How to get a butterfly knife for practice only (i.e., blade quality not necessary)

December 14, 2008 1:39 PM

How can I buy a butterfly knife cheaply if I just want to practice opening it? The hinge should work well, but the blade itself can be hammered out of somebody's garbage can for all I care. The first thing I do will be to dull it. In fact, since I spend a lot of time in Illinois, New Jersey, and New York City where butterfly knives are illegal to carry, it'd probably buy me some peace of mind if this thing didn't have a blade at all, just some appropriately weighted piece of metal. Anyone know where I can get something like this?
posted by d. z. wang to Shopping (12 answers total)

Are you kidding? You can get them on Ebay for less than $20

For that money, just get one, grind the edge off of it and you're good to go.
posted by Brockles at 1:59 PM on December 14, 2008

When I was little growing up in Florida you could get them out of the Magic Claw machines (well, you couldn't actually get it, but you get my drift at least). But seriously, any Amy/Navy surplus or flea market will have one.
posted by mrmojoflying at 2:04 PM on December 14, 2008

The one linked to above, as well as all the ones on ebay seem to be fake butterfly 'style' knives - they are fold-out knives with a handle that looks like a butterfly knife. While here(bladeplay) has a number of cheap real and practice knives.
posted by thylacine at 2:06 PM on December 14, 2008

Butterfly combs - with a proper balisong-type handle, though I'm sure it's possible to get lookalike non-balisong versions - have been standard novelty-store items for ages. Spyderco also recently introduced the "BaliYo", a butterfly pen, which is probably still considerably lighter than the real thing but has the advantage of being useful, and demonstrably harmless.
posted by dansdata at 2:13 PM on December 14, 2008

Flea markets and garage sales. Seriously. They're illegal where I used to live too, but it's not like the cops were staking out the world's largest flea markets.

FWIW, it's not that hard to properly open the knife. As long as you're careful and don't hold it by the wrong end, you won't be cutting yourself. There should be a clasp on one handle- commit to memory which one you should be handling you're be fine.
posted by jmd82 at 2:40 PM on December 14, 2008

Bear makes some good ones that are priced cheaply enough to destroy. The blades are quite thick.

I used to carry one and it was, as a knife, damn near useless because of its social implications. I strongly suggest you look into a different style of knife unless the only things you want to do with your knife are flashy tricks which people will request every time you open it.
posted by 517 at 3:14 PM on December 14, 2008

If you are willing to spend a little bit of money you can get a "trainer" balisong. Various companies make them but here's one that's pretty good (that is I've heard good things about the typhoon--I live in Cali and therefore can't have one . . . they're illegal . . . but I'm allowed to have my pistol and shotgun . . . go figure)
posted by anansi at 3:49 PM on December 14, 2008

Alternative viewpoint: Practice with a sharp one. If you practice with a dull one, you'll teach yourself that it's OK to slip and hit yourself with the edge. That's hard to unlearn.
posted by ikkyu2 at 6:55 PM on December 14, 2008

Actually, if my eight year old self could master opening those without issue I doubt you'll really have a problem learning even with a blade. It's really quite easy.
posted by Octoparrot at 7:37 PM on December 14, 2008

Don't depend on the legal system to understand that a dull piece of metal isn't really a knife. It's a fight you might ultimately win, but it might not be worth it. The legal system is very "quantitative" when it comes to things like this- a dull knife is a knife, and the law says nothing about sharpness. For example.
posted by gjc at 6:33 AM on December 15, 2008

Vaguely related: where can I look to see whether butterfly knives are legal in my state (Texas)?

Yeah, Team Fortress 2 piqued my interest.
posted by spamguy at 7:06 AM on December 15, 2008

spamguy: You might start with the Penal Code.
posted by averyoldworld at 6:18 AM on December 17, 2008