"This makes a good, compact utility knife for its price, which was the balisong's original purpose. It is the simplest folding knife design that I know of and requires no precision machining to make. There are several good things about it: * The price is low enough for a knife you would actually use, as opposed to the several hundred dollar balisongs made of super steels and titanium alloy that are unaffordable for most of us and only good for keeping in a display case. * The blade is close to what I would consider the ideal shape! A balisong is likely to be dropped, and a tanto tip is the least likely to break (it's purpose) because it preserves more blade thickness. They did not choose to weaken the tanto tip with a swadge like so many modern knives. The blade is also very thick, which makes it even less likely to break. Tanto blades are also the easiest to sharpen because they are just two edges that are nearly to perfectly straight like the surface of your average whetstone and strop. * The blade features a concave choil large enough to accommodate a finger, making you less likely to receive a 'ring of shame' if you mess up a trick catastrophically. This safety feature is not something that I have seen on any other balisong (even ones costing hundreds of dollars), and I believe it should become standard! * The blade's spine is ever so slightly crowned or at least the edges have been smoothed by the stone washing process. This makes it much more comfortable when it strikes the back of your hand. * It uses double tang pins instead of using a single tang pin, zen pins, or being pinless. Single tang pins are loud when closing. Zen pins pinch fingers. Pinless designs are loud when opening and closing and make adjusting the screws difficult. * The handles are functional and comfortable. They are simple smooth wedges, but their edges are rounded. They are not curved nor do they feature knuckle guards like so many modern balisongs, all of which make tricks or even one-handed opening difficult to impossible. * There is no tap (i.e. the blade does not clatter against the insides of the handles). * There is little play (i.e. the handles do not tilt out of alignment). * There is a Batangas latch (i.e. a latch on the bite handle), and it is not spring-loaded. A latch is necessary for a balisong to be safely drawn (else you can blindly reach into an opened knife), and it is useful for latch tricks. A Batangas latch is less likely than a Manila latch (i.e. a latch on the safe handle) to collide with the handles or blade due to centrifugal force. Spring-loaded latches are more likely to fail and are harder to maintain. * It uses screws instead of pins for pivots, so it can be disassembled for maintenance. * The stone washed finish is less likely to show scratches than most other finishes. * This balisong seems very durable. There is a lot of metal here. There are also some bad things about it: * This balisong is very heavy. I do not have a scale to measure it, but I can compare it to other things in the 120g to 140g ideal range and this is significantly heavier. That means the handles and the blade's spine striking your knuckles is uncomfortable, but it this degree of durability probably requires that much weight, so this is not all bad. * The blade shape still leaves something to be desired. The long edge is slightly concave, removing the advantage of the ease of sharpening it would otherwise have had. Had it been perfectly straight, it would also have been more useful for some utility purposes like cutting cordage because it would match perfectly with a cutting board. * The quillon on the safe handle has been removed. The quillon on the bite handle will still keep your fingers from sliding onto the blade's edge when thrusting, but the absence of one on the safe handle prevents your thumb from giving you fine control when doing precision cutting. This asymmetry is also aesthetically displeasing to me. * It has severe handle bias, making tricks difficult to perform! The center of balance is about 2/3rds of the way from the tip of the blade. To perform tricks well, the center of balance should be just slightly behind the base of the tang. The blade shape is partly to blame. It features a hollow grind and a lightening hole that unnecessarily lighten the blade relative to the handles. * The handles are sandwich instead of channel. Channel is more durable, with less parts to manufacture, fail, or lose during maintenance, and keeps dust, keys, and coins in your pocket from getting stuck between the handles and the blade. * It does not run on bushings with washers. Bushings with washers seem to be the best balance between minimizing friction and maximizing reliability. In fact, this is the only balisong I am aware of without even washers. The handles are in direct contact with the blade. Despite this, after lubrication with mineral oil, it all swings freely and almost silently, so maybe this is not a real problem. It does mean there are less parts to manufacture, fail, and lose during maintenance. * There is no latch gate, so the latch is more likely to hit and potentially chip the blade. * The latch has an almost flat tip. Latches with a sideways cylinder or hemisphere tip are more likely to bounce away from the blade or handle than to get caught against them when you fail to maintain enough centrifugal force and they are easier to open and close. * Mine came slightly overtightened and unlubricated, so the handles did not swing freely, but this was easy to fix with the right Torx bit and some mineral oil, which you will need for any good balisong anyway. Fixing several of these problems would either save money (e.g. using less material in the handles) or machining time (e.g. removing the lightening hole) or at least cost nothing (e.g. making the long edge of the blade perfectly straight). Despite my complaints, I am very pleased. I will consider ordering another one of these."

"So this is a very good butterfly and well made knife. However, my best guess is that this is made for self defense or fashion as it's cutting isn't ideal as compared to the typical pocket knife. My best guess is that it's straight edge gives it more surface area rather than a lower surface area like a curved knife."