Natives @ SMKW

[firedawgder]

Does anydody have the lowdown on the FRN Natives at Smoky Mountain Knife Works? The blades are stamped First Generation BRK. The description states 440 steel and made in the USA. Price....21.95. Is this 440 steel or CPM 440V? I went on and purchased one CE..should be here any day now..another spydie for cheap!

[4 s ter]

The following is a quote from a post by Sal which explains the "BRK" Natives

David


Quote:
When the Native was first designed, it was scheduled to be made by Camillus in New York as a subcontractor. The plan was for 440A. The Native was to be a less expensive offering than the Delica at the same size.

Camillus made a large number of blades out of 440A. They were very nicely made blades. For a variety of reasons, Camillus could not produce for us at the time, so we brought the mold (that Camillus made) into Golden and produced the GIN-1 version for years. Then we changed the blade steel to CPM-440V, the price jumped, and will probably stay with the exotic steels in the near future.

Blue Ridge Knives, a long time and very good distributor for Spyderco knives put together a plan to use the perfectly good
Camillus made blades, Camillus would make the locks and springs, Spyderco would provide the Native handles and Camillus would assemble them in New York. This made it possible to make the less expensive offering. All in all, it's a nicely made USA made piece, and as mentioned, for the price, its hard to beat.

Blue Ridge Knives had the plan and made it possible. So BRK has exclusive rights to the distribution of the model.

Hope that helps.

We'll still be making the Native in Golden from CPM steels. There is also a Seki-City variation variation coming out later this year.

sal

"Not all who wander are lost"

[J Smith]

Heres the thread. http://www.spyderco.com/forum/Topic.asp?topic_id=5387&forum_id=7&Topic_Title=BEW ARE%2BNative%2BBRK%2Bnot%2Bmade%2Bby%2BSpyderco&fo rum_title=General+Discussion

SOOOO!,I see the internet is on the computer now!....Homer Simpson

[firedawgder]

Thanks all for your help with the BRK Mystery. Keep checking the mail for my Camillus Native....I'm getting a little impatient. Hope the quality is representative of Spyderco.

[4 s ter]

firedawger

I don't have one but, from what I've read, the quality is not representative of Spyderco - see Jeff's (J. Smith) link

David

"Not all who wander are lost"