Which steel for my next knife? (Lil' Native)

[acarlsson918778]

Hey All,
I recently got a Para 3 in 20CV and love it. However, its a bit big for my uses - mostly opening packages and sometimes cutting down cardboard. I work in retail and mostly worry I'm scaring my customers or coworkers when I flick it open, hahaha. Prior to this knife I carried an Ambitious for about 4 years and loved it! I like small, but stout knives - knives that punch above their weight class and don't feel delicate. So I decided I should get a Lil' Native to upgrade/replace the Ambitious. The new knife will be my daily for virtually everything.

I've narrowed it down to Knife Joy Exclusive S45VN pink + Rit Dye $140, Knife Joy Exclusive 20CV green $150 - matches my Para 3 and might dye it later, or Knife Center still has the CruWear version available for $140 with the black DLC coating. I'm leaning towards the pink S45VN or CruWear, although I'm not a big fan of the DLC coating. I know it doesn't scratch as easily as people think it does and can be cleaned up, or removed altogether. The regular S30V version is still $154, so getting one of these other three options instead seems like a no brainer.

Other knives in my collection: Para 3 20CV, Delica 4 VG-10, Native 5 Salt LC200N, Ambitious and Tenacious in 8Cr13MoV, Benchmade Bugout in S30V (plan to sell), and Hogue Deka in Magnacut. Most of these are just part of the collection, purchased 2nd hand, and haven't been used (by me) much. So I don't have much experience with the differences in steels or sharpening them. I just sent all of the Spydies (other than new Para 3) out yesterday to get sharpened by Spyderco.

Wow, it feels good to get that rant off my chest. Thanks for your help!

[Mushroom]

The Lil Native is a great choice! Those are three fantastic options to choose from as well. It’s a tough call.

My favorite of that bunch is the Knifejoy 20CV version but I don’t think you could go wrong with any of them even if you’re leaning more towards one of the other two.

If you’re looking to be discreet, the all black CruWear exclusive could serve that purpose well. The black clip and non reflective blade can help to not call attention to the knife in the first place.

[Fastidiotus]

Own 3 Lil Natives and love them. For me and the edges I run S30v, S45VN, and 20cv arent different enough to make a strong case to chose one over the other. 20cv does have great corrosion resistance but my knives arent in a position for it to matter. You may want to wait a couple of days till knife joy releases their April sales, those lil natives will frequently get put on sale for less than $140.

I'd probably snag the CruWear because I like K.C.'s smooth g10. I did buy the pink one for my girlfriend and it was the nicest out of the box fit/finish and action of all my Lil Natives but that was just my experience. Plus if you don't dye it who could be scared of a little pink knife.

[acarlsson918778]

Thanks Fastidiotus. I didn't realize that other than the color, the G-10 was different on the different exclusives. I'm not a fan of the pink, although I hear what your saying and might go with a royal purply dye. Waiting a few days for the April sales doesn't hurt, if anything it'll help my CC bill settle out a little. Currently leaning toward the CruWear.

[CDEP]

I have all you mentioned. The pick for me would be Cru-Wear. If you use it a lot, strop it once a week and you will be amazed at the retention and performance.

[Vamais]

I have the Cruwear, and I think that the Lil' Native is very balanced in that flavor. Stout little blade and a tough steel. I'm regularly amazed at how not-small it feels in use.

[chronovore]

While I still haven't tried it, I'd go for S45VN here. I feel like both S45VN and SPY27 got the wind sucked out of their sales a bit by MagnaCut but both remain interesting to me. Being something new or different might not matter to everyone but in a world of choices, it's something.

Looking at Larrin's ratings, S45VN has the same property scores as Elmax. Overall, I've been happy with my knives in Elmax. Between the on-paper properties and my own experiences with knives in 20CV, M390, and Elmax from different sources, I do prefer the balance offered by Elmax. Assuming that having the same scores from Larrin holds up here; that's another tip towards S45VN.

[acarlsson918778]

I’m just pulled the trigger on the DLC CruWear!

I chose this version for a few reasons: Mostly I’m curious about trying out CruWear, and corrosion *shouldn’t* be an issue with the DLC coating. I’ve heard a lot about Spyderco transitioning to S45VN in a lot of their knives, so I’ll have plenty of chance to try that in the future. Mushroom mentioned the discreetness of the all black version, which sounds nice. I already have a green 20CV para 3, twinsies would be fun though. And finally, I tried to ask my partners opinion… she’s gracious enough to hear me out but also doesn’t care and thinks I have too many knives. When I was telling her about them her answer was simple and resonated with me: “Stop fixating and just get the black one. You already have a green one. And, why would you buy a pink one just to change it as soon as you get it? That’s stupid.” I won’t tell her that I bought the green para 3 to replace the scales with AWT Agent scales.

[sal]

Hi Acarlsson,

Welcome to our forum.

sal

[ZrowsN1s]

I remember getting a comment of wow, you do have a big knife collection. I didn't have the heart to tell them, that was only the handful of knives I had sitting out on my dresser

I figured they'd find the pelican cases eventually.....