Spyderco Forums

The biggest injustice is not providing feedback on a platform that embraces user feedback. My rex76 mules are still with triple b so I can't provide any feedback in that thread. However I can articulate what I'm seeing with controlled testing or what I'm seeing thru regular use. In my opinion m390 skated thru the cracks from the influence of armchair quarterbacks repeating the name and not the testimony to backup their reverence. I personally have known what M398 was capable of for awhile. And the mules allow folks like me to provide the feedback on this forum on a product they supplied. More genuine testimonies the more clarity spyderco has to move mule steels into production/sprint offerings. They indirectly asked me for help and it's an honor to oblige. Don't ever feel like your voice doesn't matter.

Ill definitely get one next month along with some MT2s even if the T25 isn't available yet!

Haven't had a whole lot of time lately to test SRS13/SUS405 vs Rex 76 vs M398 in a controlled manner but here's some off the cuff feedback for you if you're on the fence. It's been a superb stainless steel that stays super sharp for the mundane tasks I've asked of it. Definitely get one and throw some paracord on it. It's more than worth what they're asking for it.

It's certainly not as scary sharp as the Rex 76 one but I'm ok with that and like to keep that one tucked away for when I need something really sharp.

I'm not sure I entirely understand the subtleties between hardness, edge retention and toughness so take this next part with a grain of salt. I've had the SRS13/SUS405 for a year now and it seems in need of a full, concentrated resharpening and definitely likes to be honed or needs a quick ceramic touch up now and then. M398 seems to be ticking along nicely without constant attention. I haven't had it long enough and used it as extensively to give you a straight comparison between the two.

jwbnyc wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 07, 2023 8:34 pm

Glad I picked up 2

I'm waiting for the 18th to pick one of each available :)
I used to pick 2 but savings and tooling purchases have severely injured the knife budget haha.

Sadly the AEB-L will be for a customer, I don't think I'll add one for me (knowing there's 40€ shipping + around 25% taxes to add on top of the total price)

jwbnyc wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 07, 2023 8:34 pm

Pete got good results using a blunt 17 degree edge. Steeltoes above found a sharp 11 degree edge really improved performance. Maybe Pete will try an Unleashed test.

I think he said he’s going to do a dual grit edge.

He might be sending it to this guy:

jwbnyc wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 08, 2023 8:29 pm

I think he said he’s going to do a dual grind.

He might be sending it to this guy:

Yeah sounded like he was going to check with him to see if he has an M398 mule yet or not.

I have like 6 hours to choose if I want a SPY27 and M398, A SPY27 and AEB-L or simply M398 and AEB-L...

Right now I'm tipping towards SPY27 AEB-L. Anyone with an M398 Mule to convince me otherwise ?

Ramonade wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 18, 2023 3:37 am

I have like 6 hours to choose if I want a SPY27 and M398, A SPY27 and AEB-L or simply M398 and AEB-L...

Right now I'm tipping towards SPY27 AEB-L. Anyone with an M398 Mule to convince me otherwise ?

I think you have the right idea, those are going to be the most balanced steels. I know Spyderco is real big on the high carbide/wear resistance steels but the reality is that is only one factor in how a knife blunts. Generally in real work/use the knife doesn't blunt by slow wear exclusively but rather a combination of deformation, chipping, etc.

If you do decide you need an M398 Mule down the line, I have one that I'd sell you for cost which will likely never get to test with how busy I've been lately with sharpening work and I'd be happy to reprofile it to a more aggressive edge geometry. I'd say 13 DPS would make a great end-point to increase performance beyond the 17 DPS factory angle.

Don't just take my word for it, here's a quote from Cliff Stamp on the subject which I believe to be the honest to god truth.

"Based on the steel alone, N680, however it would depend on how they are hardening it, though Benchmade usually doesn't have any issues in that regard.

I have steels in pretty much any level you could imagine, right up to things like 121REX and Maxamet at 68-70 HRC. For a basic working knife I tend to prefer simple steels such as O1 because when properly hardened they have a very high combination of ease of maintenance, toughness, strength and wear resistance.

