The Balisong Collector Reviews

The Benchmade Model 42

The first impression you get is from the anodized colored handles. My new BM42's handles have shades of green and pink which create shades of purple and blue gray as the light plays off of it at different angles. It's going to be very hard to adequately photograph this.

The 42's handles are made of titanium, Ti. One characteristic of Ti is it's ability to take on colors through an electrochemical process called anodization. This is not some sort of paint or coating. This is a chemical change to the metal itself. In the case of an anodized finish, beauty is only skin deep. The anodized finish will dull and eventually wear off with handling and can also be damaged by scratches, etc. Fortunately, an anodized finish can be redone. Benchmade tells me that they will offer re-anodization services for BM42 owners to renew finishes and even change the color if you like.

Ti can be anodized to a very wide variety of colors. I'm especially looking forward to getting a BM42 with deep blue handles and one with the very bright gold colors that Ti can be anodized to.

Next, you pick the knife up and wonder if you actually got it in your hand or not. If you're used to the old stainless steel Model 44 or 45, the 42 is like a feather in your hand. Another one of titanium's wonderful characteristics is its light weight.

This knife is actually a bit larger than a 44 or 45. My handy 45 is 5.41" long closed. My new 42 is 5.53 inches. The 45 is .49" thick at the punyo while the 42 is .50". The 45 is 1.03" wide at the punyo and the 42 is 1.09". But, a 44 tips the scale at 6 1/2 oz. The 42 only 4 1/4 oz (my scale is only good to 1/4 oz increments). By comparison, the 42 feels very light.

For you techies, the density of Ti is about 4.5 grams per cubic centimeter (it varies slightly depending on exact alloy). Stainless steel, by contrast, depending on alloy, ranges between about 7.5 and 8 grams per cubic centimeter. Aluminum is about 2.7.

The third impression you get handling the 42 is how "warm" it feels. If you're used to taking 6 1/2 oz. of cold steel into your hand, the Ti handles on the 42 just feel warm. I like to put my 44 or 45 into my pocket and let it warm up for ten minutes or so before working with it. That won't be necessary with the 42.

The handles feel light and almost cheap. You have to remind yourself that they're Ti and actually stronger than the old steel ones. Again, for the techies, the strength to weight ratio of Ti is in the 100 to 180 range depending on alloy. Stainless steel is about 20 to 70 depending on alloy.

Now you can see why the aircraft industry loves Ti. It's two to five times a strong as stainless steel, almost half the weight. Ti also has excellent corrosion resistance. I have seen Benchmade's stainless steel handles rust even when kept in "indoor" conditions. Ti simply won't do this.

Ti is also non-magnetic. For most balisong owners, this is, perhaps, not so important. But, in the aircraft industry, for example, it can be very important. Contrary to common myth, though, better metal detectors such as those usually used at airports, will detect Ti.

"So," you may ask, "What are the disadvantages of Ti?" Well, aside from its high cost, Ti is very brittle. The modulus of elasticity of titanium is about half that of steel. The room temperature ductility of titanium and its alloys, as measured by uniform elongation, is significantly less than that of stainless steel. This means that titanium may require more generous bend radii and has lower stretch formability. But, the handles on the 42 seem to have the same sharp corners that Benchmade's stainless steel handles had. Brittleness is the downfall of balisong handles made of Zamak. But, Zamak is no where near as strong as Ti. Now, I should point out that Ti Bali-Song handles are nothing new. Benchmade and its predecessors have been making custom Bali-Songs with Ti handles for about twenty years. I've heard nothing but praise for these handles. So, I suspect that the BM42's handles are going to prove plenty strong and able to withstand even the most aggressive manipulations.

This brittleness is one reason why blades are rarely made of Ti. Formed as thin as the edge of a good blade is, Ti will simply chip to easily. For this reason, Ti blades don't take a good edge and won't keep the edge they do take. Ti blades are occasionally used by folks who need a strong, non-magnetic blade with a passable edge.

The galling tendency of titanium is greater than that of stainless steel. I don't know what material the washers in the BM42's joints are made out of. Again, Ti Bali-Song handles are nothing new, so I don't look for any problems here, but I do intend to keep mine well oiled.

The mass difference makes manipulating the 42 very different from the old stainless steel models. It took a bit of getting used to. After adjusting, though, I found that the lighter handles sure to let you fly.

The joints are all super smooth and move just perfectly. There's very very little wobble in the joints yet they are not the slightest bit tight. You can see a washer between the handle and the blade. I suspect that this washer (which essentially allows two moving joints instead of one) plays a big roll in how nicely this knife moves. (Of course, this is nothing new. The older Benchmade Bali-Songs have a washer too, but you've got to look harder to see it.)

