Let's talk Mule Team quantities

[yablanowitz]

"How many" is a tough nut to crack. Damasteel is known, and seems fairly popular, mostly as eye candy. This project is more about performance, but people who came in after the restart have shown interest in the previous Damascus Mule, so I'd expect demand to be a bit higher. And overall participation seems to have tripled since the old days, making 2000 about minimum. But I'm with Joe, I'd rather miss out than see the whole thing die because of unsold inventory.

The HiC was a case of unrealistic expectations all around, and I'm not at all surprised to see it still hanging around. Some of the others have been real head-scratchers, though.

[weeping minora]

Honestly, the hype around steel seems to revolve around Larrin and his Knife Steel Nerds articles these days.

I've noticed the recent flood of attention that 3V is getting here amongst this forum, seemingly out of nowhere, as it really was overlooked by most afis here in favor of 4V and Cruwear for most of my ~10 years amongst the forum. 3V was for the bushcraft and outdoor forums, it seemed, and the interest was rather low here (please do not construe this as nonexistant, as I know I will be "checked" if I do not state so). Then someone graciously (may have been a couple folks) pointed out that Larrin posted an article recently speaking highly of 3V.

I've seen a downswing and more of a negative shift in consensus towards certain steels that seemingly faultlessly reigned supreme for years, after Larrin posts an article. M390 (especially, and its equivalents), ZDP-189, S110V, and even Maxamet. This fact simply cannot be overlooked. The amount of push that Larrin has within his KSN platform is enormous amongst the knife community right now.

Lets be real: this of course goes with the flow of herd mentality amongst the knife community. There are so many rinse and repeat mentalities out there that spread information that they read, versus what they've experienced first hand. Certainly a factor.

Aside from that, in the most basic caveman terms, steel seems to be viewed as such at this current time:

-Ingot, low carbide (and for some reason these days, stainless) steels = Bad, no buy

-Powdered, high carbide, high hardness (and for some reason, "stain proof" stainless) steels = Good, yes buy

Incorporate a steel that is not an equivalent to another steel commonly found within the Spydiesphere (like K294 being an equivalent to PMA11, and first cousin to K390 - even PD#1 sat for a very long time), so it has some sort of exotic quality (look at the most recent cases being T15, M398, and REX76), a brand new steel to the market (look at the S45VN, SPY27, MagnaCut, and now MagnaMax frenzy), or make sure it's a steel that has been in a KSN article within the past 6 months that Larrin has spoken positively about, and you have a recipe cooked for sales.

This hole goes a whole lot deeper, but I believe these seem to be the main forces driving the Mule Team interest these days, within the realm of those who do not actively participate here.

[blueblur]

I was one that did not get the se I planned to buy. If the supply wasn’t an issued I’d buy 2 of each edge type but would have been happy to try one of each.

Maybe it’s worth experimenting with a pre order system? I would happily put money down up front, understanding there would be a delay before they’re ready to ship. This would solve a few things. If you want multiples, the quantity limit could be raised. Spyderco could then gauge interest and plan accordingly based on what they know they have sales for and how much stock they want to plan to have after the preorders are filled (while still assuming large sales the day of the drop). You could open the pre order for a few weeks or maybe a month. This way those in different time zones or those that can’t be available the minute they drop, don’t have to worry about trying to brave the fish feeding frenzy. I think this would also help Spyderco understand the demand for a specific steel, edge type, etc. it would also help address the flipper conundrum.

I agree with what others have said regarding Larrin’s influence. Between Larrin’s articles and the videos from influencers such as Pete from Cedric and Ada and Erica’s edc, I knew I was interested in this one and it would be a hit seller.

[Infinite Zero]

I think MagnaMax brought in many buyers that normally don’t get mules. Hopefully, like myself, this expanded pool of interested parties was mostly filled with people who were aware of the Mule Team project, but were waiting for the right steel to come along to dive in. I would have dived in earlier myself (for MagnaCut, LC200N and S45VN) had I not been on a collecting hiatus.

Now with my first Mule coming, I may go through the list of older mules that are still available and grab a few to test. Both VG XEOS and AEB-L interest me (HIC would too if cost was lower), and now that I am no longer restricting myself to stainless steel, I expect to find myself interested in far more upcoming mules (it's a great way for this lefty to try steels without worrying about wrong-handed locks).

