Occasionally, friends and correspondents send me pictures of their balisongs. Often, they're so good that I want to share them with you.

Here's a nice Filipino handmade balisong. The coloration on the blade is, I'm sure, not real, but is due to a very thin coating of oil that this collector has wisely applied since the steel used in most FHMs is very high carbon and rusts easily.

Here's a Unique Filipino handmade balisong. The tang is in the shape of an eagle. The eagle is not only decorative. The eagle's wings form horns for the balisong (for use as a striking weapon). But, here's the real utility of this knife: the eagle's head forms a handy bottle cap lifter for those who don't drink screw-tops.

This isn't exactly a photograph of a balisong. It's a sketch of a balisong in the hands of one of my correspondent friends Susan.

If you read the forum over on Clay's site, you've probably chatted with Susan.

Here's a fine custom Benchmade with Titanium handles and a custom-modified Wee-Hawk Tanto. This fine Bali-Song has been the owner's daily-carry knife for years. It looks like it's holding up well.

Here's a collection of mostly Benchmade presented by one of my frequent correspondents. How many of them can you identify?

Here are a few genuine FHMs direct from the famous city of Batangas in the Philippines.

A very nice spearpoint with bone inserts. This is a very traditional balisong.

And this is a fairly nice looking Kris.

The apparent rainbow coloration on the blade may be the lighting when this picture was taken, or it may be a thin layer of oil on the blade. Owners of FHM balisongs are wise to leave a thin coating of oil on the blades since the steel used tends to rust easily.

And here's a little baby Kris with bone inserts.

These elaborate, jeweled balisongs are the work of noted custom knife maker Paul Jarvis of Cambridge Mass.

Unfortunately, there's nothing in these pictures to give you a size reference. The larger two are eight or nine inches long overall when closed. The handles are quite thick. Overall, these knives are big and heavy. Of course, they're not really intended for day-to-day use. These are true art pieces.

Mr. Jarvis is best known for his elaborately decorated art daggers. His work is top-quality.

A balisong by Paul Jarvis starts at about $1200.

There's room for more...

If you have a special or unique balisong you'd like to parade, just send me a good picture. You can e-mail a .jpeg file (800x600 at least, please) or you can snail-mail me a 35mm negative or slide and I'll scan it in for you on my professional 3500dpi film scanner (I'm sorry, but I have a film scanner and so I can't scan prints). Please include a textual description of your baby. Be as verbose as you like. Tell us who made it. About when it was made. Where and when you bought it, etc. And, let me know if you want me to mention your name or not.

This is not a venue for you to sell your balisongs; please don't ask me to for that. This is a venue for showing off.

Click here to continue on to Gallery A