Chef's Special - White or Black/ Dyed Delrin Commons MKUltras
Chef's Special - White or Black/ Dyed Delrin Commons MKUltras
For this month's Chef's Special, we've cooked up something we've been wanting to release for a couple of years now. Peep the photos and you'll get the idea.
The material is the white and black delrin we all know and love, but what makes this special so special is the hand-dyed beads we've worked into the design. These dyed colours hit very different from the highly saturated stock colours in which Delrin is generally available. The slightly washed out tones give a bit of a vintage-surf-sunset-over-the-ocean kind of vibe that will feel fresh every time you pick them up. This colour way, set against the white or black for contrast, is distinctive in our range, and looks amazing during flipping because of the way the packets tend to split, with white on one end and most or all of the colours at the other.
This set of Ultras is similar to some of our other specials over the past year--a set of MKUltras strung on a long form length of cord, but hosting a smaller number of beads, resulting in a set that has substantially more exposed cord than our standard long form setups. This makes the sets highly playable for different tricks and play styles, and we've added a large Manga bead to the lock mechanism for a nice counterweight if you're flipping them from the end.
Details
- 21x Delrin Common beads + 1x 10mm Titanium bead + 1x Large Delrin Mangas
- ~36.3g 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 November 2024 Launch Preview video below dives deep on these guys, and provides some ideas for the types of usage and manipulations possible with them.