Back to the topic at hand, I think quantities should be dictated by the amount of “buzz” about the steel. If the steel is new and not found in many production knives as of yet, the quantity should be higher. If the steel has been around for a while and just isn’t commonly-used in knives (or at least by Spyderco), the quantity should be lower.

I’d aim for between 24 hours to one week of availability based on perceived demand.

[Infinite Zero]

Double post.

[cjk]

Gail brought up an interesting question; "How many of you did not get one?

sal

I got a plainedge one, but didn't get a serrated one. I count myself as "did not get one" as the serrated one was the one I was most excited about.

I was in an optometrist appointment that ran much longer than expected and the data coverage was kinda slow. I had expected to be done with that far sooner. I was able to add both to my cart at release time, but by the time I was able to check out (8 minutes after the hour), the serrated one was no longer available. Life kinda got in the way. I will be picking up a serrated one secondhand.

[Bolster]

Based on a quick check, social media mentions actually do strongly predict sellout times. I used AI to scrape Reddit and Blade Forum mentions of the steel in question, in the 30 days prior to each release of 9 steels released from SRS13 to XEOS. (I did not include the ceramic mule.) Feel free to skip the Nerd Portions below.

Nerd Portion: The variable DAYS UNTIL SOLD OUT made the most sense with a log transformation, since DAYS varied so dramatically, from .06 of a day to 861 days (and counting) until sellout. With the log transformation, the correlation was…very large! r=-0.85, meaning the more mentions on Reddit and BF, the fewer days until sold out. Normally we consider a correlation significant if it is .05 or smaller. As it gets smaller we are more confident of the relation. The above correlation was significant at p=.0035! Meaning we are very very confident that mentions correlates with sellout times. I also ran a regression (again, on log transformed DAYS) and it had a whopping large R-squared of .73, indicating (in a different way) that mentions ‘predict’ sellout times. I also created a graph, if you care to study the relationship, see below.

Non-nerd Summary: Long story short, by monitoring Reddit and BF, it’s possible to make a ball-park guess as to how long a Mule will stay on the shelf.

More Nerd: Of course, other sources could be monitored also. So could different windows of time. Longer windows, more steels analyzed, and possibly more sources should all refine the prediction--this was just a quick and dirty analysis to test the concept. The next step is to calculate “how many to produce to sell out in X amount of time." For that, we'd need to know how long Spyderco wanted a Mule to sit on the shelf.

[NCJohn62]

Hey Sal.
I've been pondering your question since I saw it last night, and as much as you are pushing the boundaries of performance in knife steels, you're a businessman, and the bottom line has to matter.

When the MagnaCut Mule dropped, I snagged one for the express purpose of doing with it what you intended the Mule Team project for from the beginning, using it and providing real-world feedback. I fully intend to do the same thing with the MagnaMax one, and I was able to get a PE yesterday with relative ease.

Looking at the program from that standpoint, upping the production runs would seem to give you the best opportunity to get that feedback, even if it were only a 2500-unit run. Plus, it would put a damper on the flippers while giving users and collectors a better shot at scoring one.

Clearly, not every material is going to generate the same level of interest as the new and exotic, but I think with 40+ Mules in the wild, you probably have enough datapoints to know where you can dial back the numbers to 500-750. I think your social media people are probably Astute enough (BTW, that's a great knife there, just needs better steel and bring it home ) to judge interest and excitement in advance of a production run.

Thanks again for making "Reliable High-Performance" accessible

[Paul Ardbeg]

I was in the car returning from vacation when my alarm on the phone went off for the Mule drop. When I pulled over not long after, everything was sold out. Magnamax is the new hot steel that a lot of folks are eager to give a try. Depending on how "hot" the new steel is in the community will roughly indicate the size of the batch. Why not do a second batch of Magnamax?

[cjk]

Honestly, the hype around steel seems to revolve around Larrin and his Knife Steel Nerds articles these days.

I've noticed the recent flood of attention that 3V is getting here amongst this forum, seemingly out of nowhere, as it really was overlooked by most afis here in favor of 4V and Cruwear for most of my ~10 years amongst the forum. 3V was for the bushcraft and outdoor forums, it seemed, and the interest was rather low here (please do not construe this as nonexistant, as I know I will be "checked" if I do not state so). Then someone graciously (may have been a couple folks) pointed out that Larrin posted an article recently speaking highly of 3V.
....

