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I was a little surprised not to see an actual performance thread rather other than sharpening and first impressions. Hopefully this thread will begin receiving some additional feedback (or linked to the current running performance thread that I am unaware of).

I had some difficulty getting the SRS13 mule until the kitchen where most of my mules start their testing. I needed to clear out some metal that was preventing the handle pins from mounting properly. I initially tried with a round file and gave up after a while. My file simply wasn't grounding the metal away fast enough. I switched to a dremel tool and that worked nicely. The knife has been in the kitchen for several weeks now.

I have tested S45vn, zwear/pd1/cruwear, magnacut, 20cv, zmax, pma11, and SRS13 mules in the kitchen. Because my wife is not particularly conscious of needing to clean an dry tool steels after she uses them, we lean towards stainless in the kitchen. To be fair, I'm always the one to follow behind and sharpen the knives when she isn't looking so she always has sharp knives to work with. I prefer to use tool steels because they are relatively easy to sharpen with diamond, respond well to strops, and the edges withstand impacts nicely from the cutting board. However, they inevitably lose their sharpness via corrosion at the edge from being left with acidic juices overnight in the sink. The final contenders in the kitchen include s45vn, magnacut, 20cv, and SRS13.

In actual use, I have not noticed large differences between s45vn, magnacut, 20cv, and srs13. The differences are more minute. For example, s45vn, 20cv, magnacut, and srs13 are all equally stainless in my use. Interestingly enough, I've only seen rust on the SUS405 cladding at the spyderco logo. Both the s45vn and 20cv will maintain a toothy working edge better than the others after a few weeks. However, those sharpen more nicely using diamond sharpeners. SRS13 reminds me more of cruwear in use. I do not know what the blade's hardness is, but appears to resist deformation nicely and is one of the most responsive knives I own to spyderco ceramic sharpening stones. I don't bother using diamond stones with it. Because of the ease in sharpening and how well the knife still cuts nicely with a few rolls at the edge, I've been using it the most in the kitchen. It's just such a pleasure to use. The SUS404 cladding has a few scratches and signs of rust at the logo. The rusting appears to be confined to just the logo. I wish I knew the hardness.

In summary, I would love to own an endura in this steel so that I can compare it to my HAP40 -- one of my all-time favorites. Moving forward, I plan to compare it directly against magnacut as they appear more similar than different in use. Magnacut is almost certainly tougher, but the cutting board doesn't really push toughness testing. In a blind test, I doubt I could tell the difference. My wife helps serve as a blind test (since I don't tell her when I switch out the knives) and she hasn't noticed a difference in use. The rust was her only clue something changed.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing everyone's experiences with their SRS13.

I think one of the best qualities will be like the ZDP-189 with its ability to get an incredible edge and strop well. Have been using and testing the other ones lately (magna cut mostly)

I agree with your assessment of how nicely it responds to the ceramic sharpening stones. It seems to dull quicker but it also sharpens very easily and quickly to a very sharp edge. I also haven't had any corrosion at all and my wife isn't careful either with the knives. I like it quite a bit.

sbdude wrote: ↑

Mon May 02, 2022 1:31 pm

I agree with your assessment of how nicely it responds to the ceramic sharpening stones. It seems to dull quicker but it also sharpens very easily and quickly to a very sharp edge. I also haven't had any corrosion at all and my wife isn't careful either with the knives. I like it quite a bit.

I was just putting the SRS13 mule I use in the kitchen away and was a bit surprised to realize that it was so quickly back to a working edge again, after I recently sharpened it. The usage hasn't been rough, and honestly it doesn't get used anywhere near as much as my BD1N Z-cut, but I've been taking care of it, and honestly don't know that the edge has held up even as well as BD1N. Kind of surprising.

Gtscotty wrote: ↑

Sun May 22, 2022 10:48 am

sbdude wrote: ↑

Mon May 02, 2022 1:31 pm

I agree with your assessment of how nicely it responds to the ceramic sharpening stones. It seems to dull quicker but it also sharpens very easily and quickly to a very sharp edge. I also haven't had any corrosion at all and my wife isn't careful either with the knives. I like it quite a bit.

I was just putting the SRS13 mule I use in the kitchen away and was a bit surprised to realize that it was so quickly back to a working edge again, after I recently sharpened it. The usage hasn't been rough, and honestly it doesn't get used anywhere near as much as my BD1N Z-cut, but I've been taking care of it, and honestly don't know that the edge has held up even as well as BD1N. Kind of surprising.

What I've seen also, dulls pretty quickly for a performance steel but sharpens back up very quickly. I wish the edge retention was better.

I don't have the SRS13 mule so I'm curious how it performs. It looks very similar to D2 with small W and V additions. Those of you that have some use with it how does it compare to D2?

