Your Assistance - Balisong Tanto Prototype by Kuzan Oda

Mike Grasso

Mike Grasso

Joined
Jul 18, 2000
Messages
38
Can one of you assist me in this...
About 18 years ago I rec'd this knife from Les D'Asis when Pacific Cutlery was in the San Fernando Valley. It was a prototype of a Balisong Tanto that was never made. It has a beautiful blade and a cast aluminum grip which was to be molded in production later. How much is it worth, who would be interested? The blade is perfect, the handle has lost some of the black paint over the years in the safe. I have both sheaths.

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The Kuzan Oda tanto was made by Pacific Cutlery Company and Les De Asis. The production knife did have a molded rubber-like handle. The blade also differed in that it did not have the swedge ground on the spine, near the tip. The hamon, or temper line, was bead blasted onto the steel after it was polished. The aluminum handle and blade grind on your knife does set it apart from the other production knives. Your knife is an interesting piece, considering the provenance, and should be collectible to someone interested in the company history or fixed blade knives.
 
If it was mine I'd try calling Travis at Benchmade and trying to trade for a few Proto-Type Model 31's :cool: !

In seriousness Mike..., I'm sure you'll get some good feedback on here, but if I had it I'd call Benchmade and see what they think it might be worth. Anyone ever seen that particular piece?? I haven't??


"Hunters seek what they [WANT].., Seekers hunt what they [NEED]"
 
You wrote all that while I was posting Dudley!! :eek:

Yeah...I do remember the one Dawkind described Mike..., but have never seen anything exactly like that..., as Dudley mentioned.., I'm sure it will have significant value to some PCC Historian/Collector.

Good Luck!


"Hunters seek what they [WANT].., Seekers hunt what they [NEED]"
 
Not to mention that more than likely, it's a original Kuzon Oda. Most prototypes were typically made by the makers in those days. I suspect that's a true hamon so it's a good chance that the blade was forged. Finally, there were 2 Kuzon Oda models produced by PCC. Can't recall the details though.
 
Mr. Grasso,

The tang stamp reads Bali-Song, that's for sure. Pacific Cutlery and Benchmade used the Bali-Song trademark on all of their knives (Benchmade changed just recently). The same trademark was originally used by Bali-Song Cutlery. So, you can see the Bali-Song trademark on many knives which are not balisongs (notice, please the hyphen). Balisong is a generic name for a folding knife with two handles that counter-rotate around the tang. Bali-Song is a registered trademark owned by Les DeAsis and used by Bali-Song Cutlery, Pacific Cutlery, and Benchmade.

Now, this knife is a little out of my area, but I actually get a lot of e-mails about knives like these since they have the Bali-Song name on them and people assume that I know about everything Bali-Song, which is far, far from true. What I can tell you is that you've got a great piece there and that it's worth quite a bit.

You might try asking Bernard Levine, author of Levine's Guide to Knives and Their Values. "Now where," you might ask, "would I meet such a respected authority and ask him a question?" The answer is right here on bladeforums.com. Mr. Levine holds court in his own forum. Just look for it in the main menu.

If you're interested in selling it, I'd suggest Northwest Knives and Collectibles in Salem, Oregon as they have quite a good knowledge of such knives.
 
Pacific released 2 versions of the Kuzan Oda Tanto.
One was a deluxe version with a polished blade and cast aluminum handle, the other was a hard kraton handle with matte blade if I recall.

They were/are nice knives.
The usually go for about 100 bucks on Ebay.

They were part of an ill-fated marketing plan that included the bali's, some Jody Samson hunters and boot knives, The Timba, the fer-de-lance, the Barry Wood folder, and a lot of Mike Stewart's BS.

This is a neat bit of custlery history, and a knife that I always thought was a "sleeper"

The "Hamon" was done with a bead blaster.
 
Yes. But even on the High End Production Kuzan Oda, the swedge was not there. If this one is a true prototype, then chances are it would be a Kuzan Oda original. As for the tnag stamp, it was common practise for PCC to stamp their prototypes that way.

As an aside, the Fer-De-Lance and the Timba were some of the better production fighting knives around. At least they were among the first to go with the recurve blade. This model failed, pimarily because at its price point, $125 - $150 retail, it couldn't outdo the perception of Cold Steel's toughness at the time.

Bernard Levine and Northwest are definitely very good people to go to for an estimate. Good luck.
 
The 2 grades of these were marketed as Presentation and Combat grade.
The Presentation was made with a ribbed black rubber handle, with an oblong polished tsuba. The blade has a polished finish, and the top of the blade is v shaped, not exaclty a swedge, but differs from the Combat grade's flat style.
The Combat grade has the aluminum handle, and a beadblasted blade. I have one that has a polished blade as well, but I don't know if it came that way, or was done by the person I purchased them from.
The reverse of the blade is stamped:
Pacific Cutlery Corp.
North Hollywood, CA
JAPAN
 
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