I've had my Szabofly around a week and it was time to post MY thoughts on this Bali --- to each their own.
It was designed by Laci Szabo , who makes/designes some of the most wicked fighting blades on the planet. He was in the French SFs and is a well known Martial Artist as well.
While the Szabofly is at first look , kinda goofy looking , it is a TRUE Fighting Bali.
In pic 1 --- you will see a large "hump" on the tang , with the bali closed , this protrusion is very usefull for "prying" or impacting bone or close to the surface nerves etc.
In pic 2 , you can see it is a very slim bali compared to a BM -- this makes it easy to carry in your pocket and keeps the weight down which makes it fast in the hand.
In pic 3 , you see how it looks in the "foil or sabre" grip --- Mr. Szabo has made the grip shape where it really "locks" into your hand while gripped this way. IMHO , when held like this -- it would be VERY hard to have the knife dislodged and almost impossable for your hand to slide down onto the blade during a hard thrust or slash.
In pic 4 , you can see the knife held in the "dagger/ice pick" grip -- it is as secure and comfortable as almost any knife I've ever used in Pikal/ Arnis / Eskrima and again , with a hard slash or power thrust -- your hand will stay on the grip and should not slip off.
In pic 5 , you can see the usefullness of the "goofy" large curve on the back of the blade --- in the pic , I am "trapping" the arm and you can see that a quick thrust to the chest would follow next. The "curve" is also usefull for a "pass" where you redirect a incomeing arm/hand or weapon.
By now , you should be able to tell --- I LIKE THIS BALI as a pure fighter It is thin , fast , balanced , great point , sharp as **** and usefull closed as well.
What don't I like about it ?? Well , AT FIRST -- it feels "assbackwards" as far as how you hold it to open --- it DOES NOT lock with the latch when opened -- and it is a bit harder to do a "dagger drop" {my #1 fast deployment method } .
As some may know -- I've carried a Bali for EDC for over 20 years , BUT in reality , I DON'T consider myself as a "flipper" like Loosey , Zoid , and some of these other Young Guns.
BUT , I DO KNOW a good FIGHTING bali when I see/handle one and this is A FIGHTER !! Do a search on youtube , you will see some IMPRESSIVE demos of the Szabofly being "flipped".
In closeing --- this bali is a KEEPER !!!!