Josh Crutchley wrote: ↑

Tue May 24, 2022 2:56 pm

I don't have the SRS13 mule so I'm curious how it performs. It looks very similar to D2 with small W and V additions. Those of you that have some use with it how does it compare to D2?

I don't use my SRS13 mule for the same type of tasks as the D2 knives I have but my experience seems to be the SRS13 does not have the edge retention of my D2 knives. I have one D2 that is my work/shop knife and it takes a beating but remains usable and still feels slightly sharp to my finger. The SRS13 gets to a point where it doesn't feel sharp at all to my finger from just a short period of food prep on a bamboo cutting board (yes I know but it's the one the wife likes). The SRS13 sharpens back to really sharp very easily and WAY quicker than the D2 does.

I'm thinking maybe heat treat difference between the steels???

Barely finished the handle. I think the factory edge on mine is too smooth, it has no bite. I'll sharpen it as soon as I can and start using it (mostly in the kitchen, maybe I'll get good uniform cardboard to try something).

I just added this mule to my knife block so we will see how she does in the kitchen which was my intention for this mule

I've been using my SRS13/SUS405 in the kitchen as well. It's a great knife and I haven't sharpened it yet but it's starting to lose its sharpness. I'm not sure what angle to sharpen it at. I've had the same experience with the rusting on the Spyderco logo.

Summary: I would purchase a kitchen knife in this steel. Sharpens easily and holds a working edge for a relatively long time. Knife is used daily in the kitchen, mostly cutting fruit on ceramic plates.

Detail: I didn't know anything about the steel and it went directly into the kitchen about a week after receiving it. I had the same issues as the OP, the holes in the handle need to be dremeled out to fit the screws and the sharpening is a little off (kind of wavy) but still sharp.

Almost immediately it seemed like it would be a good kitchen knife steel, and it hasn't left the kitchen yet. The SO has claimed it as their "apple knife" and uses it to cut up an apple everyday. On a plate. And then leave it on the counter for several hours before washing.

Even though the SO is clearly abusing the knife, I've only sharpened it twice so far, which consisted of a couple of passes on the Fine DMT diamond and 8,000 grit strop. So a very minor touch up, literally less than two minutes. After the first touch up the SO came running over to me with a bleeding finger. "What'd you do to my apple knife?? I just bumped it and it cut me!".

I've attached some pictures showing the rust spots. Again, this is after months of cutting fruit and leaving it on the counter, sometimes for hours at a time. I'm actually impressed it's held up as well as it has.

So overall, I really like this steel for a kitchen knife. Would love to see a small (~5 inch) chef's knife or Santuko style blade in this steel.

Thanks Sal!!

Thanks for the great reports, guys. I have not found time to handle my SRS yet, and need to get to it. But thanks to all of you who reported.

I see you trimmed the guard tab for kitchen work. Is it better without it (kitchen-wise)?

mokele wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 03, 2022 11:02 pm

I see you trimmed the guard tab for kitchen work. Is it better without it (kitchen-wise)?

Yeah, I'm not usually a big fan of the dingle, and always trim them off of certain models. Trying to use a mule with the full guard-nub sucks on cutting boards. You basically can't lay the flat edge on a cutting board so it inhibits chopping.

Quick sharpening update: I did a full sharpening about a week ago, DMT diamond stones black->blue->red->green then diamond paste leather strop up to 100k. Came out shaving sharp which has held up so far. Relatively easy to sharpen, medium burr, but no real issue getting it off.

This is my first mule so here's some initial impressions without a similar design to compare. Quick and easy to hone this steel, though haven't needed to do a full resharpen. The size, weight and performance combination is perfect for a small kitchen knife.

I would prefer a slightly longer blade and no guard for ease or use and to make it a bit more versatile when cutting bigger hunks of meat or larger veg. Haven't had a good opportunity to use outdoors, but it certainly wouldn't be my first choice as a field knife.

Trying to keep it in good shape to compare it to the new release coming out and then will have a little more fun with them. I'll circle back with more details when I have a good comparison knife but overall a superb steel far beyond the usual kitchenware you find. Thanks for making this one as a mule.

-Anthony

has anyone have similar problem (edge chipping)

Dear bartekkaniewski:

Welcome to the Spyderco Forum.

Stay safe,

Mike

Hi Aprivetera,

Welcome to our forum.

sal

sal wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 26, 2022 10:27 am

Hi Aprivetera,

Welcome to our forum.

sal

Thanks, Sal. Really enjoying this knife. Now with a Rex 76 to compare I’ll beat them up a bit more.



-Anthony

I've been using this in the kitchen since the day I got it. I like it a lot. I have only done two sharpenings (both with the Goldenstone). One shortly after arrival and one along the way. Another is probably due, but honestly the knife is doing just fine and has a better edge than my other random kitchen knives. I used it yesterday to cut up the third of three pineapples with complete satisfaction. It is nice to have a truly sharp knife in the kitchen