Speaking of flying, this knife loves to fly. It's remarkably easy to catch some air with this knife From simple toss-and-catch to complicated aerial tricks, I've never had a balisong that flies as well as this one does.

The new latch design is a great improvement. It is impossible for the latch to strike the blade! This is a huge improvement. However, the latch can still strike the back of the opposite handle. For a knife you're going to carry and use, this is just fine. A little bit of scratching on the opposite handle is no problem. On a user knife, it's damage to the edge of the blade that you worry about. However, if you want to keep your 42 in perfect condition, you'll still need a patch of tape on the opposite handle (which is really not objectionable at all).

This change to the latch design is simple, but it's very important and a great improvement. When Benchmade announced that they were considering designs for a new Bali-Song and asked what characteristics customers would want, one of the most common suggestions was a latch that couldn't hit the blade. Benchmade sure listened.

The Batangas-style latch locks up firmly both open and closed. Just as you should with a good balisong, you have to squeeze the handles a bit to either latch or unlatch the handle either open or closed. The lock open is as strong as Benchmade's Production Quality Bali-Songs have always been... THE strongest lock of any folding knife ever made. Locked open, this thing is a strong and as stable as a comparable fixed blade.

Unlike the previous "Production Quality" Bali-Songs (such as the 44 and 45) which tried to hide the pins, the 42 celebrates the pins. The pins are nicely finished, though, not quite flush to the handles, but not like those on many cheap balisongs which can actually catch and cut your hand.

The new pins have Torx screws and can be disassembled. However, Benchmade still insists that customers are not to disassemble their own knives. Doing so voids the warranty. Benchmade insists that disassembling and reassembling the BM42 still requires special tools and fixtures. The new pins, though, do allow Benchmade to better service these knives. This makes services such as refinishing of handles and replacement of blades possible. Eventually, Benchmade is promising different blade profiles and different handle finishes. The 42's simpler pins should allow Benchmade to fill special orders much faster.

The handles feature the classic "two small holes between large holes" skeleton pattern, but the counter sinking makes the large holes seem almost oval-shaped. Thankfully (and I know that some balisong artists disagree with me on this one) Benchmade has kept the thinner handles from their previous designs.

The 42 comes with Benchmade's new-style sheath. They've gone back to the "dual carry" option which has three straps on the back configured to allow vertical or traditional balisong horizontal carry. The new sheath is made of a stiffer material (a welcome change. Balisong artists won't have to put nails into their sheaths to stiffen them up anymore). But, the new sheath is, unfortunately, just a touch to short of the knife. With the knife fully inserted tang-first (the popular horizontal carry for people who prefer a latch-drop-opening draw), a little less than half of the velcro actually mates. You can see that the flap is not bending where is was designed to. On the other hand, if you, like me, prefer to sheath your balisong punyo first to draw by the horns and open with, perhaps, a double-flip out-to-in opening (as you can see me demonstrate on my web site), because of the sheath's rounded end, the punyo does not go all the way down into the sheath. The flap is barely able to stay shut with only about 1/4" of velcro mating. For a proper fit, this sheath needs to be about a 1/2" or so longer and have a squarer end. On the other hand, I really like the rather small, discrete, blue-on-black Benchmade label much better than the shouting, giant white-on-black Bali-Song logo used on the old sheaths (I have to confess to having cut the logo off of several sheaths that I actually carry because it was just so loud. This new one can stay on.) This problem with the sheath is very minor and probably related to my BM42 being an early prototype.

Oh, by the way, there's a blade too. You can tell this is a balisong review because the blade is the last thing discussed. It's a classic Weehawk. It's just about the same length as the 45's Weehawk, but the swedge is cut back much farther, about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way back on the spine. If you're thinking about sharpening your swedge and yet still want to be able to do manipulations such as finger-rolls, this swedge is about as deep as I'd like to take one. The ricasso, kick, stop pin, and tang including the horns are approximately the same as the 45. There is only a very slight choil. The median ridge is much lower on the blade than the old 45, so the swedge looks more pronounced.

I originally reported that the blade on my BM42 is ATS-34. That was incorrect. I am now told that the blade on my is, in fact, 12C27 stainless steel. The blade has a nice, brushed finish. The ricasso on the front of the blade had the traditional Bali-Song butterfly logo laser-etched on it. The back is laser-etched "Benchmade over USA" and mine also reads, "Prototype over 11/25".

While it will take me a bit to get used these substantially lighter handles, I have to say that I am very pleased with this new Bali-Song. The tradition continues with quality of design and quality of construction. Benchmade has a winner in this knife.

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