I just received my mule team 12 in the mail yesterday and on its breakin run I bent the crap out of it. I was cutting some kindleing off a mesqute branch when I came accross a knot so I wiggled the blade back and fourth to break through it and the blade bent like a paperclip.
I think mules are fine for batoning wood as well as preparing dinner. The whole point of the mule team is to test out different steels in a multitude of situations. But common sense must also prevail; while the steel is okay to cut through things (steaks or stakes), it is a FFG that isn't particularly thick, so prying and twisting aren't such great ideas, as demonstrated here. Just my 2¢.
jabba359 wrote:i think mules are fine for batoning wood as well as preparing dinner. The whole point of the mule team is to test out different steels in a multitude of situations. But common sense must also prevail; while the steel is okay to cut through things (steaks or stakes), it is a ffg that isn't particularly thick, so prying and twisting aren't such great ideas, as demonstrated here. Just my 2¢.
I wasn't batoning, I did that with my hand. I cutting some strips of mesquite to help start the fire in my grill. The branch I was using was about 3" diameter.
I have been wanting to purchase a real outdoor, camping, hunting, fishing knife. I was leaning towards the temperance 2 but now thinking ffg wont last. Would the bushcraft or the schempp rock be a better choice?
wingman_214 wrote:I wasn't batoning, I did that with my hand. I cutting some strips of mesquite to help start the fire in my grill. The branch I was using was about 3" diameter.
I have been wanting to purchase a real outdoor, camping, hunting, fishing knife. I was leaning towards the temperance 2 but now thinking ffg wont last. Would the bushcraft or the schempp rock be a better choice?
Bushcraft is awesome! Schempp Rock is probably too big for your needs as a general camping knife. I went camping for several days this summer and I brought my Bushcraft and Rock Salt both. The Rock Salt I soley used for chopping. Mostly I used my Bushcraft and it held up very well with excellent edge retention.
wingman_214 wrote:I wasn't batoning, I did that with my hand. I cutting some strips of mesquite to help start the fire in my grill. The branch I was using was about 3" diameter.
I have been wanting to purchase a real outdoor, camping, hunting, fishing knife. I was leaning towards the temperance 2 but now thinking ffg wont last. Would the bushcraft or the schempp rock be a better choice?
Do you mind posting a few more pictures to show how your MT bent? The angle of the first picture seemed hard for me to understand the bending?
datoudaw wrote:Do you mind posting a few more pictures to show how your MT bent? The angle of the first picture seemed hard for me to understand the bending?
Thanks.
Yes, I was wondering if the knife was stuck into the branch all the way to the tang before being pulled on sideways.
Dr. Snubnose wrote:Chuck...was just making sure you understood the title of this thread.."How do you like your Mule" They are talking about a knife here.... :p Doc :p
I don't have any more pics. I've tried bending it back straight but that never works out well. The blade only bent about 1/2 that much initially but after it bent i knew it was over and kept pushing.
Either way its all good, my still loves me. She just laughed and grabed me a beer.
Wow!. You bent that at one of the thicker parts on the blade too. We're not just talking about breaking 1/16th of the tip off. That would have taken quite a bit of force to bend and twist.
Sure it's not all that tough for an adult male to accomplish. If I'm getting this the knot was in a branch about 3 inches in diameter. Mesquite is one of the hardest woods , as well as toughest. http://www.azdesertmesquite.com/properties.htm
I guess you just overloaded the steel mule. Good work as this is one of the strongest and toughest steels in the mule program. :o
Joe
"A Mastiff is to a dog what a Lion is to a housecat. He stands alone and all others sink before him. His courage does not exceed temper and generosity, and in attachment he equals the kindest of his race" Cynographia Britannic 1800
"Unless you're the lead dog the view is pretty much gonna stay the same!"
