This is my second Native Chief and this is a Factory Second bought in a Mystery Box of 2023:
“This limited-edition Exclusive version of the Native Chief™ was specially manufactured for St. Nick’s Knife Factory (stnicksknives.com) and is only offered through their sales channels.…
…Our Red & Black Holiday Sale starts December 1st at 9:00AM MST! This online-only event will feature deep discounts on select factory-second knives, two different Mystery Boxes containing seconds of special high-value models, Sprint Runs, and Exclusives.“
Red and Black ? This one was made to go in that Box ! 🙂

Which means it has some cosmetic flaw I was not able to spot.
The action is rock solid. I mean it is much more solid than my previous Chief the Mighty Rex45 Orange Sprint Run: the Joker.

I have heard that CPM Magnacut could be a stainless CPM 4V.
What I have heard through the years is how CPM 4V was tough and strong. The tougher used in Spyderco was CPM 3V used in the Tuff by Ed Schempp.
4V is used in cutting competition with CPM M4. It is tougher than A2 or D2 and tougher than M4.
What is avantage in a folder like the Chief ?
Simply look at the blade shape:

The Chief’s blade is more pointy than the PM2.
To quote Spyderco:
“This advanced alloy was specifically developed for demanding industrial applications requiring high degrees of both toughness and wear resistance. The PlainEdge™ blade is full-flat ground for a superior balance of strength, edge geometry, and point utility and features a stealthy black Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) coating that also helps protect it from corrosion.”

Yes this is a good thing because with 5% of chromium, CPM 4V can rust.
DLC is really clearing one issue for this folder.
Actually there si some reminiscence of the Benchmade AFCK in M2HSS.
It was 25 years ago that this co-designed with Chris Caracci and Sal Glesser folder propose a rusting tool steel on a modern “tactical” folder.
And it also was protected under a black coating to prevent rust.

So ease in mind is a good point in a workhorse.
In the signature theme of St. Nick’s Exclusives, the linerless handle of this knife is constructed with vibrant red peel-ply-textured G-10 scales. To complement the blade’s low-profile DLC coating, the four-position pocket clip, lock bar, and all other handle hardware also have durable black coatings.

So what do we got with this Hellboy’s blade of choice ?
A long folder with no hump on its blade. Very slick !
A tough blade on a pointy design that you can use hard !
A very strong lock as Backlock are one of the stronger locks around.
Quoting Sal in my previous Chief review:
“Actually Eric and Tom went over this model with the engineers for quite a while before making the decision to make it liner-less. We’ve done a lot of experimenting lately and you can see a lot in the many different designs and options. It surprises me that some would think to make decisions on values without any experience. if we screwed it up, we’ll fix it, but we don’t screw up often considering the many envelopes we’re willing to push.”

Now that Spyderco is promoting a lightweight FRN version of the Chief in CPM Magnacut, this is good occasion to step back in time and enjoy this incredibly slick and tough piece of equipment of some years ago.

Now for my own adjustement, I have sand the G10 to a point my trouser will less suffer.

The edge is already deshouldered with diamond and now I will tune the edge to my suits as CPM 4V is not only tough it is also strong.

Also I have changed the classic clip for a deep carry cheap chinese clone.
And hope we go !

Edit: I’m back on the OEM black matte clip which gives me less knife into the pocket. Deep carry is not mandatory on this one.
The Chief needs to be proud to be red !