on this one.