Armor Piercing Butterfly Knife, Japanese Tanto

The Silver Vein Armor Piercing Butterfly from Bear & Son Cutlery of Alabama features a high carbon stainless steel blade in the Japanese tanto style. Tanto blades were designed for penetration instead of slicing, but the lighter construction of the Silver Vein's handle makes this knife a better choice for cutting than for piercing samurai armor.

The action of the knife is good -- it opens smoothly and the cast metal halves of the butterfly handle have been lightened with cutouts for better balance. The silver vein pattern on the handles gives the five-inch folded knife a decorative outside, but the inside is all business. Flick the knife open and it presents a four-inch blade with a non-reflective tactical coating of dark epoxy powder. A metal latch bar locks the handle halves together in either open or closed positions. The high carbon stainless steel of the blade is much stronger than the cast metal of the handle, so prying or twisting could do the knife damage.

All parts of this balisong knife are American made -- in fact, everything in this knife was made at Bear and Son's Jacksonville factory. Bear & Son's policy is to make everything on-site, including the dies required to form the blades. Advanced machine processes and skilled hand operations go into the production of every Bear & Son knife. The result is a high-quality product at a reasonable price.

See the Ellington Balisong Practice Knife for a safe training version of the balisong.

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