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NTD: Nabalis Wing

i was supposed to get the false edge but nabalis fucked up my order

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Balisong Slow-mos: Jin Knuckleduster

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morning kraken flips

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Balisong Slow-mos: Chadder

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Balisong Slow-mos: Fan Closing Idea

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Balisong Slow-mos: Giraffe to Reverse Thumb Chaplin

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A thing or two about using a balisong (for the writeblr girlies)

(obvious trigger/content warning for knives)

- Balisongs come from the Philippines, in case you wanna give a Filipino/a character a weapon to use

- Well-made balisongs that last don't rattle whenever they're closed given they're properly tuned, unless the balisong in question is old

- Part of maintaining a balisong involves keeping the pivot area oiled, checking the tune, and retuning it if necessary (let me know if you wanna see what that looks like in detail)

- A balisong has two handles: the bite handle, which faces the cutting edge, and the safe handle, which doesn't

- A character who knows how to open and use one will be able to tell which handle is which with a quick glance and can keep track of that while doing tricks

- They'll also have an understanding of how a balisong will act when opening it or doing tricks, and if they're advanced enough, can pick out how the knife is balanced and how well it suits them based on that alone

- Injuries from messing up tricks usually aren't bad if the character handling it knows what they're doing, although they can happen pretty frequently if the character full sends every trick they do

- The openings you see people do in movies and whatnot tend to be among the most basic tricks, so I put together a clip of some more involved tricks to refer to

Didn't wanna infodump too much because it scares the hoes. Hope this helps or gives you some inspo, and happy writing!

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rev thumb chaplin idea

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late night kraken flips

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Balisong Slow-mos: Reverse Helix

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We need to talk about Benchmade.

Ah, Benchmade. The reason why balisongs are called buttefly knives by the general public, and an absolute juggernaut in the larger knife community. There's a reason people swear by Benchmade and their other stuff, but more specifically, I want to talk about the new balisong they've supposedly been cooking up that is insanely worrying at best and a slap in the face to the community at worst.

Before we get into the knife in question, let's take a trip down memory lane with Benchmade's past balisongs. First up, we have the Model 42 and its siblings:

MSRP of around $200 USD, washers only, and you had a choice of either steel or titanium handles, but back then it was all that you could get your hands on that wouldn't fall apart in a matter of weeks. They're what some of the first flippers ever had their hands on, up until its discontinuation, and I stand to say that it is the most iconic balisong of all time. It's in all the movies, it's one of the first knives that pop up when you search balisongs on Google—hell, some people now are asserting that its flipping still stacks up to what's on the market today. But it and its siblings did not last forever, and it was discontinued in the early 2010s, replaced by the Model 51:

~$280 USD MSRP, and still only on washers, but this time it was on titanium liners and G10 scales. People didn't like the 51 as much as the 42, but again, options were very limited (your only other real choice was a Bradley Kimura), and with the handles not being one solid piece of material, it soon became a bit of a modding platform alongside the BRS Replicant when that came along. But yet again, things don't last forever, and the 51 saw its discontinuation a few years back.

Benchmade was always a company that didn't seem to care much for the flipping community, considering the last balisongs they used to offer, the 8x series, are 5.5 oz bearing knives that retailed for $500+ USD. But around 4 months ago, a page from their 2024 catalogue got leaked to the balisong subreddit about a new balisong they're trying to cook up, which is the subject of today's rant:

Meet the Necron, a liners + G10 knife with an adjustable balance, options for handle extensions, and a weight that wasn't totally unbearable. While some people didn't like its resemblance to the Replicant, it seemed like Benchmade was finally paying attention to the flipping community with the fact that they geared the knife towards flipping. Even if the base live blade was marked at $450 USD, it was about par for the course considering Benchmade's prices on all of their current products.

Then Blade HQ released a video about Benchmade's 2024 catalogue along with preorder listings. Included was the Necron, and when the knife's full specs were revealed, I witnessed an entire community go "what the fuck" in real time.

