Size matters!

Eric Blair

Eric Blair

Joined
Dec 25, 2000
Messages
868
Hmmmm,...recently I acquired a rather special Bali. This particular Bali satisfied a deep need within myself that only other Bali lovers could possibly appreciate. You see, I had a dilemna; to me, the smaller balis feel better in my hand than larger ones, however I prefer a longer blade. So the question arises; How does one obtain the best of both worlds? From one of the great Bali Masters, Fred Perrin, of course. Voila!
PerrinBali.JPG

The blade length is 4 5/8" from the top of the handles to the tip of the blade, as compared to my BM42s blade which measures 4 3/16", as seen here:
PerrinBM.JPG

And the brass handles of the Perrin measure 3 7/8" as sompared to those of my BM42s which measure 5 3/16", as seen here:
BaliCompare.JPG

In other words, the blade of the Perrin is longer than that of the BM42, yet the handles of the Perrin are shorter than those of the BM42. Go figure.
The blade of the Perrin is double-edged, and S3 (Scary Scalpel Sharp), but only 3/4 of the top edge is sharpened so that manipulation doesn't yield blood loss.
smile.gif

The Perrin is a latchless design, which it needs to be given the blade to handle ratio. The blade tip extends nearly 1 1/8" beyond the bottom of the handles. If you look closely at the top photo, you can see that the kydex neck sheath is properly designed and fitted to contain such a configuration. Since the Perrin Bali is a bit heavy for comfortable neck carry, I'm going to have Mike Sastre of River City Sheaths design an Inside the Waistband sheath for it with his Carbon Fiber pattern Concealex.
Receiving this Bali got me to thinking about Bali size even more. I love full size Balis like the BM42, but I love smaller Balis like the PC69 even more so. So my question is this:
Would your dream Bali lean towards smaller or larger?

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Eric - Usual Suspect
"The best toys are the ones that you can put an eye out with."
weaver.gif
 
I would love to have Mr. Dobruski make me a 5 inch blade BaliSong, the handles to be determined then.

I just don't want to lose a few hundred dollars so someone can have a nice knife and walk away free with it.

I would be really pissed then.

That's a beautiful Bali, I have seen Mr. Perrin work a Bali, he's very smooth and very different from other people I have watched...how do you like it Eric? I mean, manipulating it?

[This message has been edited by Don Rearic (edited 05-17-2001).]
 
That's nice. I like the 5" bladed balis but there hard to find. i wonder what the BM42 would be like at 5" blade? Ever had a problem with that peice stickin out back?

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I have a sword in my pocket!
 
Don, manipulation of this Perrin Bali is strangely SILENT. It's rather bizarre. My BM42s kind of sings a tune as I work it, but this Perrin just sort of cuts air, if that makes any sense. It's buttery smooth, and moves exactly the way that you would think a high-end custom Bali should. I don't know,..this Bali becomes such an extension of my hand that it's almost surreal. When I put it down after manipulating it for more than a few minutes, my hand feels... ...incomplete. It's indescribable. I've never owned a bali at all like this one.

Kyui Su Kim, one might think that the extended portion of the blade would cause problems, but in actuality it just barely rests upon the heel of my palm, even during the most fierce manipulations. I thought that it would cut my palm to shreds, but it doesn't do any damage whatsoever. As Don implied, Fred Perrin is a Master Bali Practitioner; it took someone as excellent as Fred to design a bali that is this user friendly. I'm just blown away and in total awe of this piece. I'm glad that we have this forum with which to share such experiences. Awesome Balis radically enhance the quality of life.
smile.gif


[This message has been edited by Eric Blair (edited 05-17-2001).]
 
Eric,

Well, since MTs are the rage among some Suspects, you think we will swing them to the Bali when MT comes out with their [I hope] Masterpiece?

Fred Perrin has a very unique style of Manipulation, mind you, I saw maybe two or three, little, 5 minute-here and there get-togethers. I think SnipahBoy was there, Chuck and Clay as well one time I saw this last June.

I don't know Eric, I don't want to make him sound mystical or anything or promote this Aura around him, he's a nice guy and I'm sure that he would not like that either...

But the way he uses a Bali has an almost slinging instead of flipping and twirling motion to it, and almost like sleight of hand...maybe...

I don't know if that is an accurate description, but through my eyes it is. The best descriptors I can come up with at the moment anyway.

Damn, I'm usually not ever at a loss for words, but how do you describe something like that without a camcorder?

He has a natural and casual way of doing it, not forced and not what alot of people, like myself, would consider the "norm."

In fact, to some, he might not be impressive at all because they might be looking more at the knife and not his hands.

