Wowpinoy! Batangas...Photos of local sword & knife industry
 

Hi,

Taken during a stroll in WowPhilippines Balisong capital,,Batangas City..

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/morovin...7594118346839/

Nice pics 'Vinta,

Okay , I've wondered about this long enough .
I have a couple of nice balisong from Batangas shops .
I've found that you have to kind of tune them to get optimum performance as they, being hand made, are all a little different .

What I want to know is ; what is the purpose of the beveled holes in the blade and the shallow notches on the false edge ?
I got the bottle opener cut out figured ; that's easy enough ; but the other features have always puzzled me .

What's up with them ?

Morovinta
 

Hello Danny,

Are you the one who makes those famous 6 foot long baliswords?? :D :p
If you are, can you post a few pics of them.

Hey! That shop looks familiar...I think I bought 5 balisongs there last april. They had all sorts of stuff besides balisongs: bolos, medieval replicas, commando knives, switchblades, etc. Although, the best balisong I picked up was in Taal.

Rick, the beveled holes and the shallow notches on the false edge are purely decorative. It's more of a fashion statement or fad. You can blame "RAMBO" for this since the balisong makers were trying to emulate the look of his knife....that Jimmy Lile custom with the saw-back blade and serrated false edge (or was that the Rambo II knife?) Anyways, right after Rambo came out there was that "survival knife" fad that also made it's way to the balisong. In fact you don't see those features on balisongs made before the movie Rambo.

Thanks Zel !
I didn't figure they were really for weight reduction seeing as how the blades (on my two) are so meaty to begin with . :)

Another mystery solved. :D

Hi Rick,

Thank you for the question.

I can make a quick idea as to the beveled holes on the blade, but, because the photoshoot was a kin's opportunity at a leisure vacation rather than inspection, my answer would only be a guess. First, maybe holes at middle of balisong, when tied to a length of a rod, can make steady bindings. 2nd, maybe holes at false edges (tip of blade), when attached to a base can make sharp fulcrums. :D While analysis is easy when within the context of a guess, I am sure the holes add, rather than substract from the utility of the knife.

I remember in the same accuracy as your observation, i asked a college lass why, after she have her ears pierced, she got her navel pierced, then her nose pierced. I have to exhort myself to absorb her answer..... :( Rick? Things are cute and more endeared when they got holes in them. :D