Need help on first Balisong purchase.... BM or MT ?????

J

John Puckett

Joined
Dec 10, 2000
Messages
418
I'm new to the world of balisongs. I've never owned one I've only handled the cheap ones. I was wondering which would be best to get first the Microtech or a Benchmade. I'm not trying to start any flame wars or anything because I know that the supporters from each side get kind of mad when trying to decide which is better. I'm not trying to say ones better than the next I'm simply wondering where a good starting point is. I think that I like the looks of the Microtech better but if its not a good one tell me. I want to stay in the $150 to $200 range. So in this price range which is best to begin with? I only want to go this way because I might get the knife and decide i don't like it, but if I get the knife and decide I do like it I want to have a pretty good one. Sorry to be so long winded :o and thanks for any help you can give me.
 
The short of it is that you can't go wrong with either of them. The tachyon, being sandwich construction, is smoother and quieter. *Very* well build, just feels tight. But the BM's, to some, have a nicer feel with their slightly longer and larger/rounder handles. It pretty much is a matter of taste.

In the end it doesn't matter all that much because you'll eventually have both of them. :)
 
That's kind of a difficult question. They are both "butterfly" knives but different construction and different feel. I consider Benchmade knives flippers and the Microtech an every day carry or utility. Don't get me wrong, the Microtech can be flipped and very nicely but in my opinion the Benchmades lend themselves better to manipulation because of their shape. Just wait until you get 10 or 20 more opinions on this and then try and make your decision. :D :D

Welcome and good luck!!

Eric "Mer" Maier
 
This is just my opinion on the matter, but I would have to say start with the BM. If you like the MT because it is smaller then go with the BM 31. The Tach is great and all, but it is a $200.00 knife, The design and machining is excellent, but if you start out with as your first Bali it may ruin your taste for the less expensive Bali's. I would agree with Mer that if you want something to flip and learn a bunch of cool tricks with, get the BM. Otherwise, you may end up with a lack of appreciation for some of our favorite knives which are very exceptional in quality, and just as durable if not more. I own both, and even though the Tachs are smoother, I have had less problems with my new BM's than any other Bali I've ever owned.;) I'm hoping to get my Tachs back soon, and maybe this opinion has been tainted with my unfortunate experience and I am not being fair to the Tachyon, but I have two of them that suffered from the same problem (with one of them sleeping in the closet in mint condition). Fortunately no one here has reported the same conditions of their blades, so I imagine it was a Karma thing :confused: I hope I'm not in more trouble:eek: Hope we help you make the right decision. Either way you are looking at two fantastic knives that we all drool over and praise, you can't make the wrong choice here.:D

edited to say Hi
 
I was in the same dilema a few months ago. My decision was to buy a Benchmade 43 first. Now I'm saving my coins for a Larry Davidson Hornet.
Hornet Thread 1
Hornet Thread 2
I've never had a Tachyon in my hand, but if it flips as good as a Benchmade and I could only have one I would go for the Tachyon.
 
I don't have a tach yet but you can't go wrong with the BM's. Seriously they are great flippers and hard workers.
 
Welcome to you, John.

Notice: By this post I do NOT wish to offend anyone or hurt anyone's feelings or anything, but I'm starting to get a little pissed seeing all these 'what balisong should I buy??' posts.

First of all, this forum has a very neat search system, and you should be able to find what ever you're looking for (almost, of course. Tony seems to be the one that can really find ANYTHING!... ;))
Anyway, why can't people instead of posting a new thread, simply search for 'microtech tachyon', 'bm43', 'bm42' and so on? There's a lot of posts covering these subjects, and many of them lead to reviews and other things that should be pretty helpful before a buy.

I could bare over with it when only one or two posted this question, but when every new member does it, we should do something.
So I have a suggestion.

Is it possible to make a closed thread (only viewable) with different balisong information (like links to sites, including dealers, Clay's site, Chuck's, Guillaume's, Armand's, Jeff's etc etc, reviews for different knives, other forums, perhaps some common threads and so on) that would stay on top of the list all the time. Would this be possible to do? This way the new members didn't have to ask 'annying' questions, they could simply find their information, quick and easy.

Once again, I did not intend to upset anyone, I'm just sick of seeing a new 'what's the best balisong?' thread when there's one just similar on the next page... :barf:
 
True most newcomers would benefit greatly from the search feature, but allot of the time it is because they are unfamiliar with the layout of these forums, and plus they want to hear it from us. I'll bet many of the first timers here just happened to stroll by our little community and decide to pop in and see what we are about. Think of it as an excuse to say Hi to the newbies as they pile in through the front door. After all, when you go to a convention or large gathering don't you get sick of introducing yourself and answering the same questions that are inherent with meeting new people?;) I know I do, but if I just handed them a list of answers to the most frequently asked questions about me they probably would think I'm a rather unsociable person and seek conversation elsewhere.:(

Although an FAQ page is a great idea, It would probably bite me on the ass before I ever saw it!:eek: I have enough trouble keeping up as it is.

Anyway, hope you have fun here.
 
I too like being able to say high to the new guy (or girl) it lets them know they are family. Also, is the fact that new products (thank the Maker)are always coming out so many of our opinions change from time to time. This time a year ago the answer was a full hearted BM 42; now, that is still a great knife but with BM's other profiles and the Tach etc. other people offer other opinions.

That being said welcome to our little family John.
 
Tell ya what J.P. Buy them all and then tell us what you like best!:D This may be a hard decision. Good luck!! And also, welcome;)
 
Thanks everyone for the warm welcome and advice. I'm not a newbie to knives or Blade Forums, I'm just new to "butterfly" knives. I forgot to say in my first post that all I really wanted it for is to play with, I'm not really going to be using it to do a lot of cutting tasks.

