Mule Team XL?

[JoviAl]

It occurred to me just now (while shredding a load of ornamental ginger stems at work for mulch with my Magnacut mule) that a ‘Mule XL’ would make a fantastic work/hunting/fishing knife. The blade length on the standard mule is excellent for a lot of things (almost identical sharpened length to my much used Manix XL), but one about twice the size would be even better.

I personally am having a fantastic experience with Magnacut, but I equally enjoy CPM Cruwear and similar tool steels. For me a perfect sharpened blade length would be somewhere between 5 and 6 inches. If it could be made to be compatible with the standard mule scales even better! It would be my ideal work tool.

If such a thing were to be made, what steel would people like to see it done in and how big?

[ladybug93]

a 6" magnacut leaf shaped fb with the same handle as the mule would be very sweet.

[JoviAl]

a 6" magnacut leaf shaped fb with the same handle as the mule would be very sweet.

I know tooling setup costs can be prohibitive but it would be really cool if it was done as a paired run with both PE and SE options.

[kennethsime]

I’m in for this. A larger Mule would slay in the kitchen.

I would like the handle to be a little roomier, too. The present pinky nub is a little tight for me.

Magnacut would be nice, but I’d be down for any reasonably stainless high wear resistant steel. Ultimately the mule is a slicer.

[Fireman]

I’m down for a 6” blade mule with thicker stock steel and identical handle to use existing scales and hardware.

[Fireman]

I’m in for this. A larger Mule would slay in the kitchen.

I would like the handle to be a little roomier, too. The present pinky nub is a little tight for me.

Magnacut would be nice, but I’d be down for any reasonably stainless high wear resistant steel. Ultimately the mule is a slicer.

I have the same issue with my XL hands but it would be more popular with the exact same handle unfortunately for us big hands

[Coastal]

I would love this! I'd prefer a 5"-ish blade, but anything in the 4-6 range would be very nice. I'm probably an outlier, but I'd rather have a clip point than a leaf. Looking at my new SPY 27 Mule, I can tell I'm going to like its acute tip more than the standard leaf-shaped Mule Team. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a leaf, however!

[sal]

Hi JoviAl,

Thanx for the suggestion. I'll watch the thread.

sal

[JoviAl]

Hi JoviAl,

Thanx for the suggestion. I'll watch the thread.

sal

Hi Sal,

I know there are several manufacturers that make something similar to what I’m proposing (BRK for example). I think the key market differentiators in this case would be the easy interoperability with the existing Mule Team handles/aftermarket kits, plus the consistency of heat treat that Spyderco cranks out (not to mention folk purchasing from brand loyalty). If there happened to be any old bar stock kicking about at Spyderco HQ for a test piece I would happily put a prototype through its paces as a daily work user to provide free R&D.

Have a great evening,
Al

[sal]

Thanx JoviAL,

I'll make a prototype and consider your offer.

sal

[Evil D]

I'm liking my mule far more than any other fixed blade I have, and to be fair that's not a big number of knives as I'm really a folder guy, but something about it just really feels right to me. It's a really convenient size, but I could do with it being just 1/2 to 3/4 longer in the handle and blade, it's on the lower end of what actually fits my hand and with gloves on it starts to feel a little too small.

That said I'm also very interested in the Enuff 2 and I think it may actually fill this need for me. The one thing I've said I might change about the mule design (aside from getting rid of or reducing the size of the guard) is getting rid of the thumb ramp since it's so small anyway, and the Enuff 2 is already that. Of course this is a whole different knife and price and won't come in all the steels that a mule might get.

[standy99]

Basically the junction fitted what you guys are asking for...have been a fan of the junction for a larger than Mule fixed blade.

Having a lot of mules I would find it hard to have a bigger blade with the same handle size as the mule.

The Enuff 2 is what you are after already

[JoviAl]

The Enuff 2 is ironically not enough blade for my purposes. I’m after a blade that is at least 5 inches (6 or even 7 being ideal) to fill the void between my current crop of spyderco knives and my machetes.

One thing I would love is a matching hole in the kydex sheath aligned with the spydie hole so a padlock can be put through it, stopping the blade from being drawn from the sheath. I can drill them myself but it would be a nice thing to have from factory as a feature. People ‘borrowing’ tools at work without asking is not cool.

[JoviAl]

…having just found out there’s going to be an Enuff 2 in K390 I’m going to have to have one regardless of blade size. Curse you Spyderco with your bank balance draining smorgasbord of great knives! (but seriously - keep em coming!)

[legOFwhat?]

I wouldn't mind a Province blade with MT handle mash-up.

[standy99]

I wouldn't mind a Province blade with MT handle mash-up.

For me it’s a GB1 blade with a Mule handle in M4…….

[Ramonade]

In my mind Mules should stay what they are : same geometry and all that. Otherwise it's a bit hard to compare.
But if it was for a production Mule, or if they were releasing both the basic and 6" for each steel, that'd work .

In any case, I love the blade but even more : the tang of the Mule ! So a bigger blade with the same tang would be even better in my eyes

[Bolster]

I own over a dozen mules currently, and the current 3-1/4" blade hits a sweet spot for me. A much larger mule would be a novelty; might purchase one, but my use for knives with blades >4" drops to near zero. But it might be popular with other folks who need large knives.

I notice that nobody has proposed a smaller mule that would be more of a shop-sized, utility, or wood-carving knife, so while we're spitballing...

[bearfacedkiller]

Sounds like a Temperance2. It’s just a bigger mule. The Jumpmaster2 also.

I prefer fixed blades in the 4 to 6 inch range. I use mules quite a bit but the shorter blade sometimes keeps me from grabbing one. The six to nine inch range has never worked well for me.

[RustyIron]

The only Mule of mine that gets used is the one in the kitchen. The blade is a little stumpy for that particular application. If there was a Mule in a more kitchen-centric configuration, it would get my attention.