k, newbie question here, sorry!

J

Jadis

Joined
Oct 2, 1998
Messages
438
why are they called 'butterfly' knives or 'balisong' knives??? I really want to know

[This message has been edited by Jadis (edited 08-05-2000).]
 
balisong is what we call them, welcome to the forums!

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Cameron
"It takes a killer...to stop a killer"
uriel.gif

http://home.san.rr.com/balisongfans/galleries/kile/index.html
 
k, I've never been more disappointed with a reply to a question I've posed on BFC.
 
First, don't start a post with a single letter.

Second, you were met with a welcome then a suggestion as to were you may be able to find an answer. If you are disappointed by freindly, helpful responces, and prefer the more pointed ones, let me be the first to say **** off.

Now appologize, say thank you, and play nice.

E
 
LOL that was great afee.

Jadis: balisong is literally translated "broken horn knife" but in America it's easier to translate it to "butterfly knife". It's too bad that you didn't like the answers that were given to you but they were the answers to your question. It was named the break horn knife because the early balisong handles were made out of animal's horn, plus they made a click-clack sound when you flip them around which is where the 'song' part of balisong came in.

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Cameron
"It takes a killer...to stop a killer"
uriel.gif

http://home.san.rr.com/balisongfans/galleries/kile/index.html

[This message has been edited by BalisongMan (edited 08-06-2000).]
 
Perhaps, Mr. Jadis, you should wait more than three hours before deciding on the quality of your response.

Frankly, I've not answered because I was hoping that someone else has a better answer than I do. But here's it what I have been told.

"Balisong" comes from various Filipino dialects. I have heard it translated variously as "broken horn", possibly a reference to the use of horn material as an insert, "breaking or rattling of horns", possibly a reference to the sound made by these knives as they are manipulated, and "to break the horn", possibly a reference to the use of a closed balisong as a striking weapon. Maybe one of our Filipino members can add some more light to this question.

The term Bali-Song is a registered trademark and is used exclusively for those balisongs made by Bali-Song Cutlery, Pacific Cutlery, and Benchmade.

I don't know where the term butterfly knife comes from. I do know that there's another style of knife called a butterfly knife and this causes confusion. I prefer to use balisong.

These knives are also often called Batangas knives after the city and region in the Philippines that is famous for making them.

You also hear balisong pronounced different ways. I understand that bah (with a short a pronouncing it like the ba in battery) lee (long e) song (common pronounciation) is correct and that is what I use.

The origin of both balisong and butterfly have never been satisfactorily explained to me. If anybody knows anything else, please add your input. While Mr. Jadis's patience may have worn thin, I'm still listening.

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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com

[This message has been edited by Gollnick (edited 08-06-2000).]
 
I still can;t get over how the forum censors all the curse words.. funny ass.. I think we shoudl chill out we are all really just nice peopel I woudl hate to think that word might get out that the bali forum is run by aristocratic bastards
smile.gif
(i wonder if that will be consored) but yeah it's jst a name as 'olives' and 'apricots' Gollnick explained it well I might add.. there;s yoru history lesson there.. I just wanted to add that the knife comes from Barrio Balisong (small province town named Balisong - but no i didnt get my pic taken by the city limits unfortunately) but locals tell me that the town was named AFTER the knife not the knife after the town. quite contrary to the history books.

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<A HREF="http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~soo/balisong/balisong.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~soo/balisong/balisong.html
</A> If you play with love you will be heartbroken; if you play with knives you will [bleed]


 
hmmm, i call them balisongs too
tongue.gif


anywho... Chuck, was
THIS what you were thinking of as another style of knife called a butterfly knife? I had to get me one of these (china cheapie version) because I like knifes with insteresting blade deployments (of course Im probably not alone this being the bali forum and all). Sorry to go off topic but, has any of you handled this CS knife?


hmmm, now that i think about it, the china cheapy version i have has the blade pivoting on the smaller part that folds out of the main handle, unlike this cold steel knife where the blade pivots on the main part of the handle. I think my cheapy knife is called a "jacob's ladder"

...sounds like Im rambling, I'll stop now
smile.gif



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"I see you played knifie spoonie before..."

[This message has been edited by Sgtp (edited 08-06-2000).]
 
...well, Ive seen this CS knife incorrectly (?) refered to as a butterfly knife before. And then there's the uniformed people call the german paratropper knife a butterfly knife. I guess theres a lot of misinformation floating around causing this confusion...

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"I see you played knifie spoonie before..."
 
Mr. Havoc found what I was thinking of. These always seem to show up in pairs and are traditionally shown crossed as they are in this picture. I guess you can kind of see a butterfly shape in the crossed knives. Anyway, that's all I know about those.

I'm told that you can manipulate a Jacob's Ladder knife with one hand, but I have never seen it done. The same is true of the so-called paratropper's knives. BTW, I'm not sure if these paratropper's knives were ever German or not. They often show up on eBay and in fleamarkets, etc., with Nazi markings on them, but every one I've seen up close was an obvious fake. Several of them that I've seen have had "Made In Germany" stamped on them in English. Dead giveway. Fake as the day is hot (here in Oregon right now, anyway). Interestingly, while I have genuine German balisongs that well predate the Nazi era, I have never seen a balisong with Nazi markings that was not an obvious (even to my rather untrained eye) fake. (Collector's estimate that Taiwan has made about ten times as many Nazi knives as the Germans ever did.)

Anyway, this thread certainly has taken an interesting turn.

See, there's all sorts of good stuff to learn here on The Balisong Forum!



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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com
 
balisongs are called "Butterfly knives" because they have two handles that swing around like a butterlfys wings.

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QuickSilver--"you just gotta be quick....."
 
Sgtp, You can manipulate a CS Triple Action tanto. In Tactical knives, Michael Janich shows many different styles and types of manipulations that can be done with it. He does explain however that doing so will eventually damage the knife as it is not designed for such use.
 
Originally posted by BalisongMan:
I always thought that they were called butterfly swords, they sure don't look like knives.

http://store.yahoo.com/enjutsukai/kunfubutknif.html are what I'm talkin about
Click to expand...

I've seen them referred to as either knives or swords. I'm no expert on Chinese weaponry, but it seems that anything with two cutting edges is called a sword, and anything with a single edge is called a knife (at least sometimes). But don't quote me on that. (Maybe it's just poor translation - I dunno)
 
Actually, we have our share of single edged swords as well as double edged ones. Chinese broad swords resemble scimitars and falchions more than European broad swords in their various permutations. Butterfly swords are in that range of length that makes it hard to quantify a blade as either a knife or a short sword. Other than that though, I really don't know anything about them.

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Simon Yu

"I look at it this way. If things get much worse I'll be too dead to care."
 
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