Spyderco Resurrects the Navigator as a Lock-Free M390 Slipjoint

Spyderco has a habit of keeping old designs alive long after their catalog slot closed, and the Navigator 3 SlipIt is the clearest recent example. The original Navigator landed in 1997 as a compact, travel-friendly folder built to clear broad size and mechanism restrictions, riding the brand's ClipIt system that paired a pocket clip with one-hand opening on a locking knife. Gear Patrol reports the new version strips the lock out entirely and returns the design as a SlipIt slipjoint.

The material story matters more than the shape. The 1997 knife shipped with G2 (later GIN-1) steel on an Almite-coated aluminum handle, and other original runs used black G-10 with VG-10 blades. The mid-2000s Navigator II went to stainless handles with VG-10. The Navigator 3 returns to the original's flat gray G-10, but jumps to M390 super steel, which outperforms VG-10 on edge holding and corrosion resistance in nearly every comparison except price and ease of sharpening.

The comparison worth making is not against Spyderco's own Delica or Dragonfly, both of which lock. It is against the other slipjoints people actually buy for travel: the UK Penknife family, Swiss Army knives, and the various two-hand-open traditionals. The Navigator 3 measures about 5.46 inches overall, which puts it in genuinely pocketable territory, and dropping the lock makes it legal in more places than a locking Spyderco of similar size.

The tradeoff is exactly what you would expect. A slipjoint cannot be pushed hard, and no amount of M390 changes the fact that the blade is held by spring tension rather than a mechanical block. Someone opening boxes, cutting rope and prepping a campsite lunch gains legal reach and loses the safety margin of a lock. Someone who already carries a UKPK does not need this knife; someone who wants a Spyderco they can legally pocket in a restrictive jurisdiction now has an obvious answer. A limited run in a revived silhouette rarely sits on shelves long, so the honest advice is to decide before the stock does it for you.