I am a pretty avid knifesteelnerds reader and am influenced by it significantly.
I am also an avid Spyderco forum reader, but I think knifesteelnerds is more generally influential in the knife industry.

I think that some mules have "Spyderco forum AFI excitement" and some have "general industry excitement".
The "general industry excitement" ones sell out faster.

I had a knife in 3V prior to Larrin's 3v article and video. I didn't get another, but I did shop around for one. My interest in 3V honestly increased due to Larrin's article and video.

My excitement for the CPM REX T15 mule was similar as T15 appeared to interest Dr Thomas prior to the mule. T15 was mentioned in articles, but probably not more than a paragraph. I don't think there was a video. I imagined that Sal read his article and said, 'that'd be cool, let's do it' or something like that. I don't think that one sold well. This was "Spyderco forum AFI" excitement, not general industry excitement.

I was super excited for the AEB-L mule because of Shawn Houston's involvement and seeing it come to life seemingly from forum interaction. This was "Spyderco forum AFI" excitement, not general industry excitement.

The Magnacut mule would have sold out faster, but the website had significant performance problems, but still sold out in 80 minutes. This one had general industry excitement. I think this was the first mule I ever bought.

The MagnaMax mule sale did not have significant performance problems and sold out in minutes. This one also had general industry excitement.

Here are what mules I bought or didn't and why since Dec 3 2021 (the magnacut mule release date):

MT32: SRS13/SUS405 • Feb 17 2022 • Yes. I don't remember why for sure, I think i was going to use it in the kitchen.
MT33: CPM REX 76 • Sep 20 2022 • Nope. no interest due to knifesteelnerds articles, low toughness.
MT34: CPM REX T15 • June 27 2023 • Yes. due to knifesteelnerds interest, rarity, uniqueness, seemed like it'd be a good knife steel that nobody used.
MT35: CPM MagnaCut • Dec 3 2021 • Yes. general industry interest, new steel, lots of knifesteelnerds information
MT36: Bohler K294 MICROCLEAN • Aug 22 2023.• No. 10V made by a different vendor.
MT37: AEB-L • April 18 2023 • Yes. High hardness AEB-L asked for by Shawn Houston on this forum
MT38: M398 MICROCLEAN • Nov 15 2022 • No. negative impressions about toughness from knifesteelnerds article
MT39: CPM 15V • May 23 2023 • Yes. crazy edge retention with decent toughness plus Shawn Houston, pillar of the community, all around cool guy.
MT40: Ceramic/HIC • Feb 7 2024 • No. seriously considered, ending up not getting it due to cost and doubts about my ability to sharpen it
MT41P: VG XEOS • July 9 2024 • No. updated VG10. Certainly nothing wrong with it. I wouldn't mind having it but I have plenty of VG10.
MT42:
MT43P & 43S: 19C27 (announced). I probably won't be getting this one. seems to be used in Japanese kitchen knives. it IS kinda exciting to see Spyderco using a Sandvik steel, so that does have me paying attention.
MT44:
MT45:
MT46P & 46S: Magnamax • Aug 26 2025 • Yes. due to Larrin/knifesteelnerds and general industry excitement.

[cjk]

Based on a quick check, social media mentions actually do strongly predict sellout times.
....

That's some awesome work! Wow!

[TimButterfield]

I'm another on the list of 'wanted, but didn't get' especially for an SE version in addition to the PE. This would have been my entry into fixed blade Spyderco. Alas.

The suggestion by Fireman above is interesting and may apply to more than just MT releases. In investment parlance, I would gladly spend the $10 to purchase an 'option to buy' with an expiration date. The expiration date doesn't need to be far into the future either. Setting the expiration to 24 hours after the public sale starts should be sufficient for all option purchasers to exercise those options (or not).

With the current mechanism, anyone with more than one email address could purchase a pair with the Paypal guest purchase option. That may have contributed to the multiple purchases by the eBay flippers. To prevent that would require duplicate checking for many different pieces of data, email address, card #, phone #, normalized billing/shipping addresses, etc. If regular card processing wasn't working, I'm doubtful those checks exist yet either. Of course, they could be created for future use if desired.

The option mechanism may help with that also. With an option presale only open to established forum members up until the date of the public sale, this would help forum members ensure their spot without requiring the last minute rush. And, if the option expires, the knife is back to being available to the public and Spyderco keeps the. $10 option price. It may be a win-win for this situation.

