Bear & Son Tanto Balisong Butterfly Knife Review

Bear & Son says, “We have a skilled and experienced work force capable of performing many of the extra hand operations that go into the making of our products. The Bear & Son Cutlery factory is unique. It is full self-contained. While some companies only assemble parts brought from various suppliers and put their names on the product, we do everything in-house from building our own blanking dies to heat treating, grinding and assembly, and hand finishing our products. These steps ensure that Bear & Son Cutlery is of excellent quality and a real value for both the dealer and consumer.

This commitment to excellence has just improved due to rich family tradition in knife making craftsmanship not only by management, but also our experienced work force. Our customers and consumers can look for even more new and exciting products as a result. Our ongoing commitment is to make them in America and make them affordable. We want everyone to be able to afford what we are proud to make!”

This is a family owned company that came to be in 1991 when Ken Griffey and two partners bought the Parker Edwards knife facility. After a ride filled with turns and surprised, including a time when the firm actually was owned by Swiss Army Brands, Ken Griffey still heads the operation as president. His son Matt, who began to work in the factory when he was only 18, is vice president.
One of Bear & Son Cutlery’s biggest advantage and selling point is that 100% of their high-quality knives are made in their state-of-the-art Jacksonville, Alabama plant where they perform each part of the knife making task.

“Our fundamental positon is clear and absolute: we make high-quality knives, and we make them all right here in the U.S.A.,” said Ken Griffey. “And when we say Made in American, we mean everything—the steels, every component right down to the tiniest screws, and of course, every step of manufacturing. We’re a family company, and we are dedicated to keeping it exactly that way.”

Bear & Son offers a wide range of knives—from big Bowies to popular Butterflies, Bear & Son covers almost any knife that you could want. And you know that if you purchase one of their knives, you know that you can trust it.

Today, we are talking about the Bear & Son Tanto Balisong knife.

 

The Blade:

The blade on this Bear & Son knife is made out of 1095 high carbon steel. 1095 is a basic form of carbon steel, and is most commonly used in the construction of knives. It has a carbon content of .95% which serves to harden the steel and reduce the amount of wear that a blade will experience over time. Despite the reduction in wear created by the high presence of carbon, 1095 steel is not as tough as other types of steel due to the lower levels of manganese, which serves to harden the steel. However, the harder the steel, the more brittle the blade is going to be.1095 steel holds a great edge and is very easy to sharpen. Unfortunately, the proprieties of this steel do give it a tendency to easily rust. To combat the rusting, you will need to make sure that you wipe your knife dry after every sue and oil it every once in a while. As long as you keep up on the maintenance, your knife shouldn’t rust.

The blade on this knife has been coated with a black powder coating. The powder coating serves to increase the corrosion resistance of the blade, which is a major advantage for this butterfly knife that is prone to rusting. The coating also adds a sleek look to the knife, which gives you an elegant look to this knife.

The blade on this knife has been carved into a tanto blade style. The tanto blade has not been designed as a n all-purpose blade style, instead it has been designed to do one thing and to do it really well. The tanto blade style is going to excel at piercing through tough materials. This style of knife was originally designed for armor piercing, the tanto blade was later popularized by Cold Steel in the late 1980s, and is similar in style to Japanese long and short swords. The tanto knife has a high point with a flat grind, which leads to an extremely strong point that is perfect for stabbing into hard materials. The thick point of the tanto blade contains a lot of metal near the tip, so it is able to absorb the impact form repeated piercing that would cause most other knife blade styles to snap. The front edge does meet the unsharpened edge at an angle, rather than a curve. Because of this, the tanto blade style does not have a belly whatsoever, but instead, you have an extremely strong tip. This knife does not make a good all-purpose knife because of the lack of belly, which means that you will not have many slicing capabilities. With this Bear & Son knife, you will not be ready to take on all of life’s challenges, but you will be able to take on any situation that you need to pierce through any type of hard material.

