Mule Team™ CTS® XHP®

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 CTS XHP powdered steel produced exclusively by Carpenter Steel Corporation of Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

CTS XHP is air hardened, high carbon, high chromium, corrosion resistant blade steel. It exhibits exceptional hardness similar to that found in tool steels such as D2, but also offers corrosion resistance on par with high chromium stainless steels like Type-440C.

The powdered steel manufacturing process renders the steel’s ingredients and its carbides with a more consistent grain size. When grains are similar-sized, the result is a more homogenized steel structure. For the person cutting with the blade this translates into higher-performing knife steel that has exceptional wear and corrosion resistance and long lasting edge retention. CTS XHP contains hard vanadium carbides further augmenting its hardness level to produce a keenly sharp cutting edge and surface finish. Even exposed to moisture, petroleum products and organic materials it exhibits exceptional corrosion resistance.  

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

Released: December 2012