[sal]

Hi F1prb22ga,

Welcome to our forum.

sal

[Emerson]

I think the current system works and makes some mules more desirable with a sort of collectors value. With super popular releases like Magnacut, 15v, and Magnamax you'll have people that miss out unfortunately. On the opposite end you're going to have a flop here and there with some steels that don't hit a current trend.

The nice thing about limited run mules is that even the used ones in good shape have great resale value. So if you are on a budget selling old discontinued mules to buy new ones is easy. The secondary market after a release isn't hateful so even if you missed out on the release you can still get one at a mark up or wait for a used one to hit eventually.

Spyderco resale flippers have been and will continue to be a thing. They do it with sprint runs and exclusives it's not just mules. Spyderco gave great information leading up to a known popular release and it went extremely smoothly for the majority that were on time. I just hope you guys don't try to fix a system that isn't broken. The way you currently do things is a part of the popularity.

As far as the damasteel goes I don't think it's going to be very popular for 2 reasons. 1 is the mules are designed to be testers/users and damasteels main attraction is looks. 2 is the mark up that will come with damasteel. I'm sure the collectors will buy some but the testers and users won't be very interested.

[weeping minora]

Honestly, the hype around steel seems to revolve around Larrin and his Knife Steel Nerds articles these days.

I've noticed the recent flood of attention that 3V is getting here amongst this forum, seemingly out of nowhere, as it really was overlooked by most afis here in favor of 4V and Cruwear for most of my ~10 years amongst the forum. 3V was for the bushcraft and outdoor forums, it seemed, and the interest was rather low here (please do not construe this as nonexistant, as I know I will be "checked" if I do not state so). Then someone graciously (may have been a couple folks) pointed out that Larrin posted an article recently speaking highly of 3V.
....

I am a pretty avid knifesteelnerds reader and am influenced by it significantly.
I am also an avid Spyderco forum reader, but I think knifesteelnerds is more generally influential in the knife industry.

I think that some mules have "Spyderco forum AFI excitement" and some have "general industry excitement".
The "general industry excitement" ones sell out faster.

I had a knife in 3V prior to Larrin's 3v article and video. I didn't get another, but I did shop around for one. My interest in 3V honestly increased due to Larrin's article and video.

My excitement for the CPM REX T15 mule was similar as T15 appeared to interest Dr Thomas prior to the mule. T15 was mentioned in articles, but probably not more than a paragraph. I don't think there was a video. I imagined that Sal read his article and said, 'that'd be cool, let's do it' or something like that. I don't think that one sold well. This was "Spyderco forum AFI" excitement, not general industry excitement.

I was super excited for the AEB-L mule because of Shawn Houston's involvement and seeing it come to life seemingly from forum interaction. This was "Spyderco forum AFI" excitement, not general industry excitement.

The Magnacut mule would have sold out faster, but the website had significant performance problems, but still sold out in 80 minutes. This one had general industry excitement. I think this was the first mule I ever bought.

The MagnaMax mule sale did not have significant performance problems and sold out in minutes. This one also had general industry excitement.

Here are what mules I bought or didn't and why since Dec 3 2021 (the magnacut mule release date):

MT32: SRS13/SUS405 • Feb 17 2022 • Yes. I don't remember why for sure, I think i was going to use it in the kitchen.
MT33: CPM REX 76 • Sep 20 2022 • Nope. no interest due to knifesteelnerds articles, low toughness.
MT34: CPM REX T15 • June 27 2023 • Yes. due to knifesteelnerds interest, rarity, uniqueness, seemed like it'd be a good knife steel that nobody used.
MT35: CPM MagnaCut • Dec 3 2021 • Yes. general industry interest, new steel, lots of knifesteelnerds information
MT36: Bohler K294 MICROCLEAN • Aug 22 2023.• No. 10V made by a different vendor.
MT37: AEB-L • April 18 2023 • Yes. High hardness AEB-L asked for by Shawn Houston on this forum
MT38: M398 MICROCLEAN • Nov 15 2022 • No. negative impressions about toughness from knifesteelnerds article
MT39: CPM 15V • May 23 2023 • Yes. crazy edge retention with decent toughness plus Shawn Houston, pillar of the community, all around cool guy.
MT40: Ceramic/HIC • Feb 7 2024 • No. seriously considered, ending up not getting it due to cost and doubts about my ability to sharpen it
MT41P: VG XEOS • July 9 2024 • No. updated VG10. Certainly nothing wrong with it. I wouldn't mind having it but I have plenty of VG10.
MT42:
MT43P & 43S: 19C27 (announced). I probably won't be getting this one. seems to be used in Japanese kitchen knives. it IS kinda exciting to see Spyderco using a Sandvik steel, so that does have me paying attention.
MT44:
MT45:
MT46P & 46S: Magnamax • Aug 26 2025 • Yes. due to Larrin/knifesteelnerds and general industry excitement.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I think the biggest "?" factor is the "general industry excitement", as we don't quite have a way to gauge that here within this forum. Bolster did some solid work in displaying how to start to decipher that; there are many avenues. Definitely a large and wide hole to dive into, with many factors that all play their role in what is hot and what is not.

