Mule team thoughts

T

Tucson_Tom

Joined
Apr 6, 2016
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I just discovered the Spyderco Mule Team. It is a strange story how it came about. I was in my local knife shop (everyone should have and patronize a local shop) and they had a used Tenacious for $25. I admire the "value" series made in China spyderco knives and consider them an amazing bargain even at full price. So I picked this one up.

What does this have to do with the Mule team you say? Well, the previous owner had done a bunch of decorative work on the scales, including putting his initials on the knife by drilling a series of little holes. But the blade is in good shape and the knife is solid. So I start thinking that this is my chance to fool around and try to learn how to make
my own custom scales. Reading about this is what led me to discovering the Mule Team. So I ordered some Micarta (it is surprisingly cheap -- and I don't intend to make my own). I figure it will be easier to get started with Micarta than G10. Then we will move on to handles for the Mule Team blades I just ordered. I figure to start at least with
making "bolt on" handles for the mule team using relatively common wood (I dumpster dive at a cabinet shop and get lots of small pieces of maple, alder and other hardwoods). Then I can graduate to fancy materials and consider gluing on handles with decorative liners. Lots to learn.
 
While some of the Mules have sold out quickly most have not. Also, I have seen almost all of them come up for sale for close to the same price as they sold for new. Many sell for less than they did new. I suggest keeping your eyes open in the classifieds here and on Ebay. With a little persistence I bet you can track down most of them for reasonable prices. I am Mule fan myself and have quite a few of them including some of the early ones that I bought much later.
 
bearfacedkiller said:
While some of the Mules have sold out quickly most have not. Also, I have seen almost all of them come up for sale for close to the same price as they sold for new. Many sell for less than they did new. I suggest keeping your eyes open in the classifieds here and on Ebay. With a little persistence I bet you can track down most of them for reasonable prices. I am Mule fan myself and have quite a few of them including some of the early ones that I bought much later.
Click to expand...

I see... So I need a little Persistence.. what if I were Tenacious about it? I realize it's an Ambitious goal...




Ok, that was terrible. Back to my corner...
 
Ha! I almost used a different word so I wouldn't mess up people's searches. You threw 'em all out there! :D
 
They have a several page thread on mule team scales. i tried searching for it, but couldn't find it. anyone else have a link to it?
 
Mo2 said:
They have a several page thread on mule team scales. i tried searching for it, but couldn't find it. anyone else have a link to it?
Click to expand...

Ha !! I've actually been working my way through this 55+ page thread over on the Spyderco forum. I've got it bookmarked and keep working my way through a few
pages when I have a few idle minutes. A lot of nice things there. Also a lot of missing images from years gone by. For some reason people link to images on who knows
what site and then they are lost to posterity. Better to host the images on the same site as the forum, that is clear.

Show me your mule ...
 
The thing to bear in mind about the Mule Team knives is that Spyderco makes next to nothing on them. They are sold direct to us for what a distributor would have to pay. That price is based on production cost. If they did another run of earlier steels, odds are they would be more expensive than the originals just because the costs of production have gone up. As far as offering one or two steels on an ongoing basis as a "control" for comparison, I think it would be nice, but once again, there isn't enough profit in these things to make that worthwhile. I'm a bit surprised every time a new Mule is announced, and I think of each one as another gift from Sal.
 
yablanowitz said:
I think of each one as another gift from Sal.
Click to expand...

I can most certainly see things that way. I have been reading through the list of mule teams (and it makes for fascinating reading if you are a steel junky), and I can see that it is a history of events in the world of knife steels. It is definitely a cool thing for Sal to do. I hope he finds it fulfilling and that he feels appreciated.
 
Another vote for a 'production mule' in a pretty-great steel (say, S30V or S35VN or XHP, for instance). It's also a niche that Spyderco is seemingly absent from in their current fixed line-up. I'd buy one!
 
The Temperance2 is more or less just a slightly scaled up Mule and it is a regular production knife.

I think that a fully finished Mule in XHP with micarta scales and a leather sheath would sell. Basically have a full sized Temperance2 made in Japan in VG10 and have a smaller Temperance made in Golden with XHP.
 
Tucson_Tom said:
Ha !! I've actually been working my way through this 55+ page thread over on the Spyderco forum. I've got it bookmarked and keep working my way through a few
pages when I have a few idle minutes. A lot of nice things there. Also a lot of missing images from years gone by. For some reason people link to images on who knows
what site and then they are lost to posterity. Better to host the images on the same site as the forum, that is clear.

Show me your mule ...
Click to expand...

Thats the one i was talking about! wrong forum, thats why i couldnt find it lol. thanks for posting it, its got a lot of great stuff in there.
 
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