Celebrating 50 Years with Spyderco’s Native 5 Anniversary Edition
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Most knife manufacturers celebrate milestone anniversaries with an engraved logo and a price hike. Spyderco, which has spent half a century quietly curating one of the most interesting catalogs of production knives, decided to do something else. For its 50th anniversary, the Golden, Colorado company rebuilt what Spyderco itself calls its iconic Native® 5 as a small-batch heirloom: a CPM® S90V® blade, amber-colored bone scales, mosaic Damascus bolsters hand-forged by Ed Schempp and his son Martin, and a sturdy African Padauk presentation box. The price is $1,200. The model is C41BA50TH.
This is not a knife you carry to break boxes. This is a knife you buy because the Native 5 has been around long enough to mean something, and people who care about it are willing to pay custom store money for it.
Price: $1,200
Where to buy: Spyderco
At a Glance
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Model | C41BA50TH |
| Price | $1,200 |
| Steel blade | CPM® S90V®, fully flat ground, bright polished |
| Lockdown | Rear lock |
| Handle scale | Amber dovetail bone, polished |
| Linings | Full stainless steel with decorative edge files |
| Bolsters | Hand Forged Mosaic Damascus (1084+15N20) |
| Clip | Polished hourglass, hinged right |
| Display box | Solid African padauk, laser engraved 50th anniversary logo |
| Edition | Sprint Run® (limited) |
Why the Native 5 Stands Out
The Native 5 is the current iteration of one of Spyderco’s oldest models: a mid-sized, American-made folder with a rear lock, a fully flat leaf-shaped blade, and the brand’s signature round opening hole. Most come with FRN or G-10 scales, S30V or S35VN steel, and range in price from about $140 to $300 depending on materials.
This simplicity is exactly why it works as a chassis for an anniversary build. Anniversary Editions typically stack premium hardware on top of an already premium platform. Spyderco took the opposite route. The result costs four to eight times the standard Native 5 and looks nothing like it.
The Blade: CPM S90V, Well Made
The blade is fully ground from CPM® S90V®, a powder metallurgy stainless steel that ranks at the top of Crucible’s catalog for edge retention. The recipe contains about 9 percent vanadium versus 14 percent chromium, and vanadium gets the top spot over carbon. It traps that carbon in microscopic vanadium carbides, hard enough to mock the aluminum oxide abrasive found in a standard sharpening stone, which is where the aberrant edge life comes from. Because the vanadium does the job of resisting wear, the chromium remains in solution and is free to fight rust.
Spyderco has brilliantly polished the blade rather than stonewashing or satin-finishing it. A glossy varnish telegraphs every micro-scratch, the compromise any highly polished blade makes for looks, but it pairs with the amber bone and Damascus in a way that a brushed finish wouldn’t. This is a display quality version.
The Bolsters: A Year in the Making
The main feature, and the reason the prize lands where it does, are the Damascus mosaic bolsters. Ed Schempp and his son Martin took care of the forging. Schempp is a Washington state bladesmith and wheat grower with decades of mosaic work in Damascus.
Using 1084 (high carbon) and 15N20 (nickel-based, stays shiny after etching) billets, the work is iterative: forging a billet, grinding it flat, cutting the pattern with a water jet, stacking and forging-welding the cells together, releasing the stresses, then lowering the welded billet to reinforce the thickness. These bars are sliced crosswise to expose the pattern: a 6×6 grid of cells, with the Spyderco bug forged from steel inside each one.
Spyderco estimates total work time at more than 1,200 hours over approximately one year. The bolsters are acid etched for contrast and dovetailed into the scales.
The Handle: Traditional Meets Modern
The scales are amber-colored bone, anchored in Damascus bolsters and worked to a deep, shiny finish. Bony scales are a traditional staple of slippery joints. Case, Boker, and other heritage brands use them all the time. But they are rare on a modern lockback at this price level. Bone is not as dimensionally stable as G-10 or micarta, and it ages, which is the whole point. Bony scales prefer to be transported and stored safely.
Below, all-stainless steel liners do the structural work, machined along their exposed edges with custom shop-style filing. Internal file work is rare on production knives. It’s invisible once the scale is turned on, so most brands ignore it. Spyderco did it anyway.
The Box Set: African Padauk, with a Commitment to Sustainability
The presentation box is made from solid African Padauk, laser engraved with the 50th anniversary logo. Spyderco says it will plant one tree for every box produced.
Who is it For?
Not new Spyderco buyers. A standard Native 5 in S35VN costs around $160 and will keep pace with the S90V on daily cuts; the difference only appears after an hour of cardboard.
This one is for the collector who already owns three or four Natives, has a Sebenza or Custom in rotation, and wants a piece that anchors the case. For the long-time buyer who accompanied a Native in a first job and who wants the improved version to be available on the shelves. Recent precedent suggests this won’t stay on shelves: the 40th Anniversary Damasteel Native is sold out at retail, and this build relies even more on hand-forged components that cannot be scaled.
The Caveats
Four things before anyone clicks buy. The product page still says “Coming Soon” even as Spyderco’s social media teases pre-orders; If recent Sprint Runs are any guide, expect a short window. Polished CPM S90V is a maintenance commitment: anything beyond light maintenance requires diamond or CBN abrasives, and bright polish shows rapid pocket wear. Bone scales are sensitive to heat and humidity, so storage should be done in the Padauk box in a climate-controlled space. Sprint Run resale is hot or cold; some variants appreciate, many depreciate. Buy it because you want it on your desk, not because you plan to return it.
Price: $1,200
Where to buy: Spyderco
Conclusion
The Native 5 50th Anniversary Sprint Run is the most distinctive production knife Spyderco has ever shipped, by the company’s own admission. The technical data sheet confirms this statement.
At $1,200, it’s not for the carry rotation. It’s the piece that sits on the shelves alongside the company’s first 50 years and quietly makes the case for the next 50 years.
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