[Ryan222]

Hi Sal,
I would create a forecasting model using the following categories as examples and develop weighted factors for each and apply to a baseline of xxx units. I would also use similar Steels as comparable items and build out a forecast using this method as well. Also coming up with a time related goal to sell out (1 Day max?) so that it fits within the spirit of the program. Polling MT can also gauge interest and build a dataset for each future release.

Categories
Super Steel
Uniqueness
Special features- HT/Geometry
New Released Steel- First production
Marketing/IG/Reddit hype
Current Availability from other makers
Performance testing
Price
Country of Origin
Multiple SKUs- PE/SE
Min per customer (many buy 2 in order to get free shipping or have 1 use/1 collect)

[Mage7]

Incorporate a steel that is not an equivalent to another steel commonly found within the Spydiesphere (like K294 being an equivalent to PMA11, and first cousin to K390 - even PD#1 sat for a very long time), so it has some sort of exotic quality (look at the most recent cases being T15, M398, and REX76), a brand new steel to the market (look at the S45VN, SPY27, MagnaCut, and now MagnaMax frenzy), or make sure it's a steel that has been in a KSN article within the past 6 months that Larrin has spoken positively about, and you have a recipe cooked for sales.

Personally I think the K294 Mule stuck around so long because people didn't realize it was a compositional equivalent to 10V. Because otherwise any time there's an exclusive model released in 10V it flies out of stock.

I think the current system works and makes some mules more desirable with a sort of collectors value. With super popular releases like Magnacut, 15v, and Magnamax you'll have people that miss out unfortunately. On the opposite end you're going to have a flop here and there with some steels that don't hit a current trend.

The nice thing about limited run mules is that even the used ones in good shape have great resale value. So if you are on a budget selling old discontinued mules to buy new ones is easy. The secondary market after a release isn't hateful so even if you missed out on the release you can still get one at a mark up or wait for a used one to hit eventually.

Spyderco resale flippers have been and will continue to be a thing. They do it with sprint runs and exclusives it's not just mules. Spyderco gave great information leading up to a known popular release and it went extremely smoothly for the majority that were on time. I just hope you guys don't try to fix a system that isn't broken. The way you currently do things is a part of the popularity.

As far as the damasteel goes I don't think it's going to be very popular for 2 reasons. 1 is the mules are designed to be testers/users and damasteels main attraction is looks. 2 is the mark up that will come with damasteel. I'm sure the collectors will buy some but the testers and users won't be very interested.

I wholeheartedly disagree with this assessment. There's plenty of sprint and exclusive options to fill collectors' coffers, the goal of the Mule Team is different. It's that much more antithetical to the intent if the project because when someone does pay 2x the amount on the secondary market, they're probably not going to test it. It kind of defeats the point to facilitate and anticipate Mules being bought and sold ad collectibles versus a crowd-sourced R&D platform.

Hold a tunnel to towers fundraiser? Whoever donates $10 within a specific time period gets the option of purchasing a mule. The options not exercised are made to public buy after. This makes sure you bypass bots, help a charity, gauge interest and obviously help a worthy charity. 2,000 mules X $10 could be $20,000 for charity and no over/under selling the mules. Even if 20% don’t exercise that option that’s not that many to sell to the public on a drop later. Perhaps a special set of scales to sell that shows you supported that certain charity and that could change each time. Thoughts?

I'm another on the list of 'wanted, but didn't get' especially for an SE version in addition to the PE. This would have been my entry into fixed blade Spyderco. Alas.

