balisong in the world !

Guillaume

Guillaume

Joined
Oct 26, 2000
Messages
294
I was first thinking of writing a post aimed at Anagarika (and other Indonesian if there are on the forum), to know more about the situation of balisong in Indonesia :
- are they popular ?
- are they legal ?
- what models are sold in the stores ?
- is there an Indonesian production ?

Then I thought : "it would be fun to draw a worldmap with colors to know where balisong are legal/illegal, and where there is a production/balisong-cutlery".

So guys from everywhere, every country (Sweden, Belgium, Brazil...), every state (Oregon, California, ...), could you reply with your view of the balisong :

* COUNTRY/STATE = ...
* BALISONG POPULARITY = 0-5
* LEGAL = Yes/No
* PRODUCTION = Yes/Custom/No (+ cutlery's name or custom makers)

Guillaume

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www.balisong.net
 
COUNTRY/STATE = France
BALISONG POPULARITY = 2 (cheap balisong can be found easily in souvenirs stores, gifts shops, and in almost every knives stores)
LEGAL = Yes (to own, not to carry)
PRODUCTION = Yes+Custom (Barillet did some balisong in the past / Fred Perrin is a custom maker)
 
* COUNTRY/STATE = Alabama, USA
* BALISONG POPULARITY = probably 1 or 2 While they are widely available in most cutlery shops/malls, I don't know anyone but myself that carries one. One of the main cutlery shops in the area had 7 BM42's from the first shipment. There is still 1 left sitting on the shelf from that shipment, and there would be one more if I hadn't traded for it. That should say something about lack of popularity on it's own.
* LEGAL = Yes, with exceptions. Legal in the state, banned in certain cities & campuses.
* PRODUCTION = I'll be damned, forgot about the wonderful
rolleyes.gif
balisongs produce by Bear, thanks Mykl. Not sure if they count, but it is true, they are made here, at least bear is located here. Of the custom makers here, and there are some nice ones, I know of none that do balisongs.



[This message has been edited by tique (edited 01-23-2001).]
 
Country/State:Georgia, USA
Balisong Popularity (1-5):About 1 or 2. Most people I know think they're just novelty items, though the 42's are sold out everywhere. The cheapies sell pretty well here.
Legal:Legal to own, not sure about carry. Law says no knives designed for "offense and defense" concealed. Open carry is okay; concealed is open to interpretation.
Production:No.
 
Country/State: New Hampshire, USA
Balisong Popularity (1-5): 1. I'm like, the only person who knows what one is.
Legal: not speficially. if you have something over 2.5" on you, you get a misdemeanor
Production:No.
 
Country/PROVINCE: Canada, B.C
Balisong Popularity (1-5): Perhaps 2, not many people know what they are, but there are some.
Legal: Nope. You carry anything around here that even remotely looks like a weapon, and they'll bust you.
Production: No.
 
COUNTRY/STATE: USA, Virginia
POPULARITY: about a 1 since people know what a "butterfly knife" is and no one carries them. They are availble in many pawn shops.
LEGAL: No specific law against them but concealed would give a bit of a problem.
PRODUCTION: None that I know of.

tique--Bear is kinda a company that pretends to make balis and is out of AL.

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Mykl
Balisong, the folding fixed blade.
 
Balisongs are not always perdictable. If I go out to the market to sell, I have had days I well sell up to 18 or more. Once it happened that I did not sell any of them for three weeks. But for the most part, it's a very good selling item for me. There is no law against them here in Ohio, they are treated like any other style knife. Thanks, JohnR7
 
Hi ...

COUNTRY/STATE: INDONESIA/JAKARTA (capital city)
POPULARITY: 2 - cheapies (China flat handle cheapies, no longer Taiwan quite good cheapies) can be found anywhere around bookstores, sport stations, but no one carries any BM/PC anymore. I just saw a PC 3" Tanto (69?) with polished pins but not for sale
frown.gif
. There were many Taiwan / Korean cheapies in the 80's but now no one import anymore, being too expensive (can you imagine?) due to the currency weakness ... sad sad sad story. Not many people nowadays knows about bali anymore except from movies, but back in 1980's it was damned popular. I got some of my PC's back then .. THANK GOD!!!!
LEGAL: funny law (as if there is any law here .. being twisted and manipulated by the have's and the ruler): you can own one, cannot carry ANY knife (depend on how much the LEO is needing bribe money), and custom declares no import on any knife (which is funny as department stores can sell plenty of kitchen knives and Victorinox's) but whenever I check with DHL or FedEx if I can get use them to ship in any bali I purchase from the internet, they say sharp pointed weapon is not allowed and they will not carry it.
PRODUCTION: none, although I am trying to get a local workshop that produce quality knife using imported steel (ATS34, etc.) to make one but no contact has been made so far.

Well, I talked too much here ...
smile.gif


Was thinking to get a Jag for a try .. and get them ship in parts and wrapped in newspaper, etc. to avoid custom, but since the Rupiah depreciate so much .. have not decided whether I would risk so much money ..
frown.gif

Still dreaming ..........

