Mule Team™ Aogami Super Blue

This model is no longer in production. 

Spyderco’s Mule Team™ Series is an ongoing project that enables steel-obsessed knife enthusiasts to test different blade materials using the same exact fixed-blade design platform. Sold without handles or sheaths, Mule Team blades are also ideal for aspiring knifemakers and hobbyists.

This expression of the Mule Team concept features Aogami Super Blue steel, produced exclusively by Hitachi Metals for tools and knives. In Hitachi's plant in the Shimane Prefecture, Japan, they use high-quality iron sand found only in this region. Shimane Prefecture sand has been used and preferred for making Japanese cutlery since ancient times. Hitachi creates and offers different grades of steels including white steels and blue steels. The steel isn't blue or white, but the designation refers to the color of the paper the raw steel is wrapped in when delivered to Hitachi. It is common practice for Japanese steels to be named and referred to based on what colored packaging the raw steel arrives to the maker.

Super Blue is the highest-grade blue steel and contains up to 1-1/2% carbon for wear resistance and chrome to elevate hardness and improve edge holding and corrosion resistance. Steel smiths agree Super Blue is easier to heat-treat and work with than some steels, but is more wear-resistant and harder to hand-grind. Classified as exotic steel by cutlery standards, it has a loyal following with custom kitchen knifemakers looking for superior cutting performance for cutting materials that are soft and sticky to rock hard or fibrous.

All Mule Team blades are sold consumer-direct and available only at the Spyderco Factory Outlet or through Spyderco.com. 

Released: December 2010