The suggestion by Fireman above is interesting and may apply to more than just MT releases. In investment parlance, I would gladly spend the $10 to purchase an 'option to buy' with an expiration date. The expiration date doesn't need to be far into the future either. Setting the expiration to 24 hours after the public sale starts should be sufficient for all option purchasers to exercise those options (or not).

With the current mechanism, anyone with more than one email address could purchase a pair with the Paypal guest purchase option. That may have contributed to the multiple purchases by the eBay flippers. To prevent that would require duplicate checking for many different pieces of data, email address, card #, phone #, normalized billing/shipping addresses, etc. If regular card processing wasn't working, I'm doubtful those checks exist yet either. Of course, they could be created for future use if desired.

The option mechanism may help with that also. With an option presale only open to established forum members up until the date of the public sale, this would help forum members ensure their spot without requiring the last minute rush. And, if the option expires, the knife is back to being available to the public and Spyderco keeps the. $10 option price. It may be a win-win for this situation.

I also think the $10 buy-in idea is ane excellent way to thwart scalpers, but it doesn't necessarily help predict how much interest and the number needed to be produced.

However I think that some of the demand is artificially stimulated for releases like this one, since many people have no intention of buying them for basically any other reason than flipping. I think sticking to a lower number and a buy-in would help deter scalpers just looking to make a quick flip, make sure people who want them to test can get them, and with fewer numbers produced it will also satisfy those wanting to collect and trade on the secondary market because it will make them more scarce.

All I know is that I didn't even bother to get one. I didn't really have much interest in it, for one thing. I've already got a K294 and T15 Mule, and I don't really feel the need for an equivalent one with higher corrosion resistance. I thought it might be interesting just for testing purposes, but I knew it would turn out the way it did and I didn't feel like trying to plan out my day to jir a 15 minute time window to order. If I had any interest in flipping, collecting or buying/selling on the secondary market that might be a different story and I strongly considered grabbing one just to have leverage in a trade, but I figured I would leave more for people who earnestly wanted one.

[legOFwhat?]

When it comes to potential Damascus runs, I would be less inclined about testing the steel and focus on handle making. In this, I would definitely want higher productions simply because I would want 10(or more ) just to make gifts and show pieces. Not saying they wouldn't be used, just that the properties are probably already known.

I've probably purchased 5-10 of each pd#1's and pma11's(or more ) and enjoyed every one and I know those hung around for quite a while in stock. I imagine it's a sticky wicket financially for SFO to produce 10,000 instead of 2,500 and have them linger like the afore mentioned, but to me, something like this wouldn't be as risky.

Perhaps cycle quantities and rerun like the permanent MuleTeam2?

[standy99]

Like above, making handles it’s good to have Mule Team 2s
But have bought a fair few Mules still in stock for projects whilst they are there.

(Up side was I recently swapped a mule that is now sold out and was traded a 15v )

[weeping minora]

Personally I think the K294 Mule stuck around so long because people didn't realize it was a compositional equivalent to 10V. Because otherwise any time there's an exclusive model released in 10V it flies out of stock.

Straight from the K294 Mule Team description via the Spyderco website:

"This Mule Team blade features Böhler-Uddeholm’s K294 MICROCLEAN® tool steel. Manufactured in Sweden using their third-generation powder metallurgy technology, K294 is essentially an expression of A11 tool steel enhanced by the benefits of the powder metallurgy process. Also comparable to Crucible Industries'® CPM® 10V®, it is most often used in demanding cold-work tooling applications requiring extreme wear resistance and compressive strength. As a blade material, its wear resistance translates into outstanding edge retention, especially when used to cut abrasive materials."

My point was, with PMA11 and K390 both already served as Mules, many won't really care to try an equivalent, they want something solitary, and unique. There are a huge amount of people in the knife community that draw their lines way, way before many of us here will, and don't sweat the pedantics of the gotta catch all the steel equivalents or comparables game.

There's also the fact that K390 is already a mainstay steel, and 10V is already used amongst Sprint run folding knives. The Mule Team platform used to be the "taste test" for new (meaning not yet used by Spyderco as a cutlery tool) steels that Spyderco were looking to introduce. Also, many folks seem to not buy and use fixed blades (of any size), for their own reasons, and will actively hold out for a folder to feature a steel. In the case of this K294 Mule, they didn't have to wait at all for the equivalent to make it to the folders.