Official Halpern Titanium Mule Team Handle Information

[HarleyXJGuy]

Option 6 Coco Bolo would be so so nice. I am sure G-10 will be the first few types you make though.

Any of you guys see the older Mule teams up for sale anywhere?

[Johnnie1801]

Option 6 Coco Bolo would be so so nice. I am sure G-10 will be the first few types you make though.

Any of you guys see the older Mule teams up for sale anywhere?

The Mule Team 19 is still available:

http://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=892

If you are looking for other models then your best bet would be ebay or bladeforums :)

[bearfacedkiller]

Option 6 Coco Bolo would be so so nice. I am sure G-10 will be the first few types you make though.

Any of you guys see the older Mule teams up for sale anywhere?

Fleabay or buy the current one which is still available. There are usually a few each year so there will be more coming soon. It isn't too hard to get one if you are just patient. I wouldn't buy an older one and pay the premium unless there is a steel you really want. There should be some exciting steels coming in the future.

[HarleyXJGuy]

Yeah I am aware of the new one just have no idea about the steel it is made of.

Not looking to pay out the nose for an older one, just thinking I would rather have something I know a little more about.

[losinground]

Does anyone have any pictures of the newer offerings, such as COCOBOLO DYMONDWOOD®, HERITAGE BROWN (WALNUT) DYMONDWOOD®, CABERNET PAPERSTONE®?

[HalpernTi]

If you send me your email I'll send a few photos for you.
Marianne Halpern

[RadioactiveSpyder]

There's some pics in this thread:

http://www.spyderco.com/forumII/viewtopic.php?t=62204" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

:)

[TheSpur22]

Any news on Option 6?

[kosta]

My mules

[losinground]

Halpern Ti was gracious enough to send me photos of the 3 new scale colors they are offering, I would like to share them with the forum. Thanks again Marianne Halpern and Jennifer Jenkins from Halpern Ti. Please note that the Paperstone doesn't photograph very well, but I think it looks wonderful.

[Nate]

The OD green micarta scales for my B70P mule arrived recently. While I am a satisfied customer, I thought it appropriate to share some feedback.

First, the fit isn't as good as the flat g10 scales on my K390 mule. While I didn't expect a perfect fit, there is a fair amount of tang exposed, especially on the spine side. Not a huge deal, but still a minor disappointment. I am curious if the option 4 Dymondwood or g10 scales run any larger, but also imagine there is probably some normal variation in general (and maybe I just got some that came out on the smaller side).

Second, the texturing on mine was extremely coarse. The transitions from the contouring to the flat edges were also left fairly square. Maybe I have soft girly hands since I've been tied to a desk job for a while now, but initially the knife was almost painful to hold in a firm grip.

So, out of the box the in-hand comfort for me was no bueno. Thankfully however, about 5 minutes with some sandpaper greatly alleviated these issues*. I used some 100 grit garnet paper and camphered all of the square edges and also the surface texturing. 100% improvement, imo. I will probably go back and knock back the edges on the tang as well, which should continue to increase the in hand comfort.



(*pro-tip: The hardward from my option 5 scales was the perfect size to screw the option 4 scales together sans-blade to do the sanding.)

[glbpro]

A couple of questions for the collective wisdom of this thread:

1. Which handles would you recommend for a working knife? Flat or contoured?
2. I personally prefer a smooth handle - does that mean going for the G10 over the Micarta?

Thanks!
Bruno

[Nate]

A couple of questions for the collective wisdom of this thread:

1. Which handles would you recommend for a working knife? Flat or contoured?
2. I personally prefer a smooth handle - does that mean going for the G10 over the Micarta?

Thanks!
Bruno

1. Having both, I prefer the contoured, (even despite being a little disappointed by the fit and initial coarseness).

2. I believe all of the current contoured scales have the aggressive coarse texturing, the flat scales are standard peel-ply. Your best bet may be to do like the above and just sand the contoured scales down yourself. It would be more work than I did, but should be fairly easy to achieve what you want.

Here is a better pic of how proud the tang is on the spine. Unfortunately it sticks out most right where I least want it to, where my thumb rests while cutting. Did a fair amount of cutting with it yesterday and will be rounding the spine some as it does create a hot spot. I rubbed a little oil into the scales as well:

[glbpro]

Thank you Nate, very helpful info. Do the flat scales have the same fitment issue?

[Nate]

You're welcome!

Keep in mind that I have a very limited sample size (1) of each option, but the flat scales I have fit much better in terms of full coverage. The tang is still a little exposed, but it is negligible.

I was also just looking at the mule thread in the Gallery and it looks like the flat canvas micarta scales may have a smoother finish on them. (Doesn't look like the peel-ply texture on the g-10.)

[kosta]

A couple of questions for the collective wisdom of this thread:

1. Which handles would you recommend for a working knife? Flat or contoured?
2. I personally prefer a smooth handle - does that mean going for the G10 over the Micarta?

Thanks!
Bruno

I welcome. I have 15 volume slips from Halpern. The photo is above. I have no flat slips. But I have to receive them soon. What is the mikarta, G10 or a tree more convenient? The mule with overlays of a mikart or a tree weighs 120 grams. The mule with an overlay of G10 weighs 131 grams. On all slips there is a notch. On wooden slips not so sharp notches. On overlays of a mikart in use of a knife of a notch are slightly erased. The most aggressive notches on G10. But me they don't stick into a hand. When wet it it is easier to hold a knife in a hand. But it everything individually. You try both flat and volume slips in a hand. My hand, average by the sizes. And the mule with these slips lies in a hand very comfortably. Excuse for my English, I use the translator. Thanks. :)

[kosta]

[kosta]

They are the best.

[dbcad]

The Halpern scales work very well :) Neat to see so many more colors available now :D

[DougC-3]

They are the best.

Congratulations on your complete set of mules, Kosta! Also possibly a complete set of all the available "3D" contoured Halpern scales? I like also the thin ones. The thin natural "jade" G-10, thin dark green, and thin, coarse pattern, ranger green are some of my favorites. Spyderco and Halpern make a great team. I'm sure the Mule Team project is unique in the knife world.