Butterfly knife?

[alan_zheng]

Hi
You must see the Benchmade butterfly type
knife on the cover page of BladeForums.
Why few people talk about these kind of
knives, I think it is solid than folders
and smaller than fixed blade.
What do you think ?
say sth. about the good or bad side
of these kind of knife please.

Alan

 

[Shades]

Alan;

Balisongs are just about my all-time favorite type of folder. I own several of the Benchmades, including the one you mentioned, and in my opinion, you won't find a better production butterfly than a BM, or many customs that are better either. And I do concur that it is one of the most solid folder designs in existence, due primarily to its simplicity.

Regards--Shades

[This message has been edited by Shades (edited 11 December 1998).]

 

[Adamantium]

The main reason alot of people don't carry them on a daily basis is because they are illegal in some states. They scare people

. And there is only one major company who made them as far as I know of.

One of the reasons I didn't carry mine is because it didn't have a pocket clip.

Sincerely,
Adam

 

[SB]

Hmm. I guess I'm the Devil's Advocate tonight. Hehe.

I think Benchmade stopped making their Balisongs. Otherwise, they were about the finest production knives on the market (and some very nice custom specimens as well).

Solid. Hmm. I'm not sure. Certainly, low quality Balisongs have bad hinges that tend to fall apart easily. Their handle design, lack of guards, and the fact that they are generally very slippery because of the materials used, makes them poor fighting knives in general. Compared to modern one-hand openers today, they have a higher learning curve for opening. Oh yes, and it ranks very high on the sheeple-intimidation factor thanks to media abuse.

But I admire Balisongs and their devout practioners greatly. It's up there in exotic awe for their style and culture along with the Buck 110. And yet, I have a general distaste for them. I could never warm up to a "Philippino SAK".

[This message has been edited by SB (edited 14 December 1998).]

 

[Ralf]

As a matter of fact, Benchmade still makes some of the Balisongs. They are limited handmade versions starting at 450.00

For more details, go to www.benchmade.com and click on the little butterfly picture on the left.

 

[Jonathan]

I believe the butterfly knife to be one of the best utility knives around. I have been using/carrying butterflys for damn near two decades now and am still amazed at the versatility and usefullness of them. I have used them for everything from opening mail to repairing pneumatic hoses, (just slip it between the blade and handle and close, nice clean cut). It saddens me that there are no more quality production butterflys around anymore. I have taken to collecting the older Valor and Taylor brands as well as Benchmade. All good quality knives.

Jonathan