Bear MGC Butterfly knife question.

Cosmic Superchunk

Cosmic Superchunk

Joined
Jan 28, 2001
Messages
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I have come across a shop which has several cheap Butterfly knives, but has one made by BearMGC with a damascus blade. I'm not too familiar with this brand so I wanted to ask if any of you own any? How is the quality? Are they sharp or as dull as a "butter" knife?
 
Hello el cid,

I do not own any Bear's but I have a freind that had one (not damascus "style" but regular el cheapo). It's a decent starter bali (for someone who does not manipulate on a regular basis), but I would not buy one myself. From what I understand the damascas version is WAY overpriced and WAY under quality, if they are trying to sell it to you for more than 50 bucks I would suggest saving your money for a quality balisong ( I personally would avoid any contact with it:D ). I have not heard ANY praise from the BearMGC balisong line, they are the low man on the Totum Pole.
 
i think retail those thigns are like 80 bucks or sometign right? RIPOFF!! it seems it has been an old school concensus that bears and jaguars are the best starter balis.. personally I hate Bears because of the VERY LIGHT handles.. I go for the jaguar school anyday and up to now still use my first jag beater.
 
I have 2 bear bali's both of damascus one a drop point and the other a tanto, as starter knives they were ok for me, and sniper is right about the handles being light and paying through the nose at a retail shop for them. i got mine through Smokey Mt. Knife works and they were 15 to 20 $ less then at a retail shop, check their site they might still sell'em. The only reason I got them is I like anything damascus;)
 
If you want to start out than get a Jag but if you want something that will last you many, many years then buy a BM Bali-Song, they are around $130 but they are easily worth it.
 
Bear handles light? dunno what Bears u have used but mine were at least twice as heavy as my bm42's.

I liked my Bear for about the month that it lasted me, until the handle cracked near "fork" where the pin goes through. Two of my freinds have also had this problem.

I only have experience with our crappy Bears and my BM42 so you know what my opinion is. I guess get a Jaguar unless you can shell out the $130 for a bm42 (or 43!!) but it's well worth it if you do decide to save up for a Benchmade.
 
If you are gonna get into swinging these little guys..., the handles just don't hold up at all.., or as "Sniper-Boy" mentioned...have enough weight to give you the inertial feel you need to get going.

"Hunters seek what they [WANT].., Seekers hunt what they [NEED]"
 
My personal opinion of them would just get sensored out anyway (and I seem to be a little fanatical in my anti-bear campaign) so I recommend doing a search for bear and my name and see how many hits you get.
 
I share sniperboy's extreme dislike for bears. :barf:

If you're not interested in spending more than 30 bucks on your first balisong, I strongly recommend picking up a jaguar. The pins (the ones the handles rotate on) will break after a little swinging, but don't fret. You can replace the pins with finishing nails and the knife will be better than when you bought it. Clay has excellent instructions for this at balisongxtreme.com in the tips section. The handles on a bear (even the fancy-pancy damascus blade), will snap as soon as the pins will, and you can't very well fix the handles themselves. Jags are only about $25 and a great starting knife.

Then again, you could just drop the $130 and get a Benchmade, which would last you years beyond any jaguar. And besides, you're going to become extremely addicted to manipulating in no time (trust me :D). So save yourself the trouble and get the benchmade. But, I understand that $ is an issue for many, so use your best judgment.
 
I actually like light handles and when I first saw the Bears I didn't think they were too bad for the price but found out the Zamak handles were not up to the stress of manipulation. If you look on the Balisong collectors site under definitions he has a picture of one cracked right at the latch side-which is their flaw.


Correction: I meant Pin side
 
It seems that I may be clubbed to death like a baby seal for this, but here goes...

My suggestion is to buy it--if it is a good price. I've had one (114A) for many years now, and it has held up beautifuly. I may have just gotten a freak bear, but I still think they're pretty good. I'm not knocking the Jag or anything, they hold up fine as well but i've done almost everything to my bear short of dropping it out of a plane, and it still works as good as when I first got it. I had to "repin" it a couple of times, but no more than any Jag.

If you are stil considering buying one, go to the store and see if they will let you handle it. Test drive it if you want to so put it.

Then again, I do agree with Blasto, if you can afford it, go buy a BM 42. They are very,very nice. Check out newgraham.com for one a little over $100.
 
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