Spyderco’s remarkable Mule Team™ project is truly unique in the knife industry. An extension of our meticulous in-house testing processes, it provides steel-obsessed knife enthusiasts a consistent fixed-blade platform for their own comparative testing of different blade steels. For aspiring knifemakers, it also offers a source of convenient “kit” blades for the attachment of aftermarket or custom handle scales. This remarkable Mule Team blade highlights Z-12Ultra BQ™, a unique cutlery steel manufactured by Zapp Tooling Alloys, Inc. Z-12Ultra BQ is a “blade-quality” expression of Zapp’s Z-12Ultra PM™, an ultra-wear-resistant steel developed specifically for high-volume industrial tooling applications. That steel’s proprietary alloy composition provides significantly enhanced wear resistance, toughness, and compressive strength compared to common high-wear tool steels. Z-12Ultra BQ optimizes that steel’s properties specifically for use in knife blades and is a proud member of Zapp’s elite BQ family of cutlery steels. The MT45 Mule Team is also unique in that it is available in both PlainEdge™ and fully serrated SpyderEdge™ configurations, further expanding the scope of the steel-testing adventure. Available in limited quantities and sold consumer direct only, Mule Team blades do not include handle scales or a sheath.