MKUltras - 12mm Mílos Glow Editions

MKUltras - 12mm Mílos Glow Editions

With all of our other bead options, it's hard to imagine anything minimalist carving out a new space for itself between our mini sigmas, our spherical beads, and the rest of our range. But the Mílos justified their existence from the first samples, and they're set to become a new favourite for many. These apple-shaped beads are a traditional shape, and were originally modelled after our jade bodhis. In terms of weight and feel, the Mílos have a lot in common with our similarly sized spherical beads, but to the tactile and auditory connoisseurs out there, the differences will be immediately clear. The Mílos are essentially short and cylindrical, but with heavily rounded external edges, and a 3mm bore that hugs the cord slightly more than our spherical beads. This makes gives them a very comfortable feel for bead counting, dramatically reducing the potential hot spot where the thumb grabs each bead.

The Short Form Edition of the Mílos features 23 of our 12mm apple shaped Mílo beads, and are designed to be worn on the wrist in a single loop. The sliding 15mm micro boss bead provides a friction fit locking mechanism to keep the set in place when worn, while sliding down to create slack when the set is being played. 

For our Glow Mílos, we are using a type of POM materail, the same durable stuff known commercially as Delrin, but with a fairly powerful glow. The material technology has come a long ways in recent years, and these beads glow surprisingly brightly, and the light lasts a surprisingly long time. The white colour is the decisive champ in terms of glow effects, but all three are pretty impressive when fully charged up. It doesn't take much to charge them up either.. just a short spell under a bulb our outdoors in light will do the trick

General Information on the 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.

Details: 

• 23x  12mm Mílos + 1x 15mm Titanium Boss bead
• Colours
• Red
• Blue
• White
• Weight: ~33g all in
• Strung on AO2's new custom 12-strand, high density, 2mm Kevlar cord

New to the Ultras? You can wear em on your wrist, or check out the video below for some other examples of what these beads are capable of.