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RARanney

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I started this post for further discussion of the $50 balisong. This IS NOT the yes I want one post.
About five years ago a top Florida collector tried to come up with a $50 automatic opener about the size of the Microtech UDT. He is a major collector, knowledgeable, a straight shooter, and heck of a nice guy. The knife ended up costing $100, and yes, I still bought one. I sincerely hope a $50 quality balisong can be done, and I would prefer steel handles, and don't care about a clip (money saved). I'll take a wait and see position.
 
I would love a $50-75 bali...as long as the handles arent plastic I'm definitely gonna get one.

I haven't handled any of the heavy steel balis everyone seems to be so fond of, so a steel bali would definitly appeal to me...and brass seems to be too soft, right?
 
I'm interested in seeing if it can be done without going plastic. If it's steel more the better.
 
R.A. Thanx so much for starting this discussion post! Please understand, I too want SS handles.

However the reality is in order to get the retail @ $50, the final production cost cannot be greater than $10-$12. Add to that the reality that you cannot go overseas to get them made and assembled (import restrictions on balis)means the savings have to come somewhere.

This doesn't mean SS handles are out of the question by any means. What it does mean is at this early stage, all options that end with a quality knife are being considered.

I hope this happens:cool:
 
I think there would be a market for a $50, 3 inch bali with steel handles. I for one would love to see it!:D
 
I too am quite pessimistic in the complete process coming in under $15 per unit. Labor in fitting a bali makes it almost impossible to do it at that price range. One reason the CCC's can be sold so cheaply is the low non-USA labor cost. I can see material and machining/production coming in close to matching the CCC's, with better blade steel, but labor, that's a tough one.
 
This is precisely why inexpensive, quality balisongs are so hard to find.

Hopefully the precision of parts construction will cut into the need for a lot of labor.

See ya:cool:
 
As always Ghen, any help you'll need, just ask away... I don't see how anyone won't want to see this succeed.
 
The post is asking about how many one might concievably purchase in the next 90 days.....does that mean this bali is ready to be produced or is it just wishful thinking?
 
I like the basic design of the jaguar.

How expensive would it be to make the handles out of steel, blade out of 440c, and have decent pins? they don't have to be torx-adjustable or anything, just solid enough so they don't break or get loose after a day. oh yeah, and a latch gate. i would definitely drop at least $40 for something like that.

is this feasible or did i just tack on an extra $50 bucks onto the cost of a $15 knife?

p
 
I think this is a great idea. I haven't bought any balis yet because 1- I don't want to buy crap, and 2-I don't want to spend $110-$150 or more for something nice that I will drop a thousand times. I'm very interested in balis but I would like something a little cheaper but still good to get some practice before I start shelling out the $$ for the real good stuff.
 
This is really cool, I hope they decide to go forward with it. I think they'd *really* make a killing. How many "I'm just starting, which cheap bali should I get?" threads do we get here? If there's a quality bali only a touch more expensive than a Jag, I can't see how it wouldn't be a red hot success.

As for the knife, I'm probably in the minority, but I'm excited to see weighted plastic handles! Just as long as they could take a beating (maybe have the metal weights at the handles ends protrude slightly so that they're hitting each other instead of plastic hitting plastic?).

The latchless idea is interesting, too. A production latchless.. hmmm....
 
It is pretty amazing that nobody has taken on the challange of a $50 bali yet, with all the obvious buyers out there. Just keep it clean and simple. Every extra frill costs money, so I'd like to have the majority of my $50 to go into the materials.

You know, didn't Mike Turber take a trip into China a while back to try and set up the production of a $50 bali? Right around the time the Tachyon was coming out in the open... Whatever happened to that? :confused:
 
Heck just give us a kit like the "Magic Knife" auto's. Should this thing have solid milled handles or sandwich? Makes no diff to me, I'll take several either way. Still not lovin the plastic though.
 
I see many "where can I get a $50.00 bali?" posts, yet only about 10% of the people that view the post reply that they would be interested.

Also some people who seem to be the end all be all of balisong knowledge, and have purported to buy every new thing on the block, haven't yet stepped up to the plate to say "yeah, I'll take one". Why is this? Is it me? Do I offend?

I certainly hope this project happens, and it all doesn't hinge on the forums, I am just perplexed at the amount of apathy the possibility of a QUALITY $50.00 balisong is producing among this forum.
 
yeah, i don't understand it at all. maybe if you raised the price to $200 for no good reason, they'd be more enthusiastic. it's been known to happen in other markets. if you've ever seen those "KO your attacker in seconds" video ads in black belt magazine, that guy tried selling them at $20 each - no takers. he bumped the price up to $40 just for kicks, and guess what? they started selling like hotcakes.
people can be dumb that way. (he's selling them at $20 again, though)

another angle you could approach it from is using its properties to sell it, rather than its price. that is, i wonder if the response would be different if you had asked for interest in a balisong that had SS handles and 440C blade that just happened to be around $50.

also, maybe you should take the thread to the general interest forum.

eh, whatever. i remain ever hopeful for a $50 quality balisong.


Originally posted by ghen
I see many "where can I get a $50.00 bali?" posts, yet only about 10% of the people that view the post reply that they would be interested.

Also some people who seem to be the end all be all of balisong knowledge, and have purported to buy every new thing on the block, haven't yet stepped up to the plate to say "yeah, I'll take one". Why is this? Is it me? Do I offend?

I certainly hope this project happens, and it all doesn't hinge on the forums, I am just perplexed at the amount of apathy the possibility of a QUALITY $50.00 balisong is producing among this forum.
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I think it is very easy to get excited for the latest hand crafted, whiz bang, ultra beautiful knife - it's the nature of creating them. Creating a great workhorse doesn't tend to generate that much excitement - but the fact is, if you create a honda civic, people aren't going to talk about how reliable and cheap it is w/ the same relish they'll talk about how fast and sleek the new bmw is. At the same time, most people actually do get the civic.

I'm excited for it. :) And with balisong's unlike cars, there's a damn good chance that the bmw drivers are going to get the cheapie's too.
 
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