Mule Team Picture/Appreciation Thread

Fixall

Fixall

Brian
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Hello BladeForums, I hope you are all doing well today! With the Spyderco Mule Team set to return soon, I thought now would be a nice time to start a Mule Team picture/appreciation thread to bide us over until the SPY27 Mule Team is released. I'd love to see any and all Mule Team knives you have! I know some of you have some absolutely breathtaking specimens.

Here are two on the opposite ends of the spectrum. :)
bFG55lC.jpg

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Saw you snag that K390 Mule, what a frickin deal! Looks beautiful, and a workhorse to boot. Still have yet to get my first one. A carbon steel for sure.

Also, all I can say to that collection is WOW
 
yablanowitz said:
Not breathtaking examples, but I do have one.



And I do appreciate them.
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That looks pretty breathtaking to me! Any of them really stand out as favorites?

lieferung said:
Saw you snag that K390 Mule, what a frickin deal! Looks beautiful, and a workhorse to boot. Still have yet to get my first one. A carbon steel for sure.

Also, all I can say to that collection is WOW
Click to expand...

I was really surprised it was available so long! K390 has been on my shortlist for awhile now. I almost snagged a Super Blue Mule last night too, but decided I wouldn't go past $110 (it ended up going for $112.50, lol), that would have been fun. I like how Super Blue sharpens.

The upcoming SPY27 model isn't carbon, but it's pricing is crazy low and the performance should pretty solid.
 
This one is long gone. I had a guy from here on the forums put the scales on it. Can't
remember his exact username bigfootray or something similar. Anyways I thought it turned out nice. Fixall this is the first time I've ever seen that quote in your sig line from Sal.
That is very meaningful to me because that is exactly how I learned to sharpen.:thumbsup:

 
Fixall said:
That looks pretty breathtaking to me! Any of them really stand out as favorites?



I was really surprised it was available so long! K390 has been on my shortlist for awhile now. I almost snagged a Super Blue Mule last night too, but decided I wouldn't go past $110 (it ended up going for $112.50, lol), that would have been fun. I like how Super Blue sharpens.

The upcoming SPY27 model isn't carbon, but it's pricing is crazy low and the performance should pretty solid.
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I understand. I set my max at 107 on that very mule. Sometimes, I wish I were less disciplined.
 
grybsh7 said:
This one is long gone. I had a guy from here on the forums put the scales on it. Can't
remember his exact username bigfootray or something similar. Anyways I thought it turned out nice. Fixall this is the first time I've ever seen that quote in your sig line from Sal.
That is very meaningful to me because that is exactly how I learned to sharpen.:thumbsup:

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That's beautiful! Redwood burl, or something else? Either way, it looks great and I'm sure the new owner is loving it.

Yea, I really appreciate that quote. I've long thought that a lot of the world's problems can be solved with proper education... But history lessons aren't going to sharpen my knives. :D
 
I only learned how to buy Mules late last year, so I only have this one plus another one in RWL34. I'm grateful that Spyderco is keeping the Mule Project alive.

lzwKZDB.jpg
 
mikey177 said:
I only learned how to buy Mules late last year, so I only have this one plus another one in RWL34. I'm grateful that Spyderco is keeping the Mule Project alive.

lzwKZDB.jpg
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That is awesome! CrazyFiber Micarta or Fat Carbon Fiber?? If I had to chose any one Mule it would probably be Cru-Wear or PD#1, so I think you did just fine. :) I'd really like to have the PD1 Mule tested to see how it compares to the Cru-Wear Mule (62 - 63ish) as far as hardness goes.

I'm super happy that Spyderco is bringing back the Mule Team project too. I love that Spyderco is always listening. :)
 
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^ It's some sort of micarta, I didn't ask the maker if it had a specific name. I'm quite happy with the performance of PD1. Hoping they come out with another Cruwear fixed blade in the future.
 
Fixall said:
That looks pretty breathtaking to me! Any of them really stand out as favorites?
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Not really. I gravitate towards the high carbide, wear resistant steels. S90V, S110V, K390, M390 and Maxamet were all very useful. Cruwear didn't impress me initially, but after the heat treatment was fixed it was pretty good stuff.
 
I've only got 2 Mules -- an LC200N and 20CV.

May pick up a CPM SPY27 when it's released.

Sal is reported as saying that it is a variation of VG10 but according to an independent report, it has properties more similar to S30V/S35VN, which would make it a mid-range performance steel that should be superior to VG10. See: Knife Steel Nerds - Analysis of SPY27.
 
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mikey177 said:
^ It's some sort of micarta, I didn't ask the maker if it had a specific name. I'm quite happy with the performance of PD1. Hoping they come out with another Cruwear fixed blade in the future.
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Well, it turned out great. :)

I hope so too! After @Larrin's amazing article... I wouldn't be surprised to see Cru-Wear, 10V, M4, 4V, and 3V become even more common in quality knives.

yablanowitz said:
Not really. I gravitate towards the high carbide, wear resistant steels. S90V, S110V, K390, M390 and Maxamet were all very useful. Cruwear didn't impress me initially, but after the heat treatment was fixed it was pretty good stuff.
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Those steels tend to be my jam when it comes to modern knives too. Great stuff! I wasn't aware that the Cru-Wear Mule Team has heat treat issues... Maybe it's a good thing I went with the Pd#1, lol. Did they run it too soft? My favorite thing about Cru-Wear so far is how it sharpens.

sgt1372 said:
I've only got 2 Mules -- an LC200N and 20CV.

May pick up a CPM SPY27 when it's released.

Sal is reported as saying that it is a variation of VG10 but according to an independent report, it has properties more similar to S30V/S35VN, which would make it a mid-range performance steel that should be superior to VG10. See: Knife Steel Nerds - Analysis of SPY27.
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Yea, the performance of SPY27 is pretty intriguing to me. It seems like it should do really well for Spyderco. If the cost of the upcoming Mule is any indication, it should be a pretty affordable steel too.
 
When the Cruwear mule was released, they were way soft. From what I read, the steel was supposed to be heat treated at the foundry and ground already hardened. I gathered that it wasn't and Spyderco trusted them instead of checking. When someone here asked me what I thought of it, I posted that it didn't hold an edge worth a damn but at least it was easy to sharpen and described what was happening. Sal chimed in that that didn't sound right, stopped shipping and started testing. Three hours later, he issued a total recall on them. They refunded our money and we got to buy them again after they were properly heat treated.

It is a testament to Spyderco that it never occurred to me that the problem might be with the blade. I thought I'd forgotten how to sharpen or was just having one of those days.
 
I love all the custom scales!
My Maxamet with halpern dymondwood scales and sheath by me :D
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TRfromMT TRfromMT what did you use to modify the guard? I kinda want to do something similar but don't want to mess it up, not sure what grinding Maxamet will be like..
 
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