I don't know how popular it is in the knife enthusiast community but I find that the Spanish brand Muela to be of high quality. I'm looking to buy either the Muela Olivo-Astas or something like the Benchmade hunt. Even though I own a couple of their knives, one being a folding knife, I don't know how they compare to other brands like Benchmade and Boker. Does anyone have any insight?
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- Thread starter sn1054
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Muela is not particularly popular here, not many people have experience with them. I've had a couple, all fixed blades, and I quite like them. They provide a very solid product at a reasonable price. Don't really see anything in the way of premium blade steels from them. My favorite I've had is the Rhino, which is Sandvik. Fit and finish is on par with any of the major s manufacturers. They seem to use a lot of 440, Sandvik, etc, which just doesn't tend to get people's attention around here. I don't think you'll get a bad knife from them, not from what I've seen. So if you like the one you're looking at enough to pay for it, go for it.
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I've got a lot of experience with Muela because for a long time Spanish brands where pretty much the only ones you could get at stores in Argentina (Muela, Aitor, and so on).
Which model are you looking at? "olivo" and "asta" are just handle materials (olive wood and horn). Since you're looking at hunting folders, I guess you mean the BX-8 series (440 blades most likely 440A, nickel silver bolsters and olive, stag or ram's horn handles). Muela has decent fit and finish, some of the materials they use on their cheaper fixed blades are not very good (zamack guards and pommels, and stuff like that) and they tend to settle for rather pedestrian stainless steels even in some of their more expensive knives (sometimes they don't even bother listing the type of steel used).
I got rid of all my Muelas except for a folder pretty similar to the ones you're looking at, with olive wood handles and no bolsters. It's quite well made and has held up fine over the years. However, Benchmade is a step or two up in quality and blade steels are much better. The Hunt series has S30V blades, much better than anything offered by Muela. Two of the models have Axis locks, again much better than anything Muela can offer.
Which model are you looking at? "olivo" and "asta" are just handle materials (olive wood and horn). Since you're looking at hunting folders, I guess you mean the BX-8 series (440 blades most likely 440A, nickel silver bolsters and olive, stag or ram's horn handles). Muela has decent fit and finish, some of the materials they use on their cheaper fixed blades are not very good (zamack guards and pommels, and stuff like that) and they tend to settle for rather pedestrian stainless steels even in some of their more expensive knives (sometimes they don't even bother listing the type of steel used).
I got rid of all my Muelas except for a folder pretty similar to the ones you're looking at, with olive wood handles and no bolsters. It's quite well made and has held up fine over the years. However, Benchmade is a step or two up in quality and blade steels are much better. The Hunt series has S30V blades, much better than anything offered by Muela. Two of the models have Axis locks, again much better than anything Muela can offer.
Monofletch
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The local Mom and Pop sporting goods store has a whole display case full of Muela knives. They are great pieces. You can't go wrong buying one!
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I have two, and I carry/use them fairly regularly. I like them very much, and I always get compliments (from both knife and non-knife guys) on how nice they are. For their price, you really get a good value -- not only are the knives very well-made, but also the sheaths are some of the nicest I've encountered:
Small Colibri in Stag:
Medium Kodiak in Rosewood:
Small Colibri in Stag:
Medium Kodiak in Rosewood:
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