There are many factors to consider when choosing a butterfly knife. Price, quality, materials, manufacturing company, style, design, features, and action on your butterfly knife are just a few of the factors you should consider. If you are just getting started, it may be that you want to choose a butterfly knife in the under $50.00 price range. If you are an experienced butterfly knife user or you just want to have the best, you should look at the butterfly knives in the upper price ranges.
Next, you should consider what materials have been used to make the butterfly knife you are looking at. As part of this process, you should understand that the higher priced butterfly knives will generally have better materials that are more durable and tougher all around. If you are looking for a butterfly knife that uses the highest quality materials around, you probably will look for a Spyderco, a Benchmade, or even a Bradley. These companies use top quality materials and the workmanship on these production butterfly knives is top notch.
You may also consider the design and look of your butterfly knife. Many of the high end butterfly knives are made with hex screws so you can adjust the tightness, or the action, of the blade. This is a great feature. Bear & Sons, a fantastic mid-level butterfly knife manufacturer, uses only pin construction. These butterfly knives require less maintenance but are also less adjustable.
Finally, you should get a butterfly knife that has a look you like. We offer a wide variety of butterfly knives here at BladeOps. We sift through the huge variety of different brands, makes, and styles to bring you the best of every level butterfly knife on the market.
MANUFACTURERSThere are many different companies that manufacture butterfly knives. Some of these include Spyderco. Benchmade. Bear & Sons. Bradley, and many others. There are several things to look for in a manufacturing company when you are getting ready to purchase a butterfly knife.
The first thing to consider is where the company is located. Most of the companies that manufacture higher end butterfly knives are located in the US and have all of their production done here. For instance, Spyderco knives makes a few really good butterfly knives. They are located in Golden, CO. Some of their great butterfly knives include the SpyderFly, the SmallFly, the SmallFly Trainer, and the SzaboFly. Each one of these spectacular knives are made of high quality materials in a first class manufacturing facility.
That leads us to the second thing to consider. What materials and what manufacturing process does the company use. Spyderco, Benchmade, and Bradley all use top notch materials and an impressive process to assemble them. Bear & Sons also manufactures in the US but doesn't use quite as expensive materials in their knives. This means a couple of things. It means the knives they make are not as expensive. Which can be a really good thing. It also means they may not be quite as high of quality. Some of the differences include the style of knife. Bear & Sons butterfly knives are pin construction. This means they don't have to be tightened and maintained as much. It also means you don't quite have as much control over the tightness of the play in your butterfly knife. There are good and bad to each style.
Finally, when purchasing a butterfly knife, it is a good thing to look at what type of warranty the manufacturer offers. Some offer lifetime. Others offer a much more limited type of warranty or no warranty at all. Typically, the higher end butterfly knives have better and more inclusive warrantys and many of the entry level butterfly knives have no warranty at all.
Butterfly Knives have been around for quite some time. Sometimes referred to as a balisong, the very first recorded instance of a butterfly knife is in the 1710 French book, "Le Perret". In this book, there is an excellent description of a butterfly knife. The description claims that butterfly knives were developed in the late 1500's as utility knives. The belief is that from there it came into popular use in the Philippines from Spain (Spain governed the Philippines at this time). There are some who reject this history and claim that the balisong was used by the Filipino's back in 800 AD. They believe that it is the oldest weapon used in the Filipino fighting style, Eskrima. The balisong became very popular in the United States during WWII. Many of the soldiers who fought in the Pacific were introduced to the butterfly knife and brought them home as souvenirs. At this time, most of the butterfly knives were made by hand. Many of them had non-symmetrical steel blades with the blade formed right up to the handle. Regardless of where butterfly knives actually originated, there popularity continues to grow here in the United States. They are extremely versatile knives that can be carried safely in your pocket because of the way the handles close right over the blade.
HOW TO CARE FOR A BUTTERFLY KNIFETaking care of a butterfly knife is relatively similar to taking care of any other knife. Like all knives, caution should be exercised whenever working on or working with a butterfly knife. There are two main types of maintenance you will want to do with your butterfly knife. The first is preventative maintenance. The second is sharpening and long term care.
Preventative maintenance is easy to perform and yet vital to maintaining a safe and functional butterfly knife. Each time you begin to practice with your butterfly knife, you should check the pins or screws that hold the blade to the handles. You should make sure the pins aren't cracked in any way or becoming excessively loose. If you have a hex screw (or any type of screw) construction butterfly knife, you should inspect the screws to make sure they aren't loose. Over time, any type of screw construction butterfly knife will become loose. Make sure to tighten these screws down from time to time. If you prefer, you can put a little loc-tite in the screws to keep them from loosening as often. It is still critical to check them occasionally to make sure the loc-tite hasn't broken down for some reason or other. Next, you should also check the blade to make sure it is sharp. If it isn't, sharpen your blade. Finally, you should check the handles and all other parts for any cracks or bends. If your butterfly knife develops any cracks or is bent, you should quit using it immediately until you can get it fixed or replaced. A butterfly knife isn't a toy and could really hurt you if you don't maintain it properly. Check your butterfly knife every time you use it and it will last for a long time--and more importantly, you will be much safer.
If you need to do any long term care (I term this anything that requires you to take apart your butterfly knife) on your balisong, then do it with care. Take each part off and set it to one side. As you do so, check each part and all the screws for any cracks or excessive wear and tear. If you are taking your knife apart to sharpen the blade, then sharpen the blade as you would any other knife. Then put it all back together. If you are going to replace a part on your butterfly knife, make sure the new part is the correct replacement part.
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