Typically when you jump to the higher carbide steels, while you do gain abrasive wear resistance, it comes at a loss of too many other things and edge blunting is rarely just do to slow wear so my main choice for a working blade would be simply 1095 or ideally W1 at 66/68 HRC. For stainless, AEB-l.

If you want to be fancy, Super Blue, or Nitrobe 77 or other high nitrogen versions of AEB-L, but the practical gains are small for the cost."

Traditional.Sharpening wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 18, 2023 4:32 am

I think you have the right idea, those are going to be the most balanced steels. I know Spyderco is real big on the high carbide/wear resistance steels but the reality is that is only one factor in how a knife blunts. Generally in real work/use the knife doesn't blunt by slow wear exclusively but rather a combination of deformation, chipping, etc.

If you do decide you need an M398 Mule down the line, I have one that I'd sell you for cost which will likely never get to test with how busy I've been lately with sharpening work and I'd be happy to reprofile it to a more aggressive edge geometry. I'd say 13 DPS would make a great end-point to increase performance beyond the 17 DPS factory angle.

The Spy27 Mule is supposedly here to stay so I think I'm gonna pass on this one for the time being ! And go for AEB-L + M398. Especially since I know the steel already.

Thanks for the offer but since I live in EU it's often annoying for people to send me stuff overseas I'm limiting my buying here because it's 40 bucks of shipping fees + ~25% taxes based on total price inc. shipping. A singular Mule does cost me around 130€ everytime, but I still think it is worth it !

I think I'll try the factory edge on the M398 just to see and then go to 15 for the first edge and go down again to 13 after that. Depending on how it behaves it might replace the Maxamet knife that I put on Cardboard duty 2 or 3 years ago

Ramonade wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 13, 2023 8:05 pm

Ill definitely get one next month along with some MT2s even if the T25 isn't available yet!

Won’t be around next month

You know the way it goes when you put it off…..

“We have 32 Mule Team M398(s) in our inventory.”

standy99 wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 19, 2023 8:03 am

Ramonade wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 13, 2023 8:05 pm

Ill definitely get one next month along with some MT2s even if the T25 isn't available yet!

Won’t be around next month

You know the way it goes when you put it off…..

“We have 32 Mule Team M398(s) in our inventory.”

There was 33 not long ago Got an AEB-L Mule for a customer and AEB-L + M398 for me ! The SPY27 I wanted to play with so much is gonna have to wait that's all

Down to 30 left.

I would buy a few more if I could do so responsibly, but since I just loaded up on a handful of AEB-L, I cannot justify it.

M398 is awesome though and have been happy with the one I have been using, but then again M390 is one of my favorite metals, so it's not a surprise I was going to like M398.

Good call on getting the ones you did since SPY27 will be sticking around for the foreseeable future. I do enjoy using the SPY27 mule I have, but I do like the M398 more for its edge retention since I am pretty lazy about getting around to sharpening as frequently as I should.

No way! I missed the M398. the system wouldn't let me purchase, hopefully I sort that out for the 15V drop.

Dear douglascustomknives:

Welcome to the Spyderco Forum.

Stay safe,

Mike

M398 was available for a relatively long time. 15V will be available for minutes, if that. You're going to want to sort out any issues buying from SFO long before the 15V mule drops.

Also, welcome DCK!

JRinFL wrote: ↑

Wed May 03, 2023 9:04 am

M398 was available for a relatively long time. 15V will be available for minutes, if that. You're going to want to sort out any issues buying from SFO long before the 15V mule drops.

Also, welcome DCK!

M398 mule is no longer available? OK NOW I am interested in obtaining one!

JRinFL wrote: ↑

Wed May 03, 2023 9:04 am

M398 was available for a relatively long time. 15V will be available for minutes, if that. You're going to want to sort out any issues buying from SFO long before the 15V mule drops.

Also, welcome DCK!

I wouldn't be so sure about it being gone in minutes, the trend with these Mule's lately has been that Spyderco has produced quite a few of each batch to where it's more likely they'll sit for quite a while before sold out.