Spyderco Forums

Thanks for the update Sal! Looking forward to it.

Non metallic to avoid security metal detectors.

sal wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 16, 2023 6:03 pm

Hi Fireman,

What would someone want a fully non metallic knife for?

sal

Not Fireman but off the top of my head :

- Diving, where there's a need for extreme resistance to corrosion (and titanium blades won't cut it [pun intended] since they're easily blunted).

- Military diving, perhaps ? As I recall reading that underwater deminers need to avoid using metallic substances near mines, lest they could trigger the devices' electromagnetic detonation systems. (But don't quote me on that, it does seem far-fetched, given 1/ I doubt the mine would be so sensitive as to detonate just due to the metal mass of a knife, which'd be stupid ; and 2/ stainless steel isn't considered ferromagnetic)

- Working in hazardous environments (ATEX), where there's a theoretical risk (albeit minimal) of accidentally creating sparks whilst using a knife.

Edit : sorry I misread, you were referring to the metallic components other than the blade
So... maybe divers and knife nerds would want to remove any and all metallic components ?

sal wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 16, 2023 6:03 pm

Hi Fireman,

What would someone want a fully non metallic knife for?

sal

Hi Sal.
An all carbon fiber handle would be unique and cool. I have a knife with micarta pins and it is one of my favorite features so why not an all carbon fiber handle? There could be some uses like mentioned that have places you don’t want metal but I was thinking as an ultra light knife that can’t corrode. I would definitely carry this as a neck knife for backpacking with its close to zero weight. Yes, paradord could be used but it’s not ideal a neck knife and an elegant carbon fiber handle would elevate or match the cool factor of the knife. If one were to want this for close security detail, they would probably prefer the black ceramic and a matching dark handle. Hazmat technicians may like this for its ability to not cause a spark in places where an explosion might occur. Seen a few videos of where a home filled with gas goes boom because of a gas leak. We carry gas monitors on the engines so we don’t walk into those situations because we are the first people on scene.

I've been in a few no spark areas where we ditched all metal objects. Also did work around huge very strong magnets where we were stripped of anything metal.

Diving and boat use would have a great use case as well as mentioned already.

I also think the lightweight aspect is tops for me. Plus it's just the cool factor of anything non metallic is a neat feature in its own right.

...

This is going to be an epic drop.

Any guesses on when we think this will launch? Didn't want it to fall off the first page. Still super excited to get a few of these to try out.

Hopefully we'll get to order it by this spring, or summer at the latest

So excited as well !

Considering the fact the last mule in M398 at 80$ a piece is still in stock and we just got regular production SPY27 i would say second half of the year. If we're lucky. It's a shame really... M398 is a interesting steel to play with. Not saying it's in my top 10, but still very interesting. And approx. 1800 pieces released nearly 4 months ago and it's still in stock.

vanka wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 18, 2023 1:01 pm

Considering the fact the last mule in M398 at 80$ a piece is still in stock and we just got regular production SPY27 i would say second half of the year. If we're lucky. It's a shame really... M398 is a interesting steel to play with. Not saying it's in my top 10, but still very interesting. And approx. 1800 pieces released nearly 4 months ago and it's still in stock.

Only 155 left

Multiple mentions of lightweight in this thread. Anyone take a guess as to how lightweight? A standard steel mule is around 2.7-2.8 oz (without scales or hardware).

They don't mention anywhere what is the exact material used, but apart from Tungsten Carbide most ceramics are much less dense than steel (Boron Carbide, Boron Nitride and Silicon Carbide are all at 2,1-3,5 g/cm^3 while steel is at around 7,8 g/cm^3). Just this alone would make it about 3 times lighter.

I just wonder if the blade would be made thinner to make it actually flexible (thinner is easier to bend but not break) or would it stay the exact same dimensions to go along the "rules" of the mule team (easy steel comparison by having the exact same platform, dimensionally speaking)

It makes me think about the folder made with almost only CF : The VC Edge Interface. The CF even sandwiches the blade. The knife is soooo light ! Makes me wonder if such ceramic could be use in a similar way

It will be the same as our Mules.

sal

sal wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 21, 2023 4:40 pm

It will be the same as our Mules.

sal

Makes perfect sense! Is the blade finish already decided? Are there even different possibilities?

By the way, is any info available about the composition of this ceramic material? Or is it proprietary and top-secret?

Definitely looking forward to trying one of these out someday. Glad to hear they are still coming along.

A ton of good info in here, but I'm assuming since we're past mid year this mule is going to get pushed to next year? I'm sure it will be worth the wait!

As MT34 dropping in a few days and MT36 is announced and probably dropping soon enough we're running out of info. We know nothing about MT40. Last two years was like while you're at MT 31 they already giving us info about MT36 or MT39 in the reveals and we knew something is being worked on. We just speculated what steels are the missing numbers. And now we've come to the point that we have no idea what MT40 is going to be. And we're just a mule away from it.

Will anyone try the Rockwell hardness