We don't. Lithium stearate is fine, but there are only a handful of block greases in existence anymore, and I was going for the hardest one with the most thickener content I could get, purely for the thickener itself. The lithium complex from Opti-lube has the most-est, at around 20%. The first sample of lithium stearate grease I got, an NLGI #6, is not as hard as you might think, thickener content was 12-15% I believe. It's just a hair firmer than peanut butter when you mash it around a bit.
Now, if you found some lithium stearate, you da man, because all I found was some goofy abstract on the web about two guys from indonesia or somewhere who came up with the concept of making lithium stearate and complexes avialable as an independent product to thicken existing grease. I wants some, because I have just the stuff to add to it. Throw about 12-15% in with some Mobil 1 #2 and you have something ready to shoot.
Gear