Chef's Special - Decas with 17mm Lil' Boss MKUltras

Chef's Special - Decas with 17mm Lil' Boss MKUltras

With the arrival of the 17mm Lil' Bosses, we decided a nice way to kick them off would be to offer up a special build from our back catalogue. The 10mm "Decas" were one of the very first beads we used for our MKUltras. In fact, they were the first beads which we manufactured specifically for the MKUltras. And they remain our most recommended set for almost anyone who comes to us asking about a versatile first set to jump into the Ultras with. These 10mm beads feel great and perform beautifully for any style of play, whether you're simply counting beads, performing raindrops, slinging casually, or working out next year's winning Sling Slam combo. These Chef's Special setups feature a long form length of cord, but with something closer to the short form number of beads, giving you maximum versatility for play. In this case, the sets ship with 25 beads on the cord (compared to 21 for our standard short forms and 33 for our standard long forms). This gives a good amount of exposed cord for wraps and rolls, and can be worn comfortably on the wrist with a double loop.

These are available in several titanium options, as well as brass, copper, and stainless steel sets. 

Details

• 25x 10mm spherical beads + 1x 17mm Lil' Boss 
  
• Grade 5 Titanium, polished ~62g per set
  • Natty (polished)
    
  • Shinobi and Sunset (black PVD and multicolour fade PVD)
    
  • Business Class and Blue (gold and blue PVD)
    
• Copper,  ~123.2g per set
• Brass, ~107g per set
• Stainless steel, ~105.7g per set
• Strung on AO2's new custom 12-strand, high density, 2mm Kevlar cord
• All beads drilled with 3.5mm bore

MKUltras

The MKUltras are a hybrid design, combining elements of traditional Mala and Komboloi beads. The MKUltra name gives a nod to this lineage, as well as their expedience as tools to help us focus our minds and still our thoughts. They can be used in a variety of ways, ranging from quiet bead counting, through to raucous flipping. 

The unique setup of the MKUltras allows them to be worn like mala beads, or carried discretely in the pocket. They adjust by means of a simple friction fit through the larger "Micro Boss" bead closure. Although the design is exceedingly simple, we're fairly confident you won't find anything quite like them around. This is a knotless system, and does not require any special lock bead. The cord is simply compressed when threaded through the Micro Boss bead, providing a reliable, secure fastener, that is easy to adjust when needed.

In this way, the Ultras can be worn on the wrist, or loosened and slid up above the elbow to keep them out of the way when needed. Excess cordage can be knotted loosely around the Micro Boss bead when they are worn on the wrist, or left dangling. This modifiable arrangement allows them to be used very quietly, for simple bead counting used in breath work and meditation, to "raindrop" methods marked by the satisfying, rhythmic clacking of the beads, as well as much more physical methods of manipulation which resemble short game begleri play. While they aren't intended as a highly technical skill toy, there are still a solid range of moves you can link together, and lots of ways of working with them.

Our October 2024 Launch Preview video below dives deep on these guys, and provides some ideas for the types of usage and manipulations possible with them.