[MatthewVanitas]

Here's a blogger's writeup and video, most slick!

http://michaelbane.blogspot.com/2007/01/little-something-for-you-knife-freaks.html

[tellner]

Eh. It's cute, but I still say the balisong has been superseded by a number of other things including the thumb hole/stud tactical folder.

[JTW Jr.]

I wouldnt say the bali has been superceded , any more than any other knife has superceded anything else. Each has their place , I just wish they were legal to carry in Vegas , cause they sure are a blast to flip ( though I aint too good at it ).

[Soap]

Very interesting! I'd love to flip one.

And the bali hasn't been superceded by the one hand "tactical" knife at all. It is nowhere near as fumble-prone as inexperienced or non-users would have you believe. Plus, the way it locks is far stronger than any liner, frame, or lockback.

[hso]

Brilliant!

[Euclidean]

Plus, the way it locks is far stronger than any liner, frame, or lockback.

Not so much because we can only regard the lock as being as strong as the user's hand. I will pit the lock of something like my Manix against the human hand any day of the week in a stress test.

It's unfortunate that so many groundless laws and negative perceptions exist against the balisong though, most people are not interested in something which is either illegal or perceived by most street cops as being illegal. I think it cuts us off from innovations.

[Mandirigma]

Seems interesting. I'd sure like to find somewhere to handle one before I bought it though. Inner and outer handles, wonder how opening it with a gravity flip would work.

[tellner]

Daniel, I am not an "inexperienced" or "non-user". I carried a balisong for upwards of ten years, before they were trendy and before everyone and his brother was doing Eskrima. They really aren't as good as the modern tactical folders. The standard way of opening a balisong includes four major movements of the hand including two where you compromise your grip on the item. All the others are similar. All require more precision and the use of more body parts than the thumb-only "push and revolve" of a modern folder.

Balisongs aren't any faster to open. The shape of the blade is severely constrained. The main selling points are an exotic bad-boy image and that they are fun to flip around.

[MatthewVanitas]

The main selling points are an exotic bad-boy image and that they are fun to flip around.

I'm mainly interested because I always wanted to learn how to juggle, or do yo-yo tricks, and this seems to be the "adult" version of those.

Got a Spyderfly for now, looking forward to the release of the Trainer version, and the 3" Smallfly. Believe the latter was also shown at SHOT.

-MV

[Sharpdogs]

I agree it's a must have. I can't wait for them to come out on the market.

[RyanM]

Very, very interesting. I need one now.

[Soap]

Not so much because we can only regard the lock as being as strong as the user's hand. I will pit the lock of something like my Manix against the human hand any day of the week in a stress test.

Can you name one situation where you would do anything with a knife without gripping it? Even the Walter Mitty fantasy of driving your knife into the side of a cliff to stop a fall requires you to actually grip the knife.

If you're talking about stress tests, many of those are done outside of the bounds of human grip anyway, that's why they use things like bench vises. So in that case, to be fair, you'd have to fasten the bali's grips shut. And I guarantee that if you did that, even a fine folder like a Manix would give in before something like a BM-42.

[Soap]

Daniel, I am not an "inexperienced" or "non-user". I carried a balisong for upwards of ten years, before they were trendy and before everyone and his brother was doing Eskrima. They really aren't as good as the modern tactical folders. The standard way of opening a balisong includes four major movements of the hand including two where you compromise your grip on the item. All the others are similar. All require more precision and the use of more body parts than the thumb-only "push and revolve" of a modern folder.

Balisongs aren't any faster to open. The shape of the blade is severely constrained. The main selling points are an exotic bad-boy image and that they are fun to flip around.

Did you learn the basic bite handle windmill? That takes two movements: 1- Unlatch. 2- Windmill it. Then its open and ready.

Also, opening any folder requires you to compromise your grip in one way or another. With a standard folder, you have to grip it in a less-than-ideal manner to allow the blade to clear.

[Euclidean]

If you're talking about stress tests, many of those are done outside of the bounds of human grip anyway, that's why they use things like bench vises. So in that case, to be fair, you'd have to fasten the bali's grips shut. And I guarantee that if you did that, even a fine folder like a Manix would give in before something like a BM-42.

I respectfully disagree until I see it done, many production knives such as the aforementioned Manix support a truly enormous amount of weight before they fail. I wish I had saved it, I saw once where a Manix held 1450 pounds before it broke in independent testing. I can't see the BM42 supporting significantly more weight.

Even if say for the sake of argument you are correct, it is much easier to fully engage the lock on a rocker bar lockback, liner lock, compression lock, frame lock etc. Notice I speak to fully engaging the locking mechanism of the knife, not merely opening it. Most people probably couldn't engage the latch one handed, under stress, at speed, etc.

Another factor to consider is that many specimens of balisong are purposefully made to not latch shut in the open position, or may have no latches at all in some cases (removed by the end user as it were, most balisong designs seem to be engineered to facilitate this option). Indeed, I own exactly one balisong purely as a curio (only clearly legal way to own one in Texas) and it does not lock in the open position, only in the closed position.

As one is not likely to engage the latch to lock the handles open under stress, and one is even likely to not even have the option, we must regard the "lock" only as strong as the user's hand.

I agree in any usage we would want to have a firm grip on the knife, however the knife's mechanism locking itself open independent of my effort to sustain it translates to ease of use.

It's not that the balisong does not have its own merits, it's simply that like any other design it has good points and bad, and unfortunately I feel like we have not been treated to very much research or innovation in this arena due to the fact they're so widely prohibited. Sad, really.

[tellner]

Windmill, open to icepick, fan and a bunch of others.

I'm a pessimist when it comes to self defense. The surer grip, less compromise and fewer opening actions for a good folder give them the advantage for me. Of course, a fixed blade knife is even better; it's likely to get you more nonconsensual discussions with Officer Friendly.

[RyanM]

Hand strength is practically irrelevant with a balisong, because of the leverage. Try taking a balisong, and hold it shut with only your thumb and index finger holding it closed, on the sides of the handles (not front to back), somewhere around the middle. Now push on the blade with your other hand, to try and get the handles to open. Not easy, is it? For all intents and purposes, a balisong is indeed stronger than most locking folders.

Anyway, I personally find balis to be slower and more cumbersome to open than an assisted-opening folder, though I'd say for me, they tie with a standard folder with a thumb-hole thing in it instead of a stud. Never was able to get used to those.

[Soap]

It's not that the balisong does not have its own merits, it's simply that like any other design it has good points and bad, and unfortunately I feel like we have not been treated to very much research or innovation in this arena due to the fact they're so widely prohibited. Sad, really.

You have some good points and I think without actually conducting a true scientific test, the jury is still out on which one can support more pressure and weight.

But as I said earlier, a knife is only as strong as the user's hand grip anyway; even a fixed blade is worthless if you can't sustain the pressure to hang onto it.

And yes, it is sad, but luckily for me, they're okay in Indiana :)

[Soap]

I'm a pessimist when it comes to self defense. The surer grip, less compromise and fewer opening actions for a good folder give them the advantage for me. Of course, a fixed blade knife is even better; it's likely to get you more nonconsensual discussions with Officer Friendly.

Practicality is why I frequently carry my Spyderco Perrin Street Beat :)

[roo_ster]

Gotta agree with tellner on this one. Once the thumb-stud/hole-in-blade one-hand-open-capable folder was invented, the butterfly knife was second-best....though I still like the quality of a couple of my butterfly knives.

I have never cut myself..or even worried about cutting myslef, openinging my Beretta Airlight (like the following, but w/o the pocket clip...my preference):