Anyone own the Schrade Manilla Folder?

needler420

needler420

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Apr 29, 2011
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Thoughts and opinions on it? I am thinking of adding one to my edc rotation. I really like the heavy construction of this balisong. D2 steel seems like a good steel for the price, I am no steel junkie though.
 
needler420 said:
Thoughts and opinions on it? I am thinking of adding one to my edc rotation. I really like the heavy construction of this balisong. D2 steel seems like a good steel for the price, I am no steel junkie though.
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I'm glad you asked about this because it forced me to look to see if they're available. I only learned of their existence a month or so ago and assumed that they were still in the planning stage. Turns out they're not; they're on the shelves now.

I'm old enough to have been drawn in to butterfly knives by the original Manila Folders, so I love the retro styling of these Schrades. I plan on getting one for that reason alone. That said, you asked for opinions, and mine is that I don't think much of what I see of them:

1) Who, in 2017, assembles any knife (but especially a butterfly) with riveted handles?!

2) The latch is also riveted and therefore not reversible; is affixed to the wrong handle for my preference; and is not spring-loaded, permitting it to interfere with opening/closings and to ding the blade.

3) Why no pocket clip?

4) D2 is a fine user steel, but butterfly knives are hardly user knives. Any good stainless would have been preferable.

5) The slab handles are a cost-cutting measure and won't protect the blade the way that the original Manila Folders' enclosed handles did. These new handles look cast, too, not milled.

6) I love that the Schrades are made in the U.S. (though that's mandatory now for balisongs, so it hardly reflects well on Schrade), but the pictures I've seen of them depict some seriously sloppy manufacturing. They look like Bear & Sons products, which doesn't bode well.

For reference, I've owned two Bear butterflies...and subsequently returned both for shoddy construction that made them practically non-functional and not worth keeping. And I'm a guy who almost never returns a knife unless the problem with it is too gross to ignore. I've handled plenty of other Bear & Sons butterflies over the years, too, and I've never seen a single one that was constructed with acceptable fit and finish. If Bear & Sons is making these (as I suspect), expect issues.

7) The price is nice, but given the apparent quality, they should be even cheaper. Bradley Knives offered better-designed and -manufactured pieces using vastly superior materials for roughly the same price.

8) I wish Benchmade would make a similar entry-level balisong (along the lines of those it made for Bradley). It would sell like hotcakes!

-Steve
 
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I picked up a "manila folder" back when I was in middle school at a garage sale. Given the research results above, it doesn't look like they changed anything for the better when compared to the Taylor cutlery brand on that I had. It represents many regrettable decisions on the manufacturer's part - it cannot be easily adjusted, fixed, or modified, it will likely feel cheap and loose, it will be difficult to carry vertically without a sheath, and the latch will become a problem very quickly.
 
Let's get excited that the Manila Folder is made in the USA. I'm not into bali-song knives but I might get that one just to do my part to get S&W to move Schrade production back into America.
Maybe rivets aren't good for a butterfly knife, but D2 is fine for a blade and If I get it I doubt I'll be flipping it around so treating it like a typical folder might make it last.
If S&W sells enough, maybe they'll bring all of Schrade production home.
 
mine wasnt as bad as others here who got them. there is a thread in the bali forum when they came out. i learned the hard way i have to adjust my grip up real high to not get bit/cut when flipping by the back edge. i dont like the way i have to hold it and how it flips from that awkard grip. therefore it sits and isnt used much.
 
Looks a bit like the original I had around 1985. It was pinned as well, I like it.
 
If they did one in the Batangas style (latch on bite handle) with a better heat treat (or even a switch to a 420-ish steel and a corresponding price drop), I would strongly consider it. As it stands, meh. The safe handle latch would pretty much guarantee that I'd cut myself, and why use D2 if you're going to make it mid-50s HRC?
 
i've also been in the market for a bali, and the conclusion i've arrived at, is that there is nothing between $40 - $200, and if you want anything remotely acceptable, the minimum is $220 new ($160 used if you can find a beater). this is pretty discouraging as the market is flooded with $50-$100 folders with great value and quality... but no one can (or try) to make a decent $100 entry level bali.

in conclusion, move your budget up to $160 for used, or all the way down to a bear and son 114. sounds like the manilla is not really a step up from the $36 knives. that being said, i have read that the 114 is an entire tier up from $20 chinese flea market models.
 
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