------------------
"You are no more armed because you are wearing a pistol than you are a musician because you own a guitar." ~Jeff Cooper
And the same goes for a knife...
And, I'm a Usual Suspect.
Some of my Knives and other neat things
 
I went digging to see what some other people have had to say about Fred Perrin actually working a BaliSong...

I found an interesting quote from Blues:

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Blues:
"Fred is a magician with a balisong. He gave me and my wife a show with first one then two at the same time that was a joy to watch. I can't imagine approaching that level of mastery regardless of how long I might train."</font>
Click to expand...

I think it is interesting to note that all of the people that I have seen manipulate BaliSongs, I can damned near count them on two hands, let's see;

Me, Clay, Chuck, SnipahBoy, Fred Perrin, and Greg Alland...and a Man here in Maryland at a Martial Arts Demo that got me interested in them back in 1984 or 1985, and I cannot remember his name, but he was really good. (If I left any of the "Atlanta Wrecking Crew" out, forgive me please...)

Then, there was Alland, Clay, Chuck, Unnamed Friend on Chuck's Site, a Dude on a Filipino Site, Keating, Brennan and Miller...all videotape or AVI/MPG, although I have some redundancy there as I have seen some of these folks live too.

Perrin still has a very casual, slinging feel that is unique. Is it better? Well, I just don't know...but it is different and not bad, pleasing to my eyes anyway.

I just wanted to find some other reference point and it is strange that Blues said, "magician."

Interesting...
 
Hmmmmmm,...video of Fred manipulating Balis? This might be possible. Let me make a few contacts and I'll see if we can do something about this.
 
Yep I was there... and I must say that it is "easy" to wow someone who doesnt manipulate balisongs but it' somethign else to wow someone who's been flipping for a while.. and Perrin did that.. Chuck and I were woah.. how you do that cause what he did thoguh simple the second time we saw it was just off the beaten path..

He'l be in the blade show you know he wil.. I am surprised though that this type of blade woudl fling well given the blade to handle config and the play with momentum.. but as Don said.. if it's Perrin it's got to be designed well..

I always liked the spanish extension RAD type design =).

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EM@IL: sniperboy01@hotmail.com

URBAN.LEGENDS.(BalisongGARBAGE)
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If you play with love you will be heartbroken; if you play with knives you will [bleed]
 
I honestly cannot remember if it was twice or thrice that I saw Mr. Perrin last June with a Bali in his hand, I know there was one time where I think everyone was present that I described before...and it was a neat moment.

Of course, hey, I could post a pic of SnipahBoy in his glory with a Bali in each hand...did not have the camera with me at the time to get a pic of Mr. Perrin or Clay.

I have a pic of Snipah and Chuck together too I think, good folks...really good folks.

Bladeshows like that are really special...



------------------
"You are no more armed because you are wearing a pistol than you are a musician because you own a guitar." ~Jeff Cooper
And the same goes for a knife...
And, I'm a Usual Suspect.
Some of my Knives and other neat things
 
First, Eric, that's a great balisong.

This all goes back to the point of style. I've met quite a number of good balisong artists and love to observe stylistic differences. Mr. Perin's style is very smooth and almost casual.

I'm looking forward to Bladeshow coming up in just a few weeks.


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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com
 
Where/who makes a Balisong with a 3" blade?

I would like to obtain one of these as soon as possible.

Are there manufacturers, or does it have to be custom, and if so, who makes them.

I don't want the double edge though.

TIA,


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Lundo
 
Hi Eric,
That is a most beautiful knife. Certainly the one that has caught my attention the most. How can a person acquire such a piece?
What interests me most is that it has a recurved bottom edge which looks wicked. The tang is also most unusual. It certainly would have to be made with the utmost precision given all the dimensional qualities that it has.

 
Thanks for all of the kind words, guys.
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balut, the Perrin balis are very difficult to acquire. Occassionally a private collector will release one for sale from his collection. It's pretty much a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

Here's a few more pics that I took today of my Perrin Bali along with my Perrin Buffalo Horn Bowie Griffe. The color-tones change dramatically due to the sun playing hide and seek while I was taking these pics outside.

PerrinPairOpenGriffeFront.jpg


PerrinPairOpen.jpg


PerrinPair.jpg


Chuck, I tried to respond to your e-mail offer to photograph my Perrin Bali, but my e-mail got bounced back twice. This was perhaps a month or so ago. Soon I will be sending it off to Mike Sastre so that he can make a nice Carbon Fiber pattern Concealex inside the waistband sheath for it, but once I get it back I'd very much like for you to photograph the Bali, along witht the Sastre sheath, if the offer still stands.
smile.gif


Best regards,
Eric
 
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