------------------
Chris
"To use or not to use your Balisong - that is the question"

Indonesian Balisonger
 
COUNTRY/STATE= Wisconsin, USA

BALISONG POPULARITY= 3. I know of maybe 10 people who have them, mostly cheapies though. I've seen several BM42's in knife shops as well as an abundance of cheapies at martial arts and trinket shops. I've seen balis and switchblades openly sold at flea market/conventions.

LEGAL= Yes and no. Legal to own, but is classified as a class A misdemeanor if caught carrying. Then again, I've seen autos publicly sold, yet they are illegal to carry and own.

PRODUCTION= Nope



------------------
Dave

My collection
 
* COUNTRY/STATE: Hawaii

* BALISONG POPULARITY: 2-3?

Pretty much everyone I know knows what a butterfly knife is, and some have asked me if it's legal, and a few people I know can manipulate one(even if it's just one opening), or have had some past experience with one.

Oh yeah, they sell them in liquor stores and the flea market.

* LEGAL: (according to the owner of some martial arts store I've been into once) You can own one, but not sell/carry one. Plus everyone I've met thinks they're illegal, or asks about it.

* PRODUCTION: Not that I know of.

[This message has been edited by Dragon1 (edited 01-24-2001).]
 
State:Pennsylvania

Balisong Popularity: maybe a 2 or 3 now. I just got like 3 of my friends into them and all we do now is sit in our dorms and try to learn as much as we can from all the different sites.

Legal:Ok to own, maybe to carry--depends if the judge believes it to be a gravity or automatic knife.

Production:Nope
 
Country: TEXAS

Popularity: 2-3 Almost everyone who has seen mine is familiar with them, if only through movies and seems fascinated, though I don't know anyone else who actually carries them. Probably because:

Availability: 1 I have only seen a few balis for sale in MA supplys (not many of those around) and "spy shops." I've seen autos at shows, but no balis.

Legality: Legal to own. Carry is prohibited (though not specifically). Subject mostly to the universal law of TOPO (Ticking Off Police Officers). It's one of those grey-area laws, so ultimately, the cops' call as to how much trouble you have.

Production: None that I know of...but there's a heckofa lot of TEXAS, so I can't say for sure.

------------------
Life often sucks, but always remember: God is good, and arrows are reusable.
A country boy can survive. :)
 
Hello everybody!

COUNTRY/STATE = Sweden
BALISONG POPULARITY = 2
LEGAL = Nope
PRODUCTION = No

Most of the people I know have seen a balisong maybe once but there are not many that have one. I have never seen a balisong in any store. (May have something to do with that there are no weaponstores in Sweden)
 
I need to get back to the great country of Texas. This foreign diplomat stuff sucks.

------------------
Mykl
Balisong, the folding fixed blade.
 
* COUNTRY/STATE = Philippines

* BALISONG POPULARITY = 5 I guess everyone know's what a balisong is because it's part of the culture.

* LEGAL = Legal to buy but not legal to carry. I'm not sure what the actual law is but i think you can carry a blade not more than 3" long. I'm sure a person will get a harder time if he got caught with a balisong than getting caught with a regular folder. Same in the U.S., the balisong also has a bad rep here.

* PRODUCTION = Yes. Mostly in batangas, but some are also made down south in cebu and mindanao.
 
Hi Mykl,

I guess both you and I (at least
smile.gif
) should be grateful that we do have weapon store ...

I guess life in Sweden is so peaceful that Swedish ppl do not need weapon .. or they are all master of MA that need no weapon LOL
Greetings to you Harding!

------------------
Chris
"To use or not to use your Balisong - that is the question"
Code: 
'^'  .   . .'^'
\ []\ \ / /[] /
 \ ()\(o)/() /
  (BALI-SONG)
   {0 / \ 0}
    )'   '(
Indonesian Balisonger
 
Well, since no one mentioned California yet...

Country/State: USA/California
BALISONG POPULARITY: 2. I give it a 2 since everybody i know seems to know what a butterfly knife is, and also because I've found some stores which do carry the cheap ones (i.e. China Town/cigar shops/gun shows). But I've never seen a BM42 anywhere.
LEGAL: No, but section 653k can be interpreted in ways that make it legal.
PRODUCTION: Jaguars and $10 cheapies

------------------
~Howdy

"Wow, BOB, Wow!" - the Arm
http://www.firewalkwithme.org

[This message has been edited by Cpt. Howdy (edited 01-24-2001).]
 
COUNTRY/STATE = Brazil/Paraná
POPULARITY = 1/2. Jags and cheapies are easily found at fair prices and I Know some people who flips, but hadn't meet them personally.
LEGAL- There aren't any laws about knife possession or carry in Brazil, however, you will depend upon the police officer capacity of aura reading
smile.gif
to understand if the yours is a weapon or a tool/toy.
PRODUCTION = Only Mauricio Dobrusky customs.
 
COUNTRY/STATE= MONTANA
POPULARITY=2
LEGAL=YES, VIEWED AS REGULAR KNIFE.
PRODUCTION=NONE
 
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