Thoughts on Quartermaster QBS-1 "Marty McFly"?

Charr

Charr

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So this came in my email today...and I don't know how I feel about it. A changeable blade in a balisong seems like a bad idea to me, but maybe this could be a good idea if it comes out the right way. What do you guys think?

I assume they intend to make a drop-point blade or at least some other blade shapes instead of just the tanto considering how they have this set up.

From Quartermaster's website:

"You may remember that 2015 was the future year that "Marty McFly" traveled to in that familiar 80's trilogy. To celebrate, many of our models this year will bear character names from those films. As we've stated before, were a knife company that has been built by & for gun-guys. As such, it's one of our main priorities that we keep your trigger fingers unscathed! This is part of the reason we've developed the patented BladEXChange feature. The user may, with little more than the push of two buttons, effortlessly exchange a training blade for a live blade or one blade shape for another.

QTRMSTR provides you with everything you need to begin. The full knife as you see in the photos above, as well as a raw trainer blade. We've even gone so far as to keep the training blade heavy, so that you can start your training at a comfortable pace."

Specs from them:

BLADE LENGTH: 4.000" 10.16cm
BLADE THICKNESS: .1875" 4.762mm
HANDLE THICKNESS: .500" 12.7mm
BLADE MATERIAL: D2
BLADE HARDNESS: 61-62
BLADE STYLE: Compound Tanto
WEIGHT: 6.5 Ounces
CARRY TYPE: Pocket Clip
LOCKING MECHANISM: Titanium Latch
PIVOT ASSEMBLY: Patented BladExchange
OVERALL LENGTH: 9.500" 24.13cm
MANUFACTURED: 100% Made In Texas, USA

QAQBS1.jpg
 
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If the live blade can be switched out and still be secure enough to flip I think it's absolutely brilliant.
 
BenLong1018 said:
If the live blade can be switched out and still be secure enough to flip I think it's absolutely brilliant.
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Yeah I think it would be great if it worked.

And they seem to include the trainer blade with it when you purchase one, so it's possible this could be a great starting bali for people who want to get into them.
I really want to know what the action is like on them though. I haven't been able to find anyone who has a review on it anywhere yet though. Not sure if maybe this has been only a soft release or if maybe they aren't really that popular yet.
 
This is a good idea, and the balisong looks really cool. But, I dont know if I would trust a company with their track record, on such a innovative design.

Dont think ill ever cave and support Jared West's expadentures. If these balisongs hold up to the test of time though, I think Mr. West has struck gold.
 
By the description you posted, it doesn't say what handle material it uses, is it titanium? While it's a good idea, I think it'd be a better idea to just enclose the correct torx wrench to do a normal blade swap. I don't know if I would trust the quick swap feature to hold up, especially made by Jared.
 
Count me intrigued...

I'll definitely be keeping my eyes and ears out for more details, info and experience. As long as it's not an ultra limited piece, I may find myself getting one.
 
I think it is the dumbest idea to ever come out in the balisong market. The design to me is terribly flawed. All it is are the handles each have a plunge lock from a modern auto for the pivot. No bearings or washers and the pivot if you want to call it that only contacts half the width of the blade tang. And with no washers, bushings or bearings the blade will rub the handles. The pivot is the weakest link of any knife and you dont go making it weaker just for easy blade swaps. I would rather buy two dedicated knives that are built properly. Not to mention the design itself is very anti flipper. So the need for a trainer blade is trivial.
 
Charr said:
Yeah I think it would be great if it worked.

And they seem to include the trainer blade with it when you purchase one, so it's possible this could be a great starting bali for people who want to get into them.
I really want to know what the action is like on them though. I haven't been able to find anyone who has a review on it anywhere yet though. Not sure if maybe this has been only a soft release or if maybe they aren't really that popular yet.
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It would be a great starter if it wasn't close to $300.
 
egally08 said:
By the description you posted, it doesn't say what handle material it uses, is it titanium? While it's a good idea, I think it'd be a better idea to just enclose the correct torx wrench to do a normal blade swap. I don't know if I would trust the quick swap feature to hold up, especially made by Jared.
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The handles are Titanium with a blasted finish from everything I've seen. But I do agree somewhat. This would be a good convenience thing, and a really cool gimick, but with the right tools its not like most people couldn't do it themselves too.

I really do want to see how the pivot assemble holds up to being built like this.

BenLong1018 said:
It would be a great starter if it wasn't close to $300.
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True, but honestly so are pretty much all really good balanced balis right now. My first onewas a BM 62 that I got for $230. Not the very first bali I ever owned, but the first onethat really taught me to flip and do it well.
 
Id have to literally travel to their super secret hyper secure facility to actually watch the knives being made and assembled for me to believe that these are made in the USA.
 
It's Quartermaster, what do you expect. Function? No way!

Loser company that I hope goes down in flames sooner than later. And I hope Jared is paying Spielberg for the rights to use the name, as he steels a lot of names from the 80s and thinks he's so coooool. :barf:
 
BladeHQ has a short vid showing a blade swap. Interesting idea. I don't know enough about balisongs to comment on potential functionality or lack thereof, so I'll leave it at that.

[video=youtube;O7TetB3vWXU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7TetB3vWXU[/video]
 
I'm glad to see a TI handled bali and I love the idea of a company not trying to rip you off by charging full price for a trainer. That drives me nuts. The 62 is a nice knife no doubt but it's two solid steps back for one huge increase in price. No spring latch, SS handles? WTF benchmade? I would really would like to know what the flipping mechanics on this guy are like.
 
Going by the design it seems the plunge buttons shouldn't get in the way of flipping. Also if there was a plunge failure of some sort the blade shouldn't come off due to the shape of the release channels. Only problem I see is that it lacks washers/bearings and shouldn't wear too well with flipping fun...

Say what you will about Quartermaster but this is a very interesting design for a balisong. Can't wait to see some non-biased reviews of it.
 
A knife company made for gun guys? I'm so confused. I guess there aren't any knife guys working at QM. Still not as funny as when J west called a sub frame lock a "subliminal frame lock" tho. Lol.

Oh yeah, and wouldn't you want your trainer blade to have the same weight and balance as the real blade?
 
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I really just want to see what the consensus is on flipability. If it flips well and is balanced properly I'd be willing to give it a try. There aren't too many TI handle balisongs out there anymore and I miss that perfect combo.
 
The other thing is I've heard favorable things about quartermaster's customer service. So I imagine that if it doesn't hold up they'll fix or replace it
 
Actually now there's a youtube vid up of a guy flipping and it looks pretty decent. It's unfortunate that he doesn't talk about it at all but I'm sure there will be some vids soon
 
The knife may be better than shirt pockets but why do Dealers ignore the tiny little fact that they are made in CHINA, like an Elephant in the bathroom ? :confused:
 
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