7Cain, what were the problems you had with the Tach?

Thanks again for the help and have a good one.
 
Originally posted by John Puckett
7Cain, what were the problems you had with the Tach?
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John, I'm sorry for the delay in my reply. I did not mean to imply that you where new to knives or the forums:o at that point I was generalizing my statement to fit just about everyone who happens to wonder into the dark side of centrifugal force :p. At any rate I had a nice long response prepared before I left the office today and when I went to post it the damn thing told me I had too many smileys!:confused: (how can you have too many smilies?!) I was already late to pick up my lady from work, and my reply was'nt saved when I clicked back to the post-creation page (I'm sure there's a better way to say that:rolleyes: )

Okay, to the skinny! I love these knives, don't get me wrong! I have not been discouraged with these knives in any way (even though I have not had them for almost a month and a half)! These are the smoothest operating balis I've ever manipulated (also the most expensive so I can't speak for some of you custom freaks out there:D ) But also they are so well machined they require confident manipulation techniques with very little error, not that you won't develope that in time;)

Sorry I'm rambling. I bought two Tachs so I could use one and keep the other in mint condition. One day a slab/screw starts to work it's way loose. No problem, I'm prepared for this as I've been using BM's for some time and have two 43's and a modified 42 (let's not forget the little blue box for novelty). So I get my blue box and pull out the bit to return the screw to it's proper job in holding that handle slab down. Upon reaching the "snug" classification of my adjustment I give it the two finger tighten (only the bit in hand, not using the blue box for torque) when all of a sudden it starts to spin freely! (I'll continue this in the next post so I don't get booted out again)
 
I at first thought that the screw stripped under the AMAZING amount of pressure I can generate with my two fingers!:eek: :rolleyes: Well that was'nt the case, as I turned the knife over I discover that the head of the screw had snapped clean off! Odd I thought. I wonder if I got a bunk screw?! Well, I'll have to send it back and pull out the reserve;) I should probably check to make sure all of the slab screws are snug so I don't have one start to unscrew on me again. Being very carefull, I tried to unscrew each screw with approximately 1 mousepower:rolleyes: and found that two screws would easily begin unwinding after a good bit of manipulation. So I went to tighten the first one using the same two finger method with only the itty bitty bit between the tips of my index and thumb. Nowhere prepared for the shocking repetition of one of the most horrifying incedents that have ever happened to me:rolleyes: I discover that the scenario repeats its self! I was a bit upset at first, but I thought about it for as long as I could and finally my imagination told me that someone at the Microtech factory ate more than their share of Wheaties one morning and went to town on some torx screws:p . Hehe, well these here torx screws where tightened tight enough to reach the yeild strength that those screws are capable of, but not enough to rupture. In this case, all it would take is some time, a few temperature changes due to transit methods (being winter everywhere but Houston) when they arrived the integrety of the metal had already been weakend by the constant force of the handles resisting against the head of the screws and had reached a very brittle state. It would not take very much force to break a screw that has already been stretched from over tightening. I emmediately packed them into their original shipping vehicles and called for an RA number. Well a month and a half later I am expecting their return after a little mixup at the shipping department at Microtech. But that has been more than compensated for as I've been told.

All in all if you by the BM you will understand what everybody here has been raving about! Not to mention you will start out with the company that broke the ground in this area, they know how to make balis, and their balis are very proven both in durability and craftsmanship. Their handle design makes some of our most enjoyable manipulations easy because the handles are rounded on the face and flat on the side. The Tach has very square handles and the horns will pinch you pretty good if you don't keep your distance.
If you get the Tach you will see what everybody here has been raving about! However you may spoil your taste for anything less than a custom bali. I have at least two of the knives in question and I personally am not ready to leave BM when they are just turning up the flames on all these new releases. You won't regret either choice you make, I promise!;)
 
Damn Cain it seems like 6 or 7hrs ago you told me you were writing this post;) .

Okay just get the BM and then if you fall in love with it you can get a tachyon
 
Ix,

Someone posted a response just like yours 6 months or so ago. I just think that things would get mighty boring in here if the new guys didnt ask any questions.
 
Originally posted by Mykl Clark
Damn Cain it seems like 6 or 7hrs ago you told me you were writing this post;)
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It actually was!:D But I was at the office trying to close up and I was already late picking up the Lady from work (I can't let that happen;) ) and when I went to post my loooong a$$ reply (I spent about an hour on it, because even though I'd love to sit here and type with you guys I have business's to run) the website told me I have too many smilies and to go back and remove some. Welllllll I clicked my browsers back button to find my post erased :( :barf: That was fun! Just wait till my next post!;)
 
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D ;)

I PROTEST, I'm way to jovial to limit my smilies to only 10 times per post. It defies the very model of a modern major general!
 
Originally posted by 7Cain
the website told me I have too many smilies and to go back and remove some. Welllllll I clicked my browsers back button to find my post erased :( :barf: That was fun! Just wait till my next post!;)
Click to expand...
Bah, I HATE when that happens! And when you've spent too long on typing a reply, and the server wants you to relogin. First of all, when you DO relogin, you get a report that it couldn't find the link you're looking for. :confused: And if you try to click back - your message wasn't saved.
BitchForums.com if you ask me. ;)

Yoda (and the rest of you about this subject): Yeah, I guess you're right. Just wish they could ask something a bit more original. ;) :D
Go ahead, newbies, ask what bali to buy. I'll shut up about everything except the welcome. ;)
 
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