Getting Started with a Butterfly Knife

Jairus Nadab
4 min readMay 15, 2019

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If you are a martial artist or simply a heady teenager, then have you ever tried using a butterfly knife? A Butterfly knife said to be originated from either Philippines or France, is a rotating knife which has a razor-sharp blade and two handles that rotate around it. Such design makes this knife a remarkable tool for flipping and numerous moves and tricks have been devised for this purpose.

However, is it safe to practice flipping with such a razor-sharp and dangerous knife? Of course not! And definitely not for a beginner! Then what should beginners do? Beginners should use a butterfly knife trainer instead which is a safe alternative to a butterfly knife.

What is a Butterfly Knife Trainer?

A butterfly knife trainer has its design similar to that of a butterfly knife, however, there is one key difference between the two and that is that a butterfly knife trainer has an unsharpened and blunt blade whereas a butterfly knife has a razor-sharp and fully functional blade. The rest of the things i.e. design and structure of both tools are the same and sometimes it becomes hard to differentiate between them as well just by looking at them.

A trainer is considered a safe choice whenever someone is learning the art of flipping or knowing his way around a balisong. Having a blunt and unsharpened blade, makes a butterfly knife trainer legal to use and people face very less or no injuries by practicing with them. However, with a real butterfly knife, many injuries were reported which ranged from minor to severe.

Check Laws

Whenever you want to buy a butterfly knife, always check the laws of your state before buying it. The laws related to weapons and different tools vary from state to state. What may be legal in one state will be illegal in the other. So, make sure to check if the butterfly knives you are buying are not prohibited in your state.

Check the local manufacturing, use and possession laws of these knives and only then buy them. Otherwise, you will land yourself in some serious trouble resulting in heavy fines and imprisonment. Other than checking the laws, take time to think if you really want to buy these knives and accept the risk that comes with them.

Try Having a Butterfly Knife Trainer

A Butterfly knife trainer is the safest option to start and learn the art of flipping as we discussed above. It also helps in learning your way around these knives and helps you be an expert at flipping without injuring yourself.

This way you will be able to practice flipping moves safely and you will not have to worry about yourself or those around you as well. If you are just a beginner, then you should avoid buying an expensive butterfly knife or a butterfly knife trainer. Buy knives which are somewhere around $5 and they will serve you really good.

Nowadays, many knives featuring cool and awesome designs are available in stores at very affordable rates and the variety is simply endless. Buying a cheap knife at entry level will save you lots of money as you will not be able to handle them properly at first and they will be more prone to breakage and wearing out at your hands than by the hands of expert players. Also, choose butterfly knife trainers having comfortable handles so that you can handle them and grip them easily and conveniently. You can easily move on to the real butterfly knives after you have practiced enough with the trainers.

Taking Care of the Handles

A balisong is a type of a folding knife and therefore, it has a latch which facilitates the opening and closing mechanism of this knife. Most of the butterfly knives have latches on the sides of their blades. One handle of a fan knife is known as a bite handle and the other one is known as a safe handle.

The safe handle is on the back side of the blade when the knife is in an open position. Therefore, these knives must always be gripped with the safe handle to avoid injuries while flipping. Grabbing the safe handle also prevents the knife from shutting down on your fingers which if happens can hurt you immensely and cut your fingers. So, now you know how important it is to know how to deal with the handles of a butterfly knife.

So, now you know how to get yourself started with a butterfly knife and a butterfly knife trainer as well. Happy Flipping, Folks!

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