Some Sweet New Kryptoglow Mule Scales! A Quick Review and Observations. -Pic Heavy-

Rockcrawler · #1

Got some really sweet new scales for one of my Mule's last week. I have been delaying in posting up about them so here it goes.

Got these off of a friend who is just getting into making Mule Scales. This pair is a prototype, so far I am quite impressed with the quality and performance. I am giving him what feedback I can as he improves the design I am sure he would appreciate any feedback the community here has to offer.

To give the scales a quick test I took them attached to a CTS-BD1 Mule to a piece of fibrous yucca stalk. Despite what you could maybe call squared up scales with a small bit of contour they held very well. In the 30 minutes I spent push cutting, hacking, and creating feather sticks the scales did not produce any soar or hot spots on my medium / large hands. In fact the fit was dang near perfect!

One thing I noticed was the thickness of the handle right behind the thumb ramp. I find I tend to do a good amount of pushing with my thumb when cutting and the extra thickness to push upon really did save it. I did find myself creeping up the ramp and instantly noticing pressure on the middle of my thumb. I always seem to do this with the Mules, maybe some jimping will keep me down where I should be...

The scales came with a sort of random crazy texture that I was a bit doubtful about at first. Yet I found the the odd texture is super grippy, more so than the large texture of the Blue G10 M390 Para2, a knife I found to have excellent grip. The stuff is like glue to my hands!

As far as aesthetics they are really nice looking with a crazy smoke pattern a cool glacier blue glow. I really dig the look of em. Apologies in advance for the blurry pictures, I did not realize how hard it is to take pictures of glowing things!

Well that is my amateur write up. Criticism, comments, feedback, and recommendations are fully welcome as this is my first review and would really like to make improvements. My friend is working on a newer improved version of the scales, when he is done I will post them up. He goes by the name kryptoglow and so far only has an ebay page. If you would like a link or his contact info feel free to PM or email me, I do not wish to impose or break any rules / precedents here.

Thanks for reading

jabba359 · #2

Very cool glow color. Mostly I'm curious about the handle material and how workable and durable it is. I wouldn't mind picking some up if it can be easily drilled without cracking and worked with sandpaper. As for suggestions for the maker (realizing that this is a prototype), I'd recommend making sure the inside of the scales are nice and flat, as it looks like there is a gap right in front of your thumb between the scales and knife. I'd also suggest slightly smaller screw heads and torx instead of hex.

Niles · #3

Interesting stuff. Here's a description from the manufacturer on eBay.

They have a*medium rough*texture.**I intend on doing sets in various L-W-H along with other surface patterns including, light texture, low relief alligator, diamondback... These slabs must be worked from the bottom up. They cut, drill and sand easily. The material is a composite that is fiber filled and firm. These scales will glow for approx. 12+HRS after a short charge. They glow intensely at first then even out to an obvious glow gradually loosing their light.

What does it mean that they need to be worked from the bottom up?

phillipsted · #4

I had an email exchange with KryptoGlow about his scales. He was a bit reluctant to provide specifics about this composition of his slabs for fear of giving away trade secrets. He said that is was a "fiber filled composite" as noted in his 'Bay descriptions. But to be honest, these pictures look almost like a thermoplastic rather than a resin base.

I also didn't get any clarity on the comment about "These slabs must be worked from the bottom up." I did learn that some slabs don't have glow material throughout the entire thickness of the slab - for instance the orange slabs are orange on top, but glow bluish from the bottom layer only - the top orange layer has no glow material...

KryptoGlow expressed an interest in serving the Spyderco Mule market. I've got a couple of pairs of slabs on order to test them out on my Mules. We'll see what they look like when they arrive...

TedP

KardinalSyn · #5

That's just plain sweet. Good for you mate.

Rockcrawler · #6

As Niles also quoted, they are easy to sand and will drill without cracking. As far as screw types I asked him about that as well when I first them and he plans to use different screw types. They seem quite durable though I have not yet gone banging them around. Will keep you all informed how they hold up.

I am looking forward to how the design will progress. I had recommended a bit more contouring. From speaking with him they are not thermoplastic and the scales actually glow from the top and not the bottom...

TedP,

Let us know what you think of the slabs.

phillipsted · #7

I talked a little more to KryptoGlow last evening and clarified some points. As Rockcrawler stated, several of his slabs have the glow material distributed around the top textured surface of the slabs. This is why he says to sand it from the bottom only. This means that you won't be able to contour the scales without losing the glow material in those locations. If you contour, you will also lose the cool texturing, just like you will with peel-ply.

Oh, and the orange scales glow green, not blue as I said earlier.

Some interesting scale material indeed!

TedP

Rockcrawler · #8

Apparently he can do palm swell / fully contoured type scales that DO glow from the bottom, where the top material would have to be translucent or semi-translucent so they can charge.

The other reason I am hesitant to contour or sand is that the texture is SUPER grippy.

Interesting stuff I do agree!

Zencowboy · #9

Been keeping my eye on those on ebay. Glad to see Ted about to test them on a mule for us!
Green will glow a lot longer (for camping and such I like).

ABergh10 · #10

I'm pretty interested in these glow-in-the-dark scales, seen them on ebay too.

But are there mule pattern scales of this material? Can we get the man some requests?
Also the glow material should be through-and-through so you can re-profile the handles when needed...

tonydahose · #11

i emailed him through ebay and got this reply

Hello,

At the moment I'm trying to develop a couple of styles for the mule. There is a thread on them on BF and spy. forums. I hope to have a final proto done in a week or so and then I'll be offering them here and through my website.
Thanks, Dan

shotcaller88 · #12

ahahaha. good to see this. i e-mailed kryptoglow on ebay maybe like 6 months ago. I asked him if he had any plans to make scales for mules. I then explained the mule project to him. I figured he had long forgot about it. Glad to see he's making progress.

elliottvfp · #13

The glow is neat looking, but the texture of those scales looks great. I generally hate to stray from anything but sandpaper rough G-10, but from the pictures those scales seem pretty much on par if not... grippier!

Rockcrawler · #14

Thought I would go ahead and add some pictures of his more recent work, his next step is to switch to smaller stainless screws.

Clip · #15

I like the first set posted that looks like a bluish glow. Texture and black swirl looks really good on there! I'd be interested in a pair at some point if he can get the contouring worked out a little better.

Niles · #16

The glow of the blue ones was definitely cooler, but the green ones are a lot more refined. Certainly going in the right direction.