Before I reveal the Necron's full specs, there's something I want you to understand. The community's bar for Benchmade has been six feet underground ever since the release of the 8x series with how overpriced it was. Considering their importance in the early days of the hobby, a good chunk of older flippers I've talked to would be perfectly content with a rerelease of the 4x series or even the 51—Cold Steel is doing this with an aluminum version of the Arc Angel, and some people are at least mildly interested in it. But Benchmade seems to be allergic to that, and in recent years with them jacking up prices all across the board, opinions surrounding them have soured.

Anyway, here are the Necron's full specs:

Did you notice that the liners are steel? Did you notice that it's only on washers?

In its price bracket alone, you have things like the SlifT and Serif-P from Machinewise, the Tsunami Trainer from Squid Industries, the Cygnus from LDY, the Specter, Chimera, and Basilisk-R from Jerry Hom—all of these knives are just one step below the absolute best of the best of production balisongs, and all of these have bushings, at least use titanium in the handles, and are built with the utmost care and attention to detail (except for maybe the Tsunami, but that's a rant for another time).

The Necron is none of those. Instead, it is a knife that would have been outdated 5 years ago, lacks features that 85 dollar knives have, and is only going to be bought by braindead shills who care about the brand of the knife and nothing else. The Replicant outclasses it in every way, and for the price of the Necron you could build a custom one entierly from aftermarket parts. Even within Benchmade's past knives, both the 42 and the 51 used titanium in some capacity, and both of those knives were considerably cheaper than what the Necron is gonna retail for. At least Ben Parli's gonna get some more customers...

In the Blade HQ video I mentioned earlier, the Benchmade representative touted on about how they're tracing back to their roots with what they call a "modern knife" that'll be good for flipping. But with the sheer cognitive dissonance between what they say about it and what's what the truth of it is, the community at large can't help but feel that they're completely out of touch and only want to line their pockets with more money. If this is the way Behcnmade goes out making balisongs, then so be it. It's not like Benchmade cares anymore anyway.

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Knives pictured, from left to right: - Benchmade 42S (T-latch) - Benchmade 44S (T-latch) - Benchmade 44 (T-latch) - Benchmade 51 - Bradley Mayhem - Bradley Kimura i'm very autistic

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unwinding after exams

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BALISONG SPOTLIGHT: EPS KNIVES 101

I will admit, I've had one hell of a time with the 101. So, for a bit of a backstory, I got my first 101, a V1, in a trade last November. While I was admittedly terrified of it due to it being my first proper live blade, I couldn't get enough of it, and I ended up liking it so much that a few weeks ago, I went and bought a V2 directly from EPS themselves. Despite my personal V2 absolutely maiming my thumb when I first got it, I haven't been able to put it down, and much to the dismay of my wallet, I'm seriously considering buying the titanium version EPS is cooking when it comes out. TL;DR:

The Good: Spot on quality control, and a consistent flipping experience similar to a Kraken, but different enough to warrant owning both.

The Bad: Chaplins are slightly uncomfortable. V1s are slippery and lack handle jimping, and not everyone will like the V2's handle finish.

GENERAL INFO

Meant to be EPS's entry level knife, the 101 sits with other mid-range balisongs in terms of price, with both versions' live blades sitting at $245 USD, the V1 trainers sitting at $170 USD, and the V2 trainers sitting at $175 USD. At the time of writing this, both the V1 and the V2 can be purchased directly from EPS's website.

The unboxing experience of the 101 is a bit more elaborate than similarly priced knives. When you get it, the box is kept closed magnetically, and the knife is tightly nestled in a foam cutout that's a perfect fit for it. The knife doesn't come with spare hardware, but with how good the tune was out of the box, there's not much of a reason to take it apart in the first place, so while it sucks it ultimately shouldn't matter that much (if, for whatever reason, you need spare hardware, it's best to ask EPS what the hardware dimensions are).

Since this is a live blade, it'd be good to talk about the blade itself. For the blade steel on the 101, EPS uses D2, which is is a tried and true steel that's seen use in knives since the 1940s and can hold an edge well (although sharpening it can be a pain). The edge itself is so sharp it's almost frightening, and I had to learn this the hard way when it sliced through an artery and a few nerve endings in my thumb (i'm okay i swear). The only real downside of D2 is that it's more prone to rusting than other steels, but this can be mitigated by keeping a thin coat of oil on the blade at all times—it also isn't much of a concern if you don't live in a humid area like me, but do pay attention to the blade.

