Scrap Yard Mud Mutt: an awesome 5 inch bushcraft blade

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spydercobenchmadekai

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Sep 26, 2013
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The UPS guy brought me something great in the mail: a SYKCO Mud Mutt. :D

The Mud Mutt was just released this December; the price before Jan. 1 was $100+$20 sheath. The price is now $120+$25 sheath.

Specs straight off of the SYKCO web site:

Blade Length: 5"
Blade Width: 1.25"
Blade Thickness: .140"
Overall Length: 10"
Grind: Saber
Steel: SR101
Hardness: 58-60Rc
Blade Finish: Black
Handle: Sage Toned Resiprene C

The first thing that hit me was the fact that the handle is comfy! The ridges provide plenty of grip, and the Resiprene C softens the impact from chopping/batoning. Mine came quite sharp.

I took the Mutt straight out to the wood pile:




First up was a batoning test. Since it is a thin slicer, I didn't expect it to do very well. I was wrong! ;)





Next, I tried push cutting a large oak block to make thin shavings. The Mud Mutt excelled in this category. It also did quite well at making feather sticks.




I also tried some light chopping. It worked, but not very well. The Mud Mutt took shallow bites, and while it didn't happen during my testing, I belive that the edge could roll with too much chopping.

The sheath. Ah, the sheath. :rolleyes: It is not the best sheath ever. There is about 2 inches of extra leather at the bottom, and the retention is not very good. However, it does what it does, and it keeps the knife from cutting things.




Future tests will include slicing food.

Here is a comparison shot with several other popular blades in the same size category:



Overall, I would recommend the Mud Mutt to anyone looking for a light, nimble, hard-use camp blade. It seems like the perfect combination of light weight, good blade length for batoning, great ergos, and the expected Scrap Yard quality. :thumbup::)

 
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spydercobenchmadekai said:
The sheath. Ah, the sheath. :rolleyes: It is not the best sheath ever. There is about 2 inches of extra leather at the bottom, and the retention is not very good. However, it does what it does, and it keeps the knife from cutting things.


Click to expand...

Your knife isn't fully sheathed, it should look like this:

P1010163.JPG


Can you see the deformation where the guard is at the protrusion? The sheath is exactly the right length, but it is a bit tight on the Res-C. I switched my MuddMutt to a SpecOps and use the leather for my SYKCO 511 which loves it :cool:

P1010203.JPG



Mine both came paper-shaving sharp but the edge-angle is pretty obtuse at ~25 degrees per side (plenty robust not to roll). I'm going to slim mine down for better performance. The handle doesn't fit my hand as well as the RMD, but you are right that the rubber is comfy :thumbup:

P1010213.JPG
 
Good looking blade, Eli! I am about to order myself a Rodent 6, which will go along with my RMD as my primary bushcraft load-out. Good stuff!
 
spydercobenchmadekai said:
Thanks! How do you like the RMD? I am thinking about getting one to accompany the Battle Rat and the Mud Mutt.
Click to expand...

I haven't had a chance to do much with it at present, as we've had some rainy blah weather, on top of a lot of overtime for me at work. One thing to know about the RMD is that it's actually a very small knife. Even though its blade length is exactly identical to that on my (well, our) Becker BK2s, it's much lighter, and that choil makes for the ability for very fine work. I'll try to get a pic this evening of the two together so you see what I mean. Also, the edge on my RMD is going to need some touching up before it's sharp enough for me, but that said, it's an amazing knife. It feels very strong in the hand, and the grip shape fits my hand perfectly. I don't think you'll be able to go wrong with an RMD, honestly. Here's mine:

12206824164_088e63c76a_b.jpg


All of that said, the Scrap Yard knives seem to return incredible value for the money by all accounts I've read here and elsewhere online. I've watched vid after vid on Youtube where people abuse the hell out of them, and they just shrug and ask "Is that it? When are we going to do some real work??". I am pretty set on the Rodent 6 because of its handle shape, but I'm definitely going to have to get one of these Mutts at some point also.
 
That RMD looks great! (Except for the coating--it needs more scratches! ;))

I want a custom shop satin drop point Rodent 6 with blue/black G10. (So many knives, so little money.) The Mud Mutt is certainly a lot of fun! It will be my go-to short-trip-backpacking blade.
 
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