9Cr18MoV MULE TEAM - user experience?

[224477]

One of the spyderco Mule teams came out in this chinese made steel.

I have read different legends about it, from being it the 440C of China, till 'there is no big difference between 8cr13mov /byrds/ and 9cr18mov' but generally its considered to be the premium local stuff one can get there.

What are your user experiences, lets say with the Mule?

I recently got a different knife which is made from this material, but I wanted to hear what did you experience with this steel?

Hows the general sharpness?
Hows the edge holding?
What angles are the best to sharpen 45 or 30?
Does the edge chip? Is it brittle?
Corrosion resistance?
Is it pitting and spotting like high carbon stainless, in touch with fruit acids, mustards, etc?

THANKS TO ALL IN ADVANCE

[JLS]

My experience with it was good. It sharpens relatively easily, takes a very nice edge either polished or left coarse and retains it reasonably well. I would rate it about like 440C from Benchmade or AUS-8 from Cold Steel. Spyderco's AUS-8 fairs a little bit better, at least in my memory. It sharpens about the same as the 8Cr Byrd steel.

The only issue I had with it was some chipping. I will admit that it got used a bit harder than most due to the relative cost of the knife, but I don't feel a VG-10 blade would've chipped under the same conditions. I have resharpened it, but have been using my S90V Mule since. I need to rotate through my Mules again to give it another chance. But I still have my S35VN and ZDP Mules to give a long term test to, so it may be a while. I might have to schedule my Mule usage to form more well-founded opinions.

I'm still very pleased with the steel and recommend either of the Chinese steels to most people, but I am spoiled with S90V and some of the other exotics. Today I have my S90V Mule and S90V Military on me; nearly anything else is going to pale in comparison.

[The Mastiff]

I agree it's easy to sharpen. To me, It's not much of a difference from 8C steel used in the Byrds. I prefer a bit more wear resistance. Still, it is a good steel for the price IMO, mule team wise. Due to the cost it's gotten the most abuse of all my mules.

That's relative. Hard use to me currently is more of a medium use to someone like Yablonowitz.

In my opinion it's a steel that needs to be kept up to RC 60-62 for ant really decent edge retention and wear resistance. I doubt it would be a heavy chopper at that hardness though.

[bdbender]

Mine went into the rack with the kitchen knives. It's sort of fun to have it there, and it seems to be stainless. It needs occasional touch-ups to be really ripe-tomato-slicing sharp, but then so do the other kitchen knives. (Why do kitchen knives lose their really sharp edge just sitting in the rack? Lack of exercise?)

It's nice to have the thick blade available for jointing roasts and chickens.

In the old days, it probably would have ended up in the camping box as a tough do-anything camping knife. These days, being of a certain age, I camp in an Airstream trailer, and it will be migrating there soon to be the do-anything knife, together with my old Sharpmaker that only does 20 degree edges to keep it company.

Just a comfortable knife, with good all-around steel, at a good price.

[ChapmanPreferred]

Mine has been working well around the house. I carry another Spyderco Mule on my belt, but I do try to use the 9Cr18Mo version at home.

[Badhammer]

Used one of mine this weekend to cut up two chickens for the BBQ including splitting the breasts lengthwise through the wishbone and keel bones and cutting the backs in half. No chipping, no edge rolling, no staining, and it would still push cut paper and shave hair when I was done. Since I've not made any scales for it cleanup was a snap. Scrub with soap and water, followed by spray bleach, a rinse in hot water and towel dry. Love it!

[Bill1170]

My China mule has been in the kitchen for about 5 months now, and it holds an edge better than the Henkels 5 Stars and the Forschner paring knife. We don't process many chickens, but the sturdy blade comes in handy when cutting harder items because it deflects less.

The stain resistance is very good. Only rust spots have been tiny ones where the blade hangs on a magnet. 9Cr18Mo is a fantastic value steel.

[yowzer]

I don't have a Mule, but I do have a knife made by another company that uses the steel, with an advertised hardness of RC 58-60. It's pretty decent stuff. Edge holding seems a bit better than 8Cr13, and it's tough enough to survive some batoning without any chipping or noticeable edge degradation.

[gaj999]

I take all my Mules down to 20 degrees included as a starting place. The 9Cr Mule chipped rather badly at that angle under light use, so now it's got a 30 degree included not-so-micro bevel on it and it seems much happier. I haven't used it much against the 8Cr stuff, but at first blush it seems comparable. Lots of use in the kitchen cutting lemons and such. No corrosion at all even when I (intentionally) left it overnight with lemon juice on it.

Gordon

[araneae]

Just bumping for any new comments. Used mine a couple times and have been pleased.