EPS markets this knife as a no-frills knife that a flipper can start and grow on, and it shows quite a bit in its design and construction, sporting a classic weehawk blade and simple channel construction handles with a faux-hole pattern and jimping if you buy a V2. It uses a bushing pivot system allowing for minimal handle play and the handles are made of 7075 aluminum, with the finish on them being a stonewash on the V1 and a heavy bead-blast on the V2 (more on this later). The tunes on both of my 101s have been spot on and are the best tuned knives I currently own, with perfect handle swing, no tap, and as close to zero handle play as you could ask for.

FLIPPING

With the 101 being a ~$250 USD channel aluminum live blade, it's obvious what it's competing with: the Squid Industries Krake Raken, which has been the community's gold standard for flipping since its debut in 2019. The question most will ask is: Does it compete with the Kraken?

If you ask me, I'd say yes.

Both knives have an ever so slight handle bias and even weight distribution, but the 101 has some small differences that make it different enough from a Kraken to warrant owning both:

If you put a 101 and Kraken side-by-side, you might notice that their overall length is about the same, but the 101 goes for shorter and thinner handles in exchange for a longer blade. This extra blade weight makes the knife as a whole feel more "neutral" than on a Kraken (I hesitate to call it this because neutral is a very subjective term in this hobby), and it makes fanning unusually good for a weehawk blade.

The 101 is also lighter (~3.8 oz as opposed to the Kraken's ~4.3 oz), and its aforementioned balance makes for a very consistent flipping experience. It carries momentum well, has no problem with ricochets thanks to the weight, and despite the short, more rectangular handles, it doesn't have a problem with more technical tricks. As far as the flipping experience itself goes, my only criticism goes to the zen pin cups on the blade, which makes chaplins a bit uncomfortable, but it is something you can get used to.

If you get a V1, the stonewashed finish is soft to the touch and feels nice in the hand, but it suffers from the same general pitfall that aluminum has in the context of flipping, which is that it's unbearably slippery if your hands are sweaty or dry. The lack of anything to help with grip outside of the faux-hole pattern makes this all the more apparent, and the absence of jimping is noticeable during ladders, especially with its rectangular shaped handles.

As for the V2, it's a similarly mixed bag. Two things were changed from the V1 to the V2, those changes being the addition of jimping and a different handle finish to help with grip. The former is an objective upgrade, but I want to focus on the latter because of how polarizing I know it'll be. I mentioned before that the V2 uses a very heavy bead-blast finish, and it is the most matte finish I have ever seen on any type of metal. It does help with grip (especially if you naturally have sweaty palms like I do), but it looks and feels like a chalkboard, and at this price point, a good chunk of flippers would rather throw themselves off of a cliff than touch that. I don't mean to knock those who like it, but I do want to warn you that if you dislike matte textures, the V2 is not for you.

As much as I love it, this is easily my biggest critique I have to give the 101. If I were to give feedback for EPS, it would be to offer different handle finishes for the V2 for the people that don't want a bead blast (if you ask me, a more subtle satin option would be nice); even though the more aggressive bead blast was done to improve grip, how it feels in the hand can change a person's opinion of it very quickly (one flipper told me it outright ruined the experience of the knife for him). Someone who wants to buy the knife shouldn't have to choose between not having jimping and going with a handle finish they dislike.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

I''m sorry if it seems like I've been waffling and giving this knife shit, because it really is one of my favorite balisongs at the moment. I personally like the finish on the V2, but as I said before, the finish is simply not for everyone. If EPS offered more handle finish options (kinda like how Krakens can be bought in either satin or matte finishes), this would be a much easier recommendation for me to make, but for now at least, if you like matte handle finishes or if you're fine without the jimping, this knife is something I think you'll like a lot.

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giraffe slop

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Balisong Slow-mos: Z-Choker + Reverse Infinity Ladder + Reverse Shortstop

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Balisong Slow-mos: Reverse Z-Choker