Balisong/butterfly trainer recommendations?

gac · #1

Any recommendations for trainers? The knives are illegal to carry in Wisconsin but I'd like to learn how to flip those things around. Cheap ones are listed online for $15 but I don't want one that will fall apart after 20 minutes of use.

defenestrate · #2

what i've done in the past-

1. buy a cheapie
2. dull the blade so it won't kill you (you can always resharpen)
3. when you drop it and a cheap pin breaks, replace it with a nail. nails are tougher and they will slowly wear out the soft handles but probably not the blade.

That's my experience. your milage may vary.

stoneman · #3

defenestrate wrote:what i've done in the past-

1. buy a cheapie
2. dull the blade so it won't kill you (you can always resharpen)
3. when you drop it and a cheap pin breaks, replace it with a nail. nails are tougher and they will slowly wear out the soft handles but probably not the blade.

That's my experience. your milage may vary.

good advice, better to spend a little and use it til it breaks than to drop 200 bucks and find out you'll never use the thing. my first one was around 20 bucks, you really appreciate a quality balisong after you've used a cheap one for a while

defenestrate · #4

stoneman,
I concur!

Knife Crazied · #5

The smallfly trainer is excellent

Tecun · #6

I would go with stoneman--go with a cheap butterfly trainer. I would go with pin construction not screws. They last longer. Then, when you get good, get the real deal--get a spyderco.

dialex · #7

I advise using merely a real balisong than a trainer, the reason being that with a trainer you are tempted to be less careful and do dangerous things you will repeat later with the live blade.
With the real balisong, the advantage is that you already are familiarized with the touch, balance and weight, not to mention you have the knife you like. As a safety measure, you can put one or two layers of scotch tape on the edge - it should be enough.

jamaljj · #8

defenestrate wrote:what i've done in the past-

1. buy a cheapie
2. dull the blade so it won't kill you (you can always resharpen)
3. when you drop it and a cheap pin breaks, replace it with a nail. nails are tougher and they will slowly wear out the soft handles but probably not the blade.

That's my experience. your milage may vary.

You can also use loctite to keep it from falling apart. Some super cheap balisongs, like flea market ones, are made of cheap metals that'll break if you drop your balisong

spyderedge · #9

I use a $11 ccc, latch broke, had to replase the pivot screws, etc
Now, it flips fine. But it still feels like a cheapie. Get a kimura by Bradley. Tape the blade...

FroOchie · #10

I have the cheapy Ronin one which was like 20 bucks. I like it and have been flipping it around for about 2 months. It takes a licking but I have no idea how it will translate to a real one. I think when it's time to pull that trigger I'll still put tape on the blade or dull it so I know the real knife in particular but will have some kind of motion to work with.