MT12 Cru-Wear real world feedback

[jtoler_9]

So I just finished putting my handle on my Cru-Wear mule and I can't wait for the weather to get better so I can take it up in the hills with me and put it to work. I wanted to get a sense for what USER experience with this steel has been since the re-release of the MT12. I plan on doing a review with mine just as soon as I can. But I would appreciate it if other Cru-Wear enthusiasts and users could chime in here. I am interested in how it performs and ranks with other mules also. Thanks.

[xceptnl]

I'll bite! I have been using / carrying mine off and on fairly regularly since receiving it. My edc use brought me normal cutting chores like paper / cardboard, rope (mostly paracord and mason's line), some whittling, kitchen tasks (including 4 lbs. of London Broil for beef jerky) and even some light bushcraft (I made a few feather-sticks and batonned thru some old tobacco stick to make a fire starter). In my (limited) experience I really like the tough rugged nature of the edge. I have found that although it responds well to stropping, the black (coarser) compound works better at creating that toothier edge than the green compound does.
The semi-polished/stonewashed finish seems to aid in slicing vs. the satin finish that came on the Elmax & 9CR18Mo. I don't know if this is a byproduct of the reheat treatment process or if this is how all Cru-Wear finishes come out. Overall I have been more than pleased with the cutting performance of the Cru and am really hoping that Sal will bring us a folder with this steel one day. I will report back with more information once I have better data on the edge retention.

[chuck_roxas45]

I'll bite! I have been using / carrying mine off and on fairly regularly since receiving it. My edc use brought me normal cutting chores like paper / cardboard, rope (mostly paracord and mason's line), some whittling, kitchen tasks (including 4 lbs. of London Broil for beef jerky) and even some light bushcraft (I made a few feather-sticks and batonned thru some old tobacco stick to make a fire starter). In my (limited) experience I really like the tough rugged nature of the edge. I have found that although it responds well to stropping, the black (coarser) compound works better at creating that toothier edge than the green compound does.
The semi-polished/stonewashed finish seems to aid in slicing vs. the satin finish that came on the Elmax & 9CR18Mo. I don't know if this is a byproduct of the reheat treatment process or if this is how all Cru-Wear finishes come out. Overall I have been more than pleased with the cutting performance of the Cru and am really hoping that Sal will bring us a folder with this steel one day. I will report back with more information once I have better data on the edge retention.

Plus 1000!

[The Mastiff]

I always thought the steel would go over pretty well with the forumites. In my years here the steels with good edge stability, wear resistance, toughness and an edge that has good bite do pretty well. The 52100 Mule went over really well and it's even more rusty.

As far as user blades I find the steel is slightly more wear resistant than 3V. It's not as easy to sharpen in the way that Ingot D2 isn't as easy as CPM D2 when it comes to sharpening. As far as toughness I don't have any way near enough experience batoning or impacting the steel to do anything other than go by the chart. The charts put it above D2 in toughness, but below CPM M4. Same story with abrasive wear resistance, and I believe it but haven't any rope tests or any thing scientific. I know it stays sharp a heck of a lot longer than VG10, likely my most familiar steel which I've sharpened countless times, followed by S30V, D2, and 1095 in that order.

I've seen the results of what a few winters in the open will do to annealed stock vascowear but I have no experience with Cruwear rusting as I don't allow my knives to rust. I've had some knives come to me with rust, but only one that was new from the box and that was a high dollar Rex 20 D.Dwyer. It turned me off the steel as it began from one fingerprint that wasn't wiped off and was beginning to pit on a media blasted finish. No idea if it would have done the same on a satin finish. I've yet to have that happen with any modern spyderco's, benchmades, Kershaws, etc, etc. 1970's knives that sat in hardware store glass displays for years sometimes, yes. These are new days though. Hitachi White steel at Rc 64 in a Japanese was about the worst steel I've had besides the Rex 20 for corrosion and it made me work to keep it clean. Recall I don't blue, or patina them and the scale from heat treat made the knife prone to corrosion until I got a liquid wax that applied easier on uneven surfaces than regular paste ( renn. wax).

I haven't yet tried engraving a steel I beam like I did with a Vascowear custom back in the 80's on a construction job up in the nebraska sandhills. I might give it a try if I see some steel that needs my name or initials on it somewhere.

That's about all I can report. Yes, I would love a 3.5" to 4 inch folder in mastiff....er, um, Cruwear running at about rc. 62-63. It has what it takes to go there and still be tougher than D2 at RC 60-61. Yes, it has what it takes to make an excellent hard use folder, or small to midsize fixed blade run above RC 60-61. For a hard use 9 inch meant for batonning I'd back off to RC 59-60, or better yet use it's nephew 3V.

Joe

[phillipsted]

I've taken my first Cruwear mule to the yard for light yardwork (e.g., cutting small branches, opening bags of mulch, trimming roots). I have to say that it keeps its edge a lot longer than VG-10 as Mastiff notes. Haven't had the chance to sharpen it - still has the factory edge on it.

Didn't get any additional rusting or pitting - I coated it liberally with TufGlide when I shod it, then kept the moisture wiped off after use. I am concerned about the pitting that came from the factory. There was a discussion about this previously, so I'm not going to re-hash it. But there are probably 100-150 small black pits scattered across the blade. They look to be 0.5mm-0.25mm in size and are black. This may have been a remnant of the heat treating process. I'm not really worried since this is a Mule, but it would be worth looking at before considering any production knives with this steel.

Overall - not quite M4, but a good steel none-the-less.

TedP

[Fancier]

When I heard that the Military is coming out in Cruwear I pulled my Mule out and did some carving on seasoned western hemlock with it to evaluate how it would take twisting cuts. I used it to ream out a large hole in a board and that task required a fair bit of twisting to cut a round surface across the grain. It handled the job pretty well. There was edge damage but all of it was minor (I couldn't feel the difference in sharpness while carving but could see it with a hand lens) and it cleaned up with a few passes on an extra fine diamond bench stone. I did not notice any tendency to chip. I typically use the knife as a cardboard slicer and it has about a 15° bevel angle.