Which Mule for joints and deboning?

[Sndmn11]

I have had a really good time making handles for Mules as gifts to those I know who hunt. They have excelled as a versatile blade shape, and between all that I have made and sent out in various steels, they are probably well into the triple digits on animals processed.

One of my friends wants one made up for this year, and I will be doing one set of scales in cork for field use, and a fancy set for show and tell. He pops the quarters off of the carcass to then debone hanging or on a log. This is "backcountry" mountain elk and deer, and beyond this Mule, he also has a Benchmade Altitude in s90v, and I wouldn't say he is skilled at sharpening but could surely be taught how to take a ceramic stick and keep an edge.

For the record, my wife and I use PMA11, and it is great but I go gentle around bone. Feedback from outfitters on PD1 has been excellent and I know those knives get abused as this one likely will.

What would be your choice for someone who is not a knife nerd?

[sal]

Hi Sndmn,

Welcome to our forum and thanx for all of your work on previous mules. Would love to hear their experiences. I'm sure some here will have good advice for you. We have some really smart people hanging out here.

sal

[standy99]

Any of the above.

S45vn would be the one I would gift for boning.

Considering as a butcher I use high carbon knives that are sharpened often. Never gone easy around bones and never really had issues of chipping and rolling. One thing that butchers and boners use a lot more than others is a steel for making a edge last longer between sharpening.

So any of the above are good. If your using a lot S45vn would be my pick for ease of sharpening and keeping a edge with a few regular swipes of a steel.

Z-max would be my last choice for field boning due to having more care needed of the steel not being a stainless (unless you like a nice patina)

[WilliamMunny]

I have had a really good time making handles for Mules as gifts to those I know who hunt. They have excelled as a versatile blade shape, and between all that I have made and sent out in various steels, they are probably well into the triple digits on animals processed.

One of my friends wants one made up for this year, and I will be doing one set of scales in cork for field use, and a fancy set for show and tell. He pops the quarters off of the carcass to then debone hanging or on a log. This is "backcountry" mountain elk and deer, and beyond this Mule, he also has a Benchmade Altitude in s90v, and I wouldn't say he is skilled at sharpening but could surely be taught how to take a ceramic stick and keep an edge.

For the record, my wife and I use PMA11, and it is great but I go gentle around bone. Feedback from outfitters on PD1 has been excellent and I know those knives get abused as this one likely will.

What would be your choice for someone who is not a knife nerd?

The new z-wear might be worth taking a look at. It will hold a edge fairly well but also be very tough, hard to chip or break. The only draw back is that it would be semi-stainless steel. Should be much better than z-max but if cared for it would also stain. I know my z-max started to show staining just being stored in a humid garage.

Now if you could wait for MagnaCut it would be one of the best solutions. All the pros of z-wear but fully stainless.

[Sndmn11]

I was leaning towards the s45vn, but then got on here to see what the feedback on the Zmax was and decided to make a poll. Playing around with the s45vn it has exceeded my expectations in getting a keen edge; something I could never really get going with s30v and why I became a tool steel guy.

Patina is fine in my book, I think it looks cool and tells somewhat of a storied blade just like a wood stock rifle with scratches and dings.

[Rp5]

The new z-wear might be worth taking a look at. It will hold a edge fairly well but also be very tough, hard to chip or break. The only draw back is that it would be semi-stainless steel. Should be much better than z-max but if cared for it would also stain. I know my z-max started to show staining just being stored in a humid garage.

Now if you could wait for MagnaCut it would be one of the best solutions. All the pros of z-wear but fully stainless.

Not a huge difference between Zwear and PD1, so both would potentially patina as far as I know.



Personally that's why I recommended S45VN, most stainless of the bunch if you're working in the drippy parts.

[Gtscotty]

I'd go S45VN for corrosion resistance and strong performance (in fact I got my S45VN mule pretty much for the same purpose). Seems like by the time I get done dismantling and packing an elk out, I'm usually beat enough that everything else waits until the next day. The knives I use tend to stay covered in goo until I get the meat taken care of, equipment moved and get around to them, which could be a couple days, depending. 0-1 and D2 sometimes take a little staining that adds an extra step later. Cru-wear might be nice as you get more tired and are more likely to nick a bone, but I guess you'd lose some corrosion resistance.

[Xplorer]

Toughness is what you want for joints. S45VN will provide the toughness you need and still have good edge holding ability, plus it's stainless. PD1 is also a solid choice as it is very similar to Z-Wear.

Like others have said, I would suggest Z-Wear has the perfect set of edge properties for this job. It isn't stainless but it also doesn't corrode quickly like Z-Max. When Magna Cut is available it will be the clear best choice for the job but it's going to be a while.

[WilliamMunny]

Does anyone know how rust resistant cruwear/z-wear /PD1 really is?

[Rp5]

Does anyone know how rust resistant cruwear/z-wear /PD1 really is?

As far as I know, right on the edge of non-stainless. More corrosion resistant than D2, but slightly worse than 3V if my records are accurate. I'll dig through some Larrin graphs and update this post.

EDIT:
Per the article linked below, Larrin rated it 5.4, meaning 10-20% covered with medium spots after having saltwater applied. A rating of 7.0 or higher was considered stainless. XHP was 6.4(but not test with salt-water), 3V was 5.6, ZDP-189 was 4.9 (20-40% covered), and D2 is 4.5.
https://knifesteelnerds.com/2019/10/14/ ... e-testing/

[Sndmn11]

I was leaning towards s45vn just for the stainless factor. If this were for me, I would give the Zmax a whirl and see wha tit actually takes to chip the edge on bone.