 

The Handles:

The handle on this knife is made out of zinc. Zinc is a unique metal for making knife handles, but it is used for good reasons. For starters, we all know that steel undergoes the oxidation process, which forms rust. And then once the rust is present on the surface, the steel will continue to corrode. Zinc, on the other hand, has the ability to resist continued corrosion due to a very unique reaction. When zinc is exposed to the moisture and carbon dioxide that is present in our atmosphere, a protective layer of zinc carbonate forms on its surface, prohibiting the corrosion process that steel experiences. This protective barrier provides longevity that will allow the zinc handle to last for a lifetime. That being said, if it is submerged in water, the protective layer will not form, and instead, a white rust will form. This means that if you are living in a very humid environment or if you ever use this knife in a wet condition, you need to make sure that you wipe down the handle and make sure that it is completely dry before putting it away.

One of the other unique benefits of zinc is that it can “heal” itself overtime. As it continues throughout its life scratches and imperfections that were once present will virtually disappear. This is a huge advantage when it comes to maintenance, because many metal handles to get scratched over time, which is detrimental to the aesthetic and elegance of the knife; with the zinc handle, you do not have to worry about this.

Next, Zinc is also an environmentally friendly metal for a couple of reasons. This material is 100 percent recyclable metal that can be reused over and over again. Zinc is also a fungistat, which means that it prohibits the reproduction of mold, mildew, and fungus. This will also cut down on time and maintenance.

Zinc is a very soft and malleable metal that can be worked with, with ease, which does mean that it reduces the cost of this overall knife. Overall, zinc is an aesthetically pleasing, long lasting, and corrosion resistant knife handle material that is ideal for this Bear & Son knife.

The black handles on this knife are skeletonized, with five oval cut outs going down each of the handles. The handles also flare out at the end, which gives you a more secure grip and adds control when you are cutting with this knife.

 

The Mechanism:

This Bear & Son knife is a butterfly knife, or a Bali-song knife, which is a folding pocket knife. The difference between a butterfly knife and a regular folding knife is that it has two handles that counter-rotate around the tang such that, when closed, the blade is concealed within grooves in the handle. This knife is also sometimes called a Batangas knife, after the Tagalog province of Batangas in the Philippines, where it was traditionally made.

This knife was originally used as a self-defense and pocket utility knife. They were also used as straight razors before conventional razors were available in the Philippines. This knife can be brought to play quickly using only one had. And, this knife can be used for art or amusement, when manipulations or flipping are performed.

There are two main types of construction when it comes to butterfly knives, this knife is a sandwich constructed butterfly knife. This means that the knife is assembled in layers that are pinned or screwed together. They allow the pivot pins to be adjusted more tightly without binding. When the knife is closed, the blade rests between the layers.

 

The Pros of the Bear & Son Tanto Butterfly Knife:

• 1095 steel has high wear resistance.
• The blade is very easy to sharpen and can be sharpened into a razor sharp edge.
• The blade steel is extremely tough.
• The blade is also very hard.
• The coating creates a sleek look on this blade.
• The coating on this blade increases corrosion resistance.
• The tanto blade is extremely strong, especially the point.
• The tanto blade excels at piercing, even if it is through hard materials.
• The zinc handle is not prone to rusting.
• The zinc handle is comfortable to hold, even for long periods of time.
• The zinc handle can heal itself overtime, which means that you don’t have to worry about scratches.
• Zinc is environmentally friendly.
• The skeletonized handles cut down on overall weight of the knife.
• The butterfly knife can be used for anything form self-defense to entertainment.

 

The Cons of the Bear & Son Tanto Butterfly Knife:

• The blade is very prone to rusting.
• The blade does not keep its edge retention for long periods of time.
• The coating will scratch off after long periods of use or with heavy use.
• The tanto blade shape does not have a belly, which is why it does not make an all-purpose knife.

 

 

The Specs:

The blade on this knife measures in at four inches long, with a handle that measures in at 5 inches long. When this Bear & Son knife is opened, it measures in at 9 inches long. This butterfly knife weighs in at 5 ounces, which is relatively lightweight for how large of a knife this is. This knife is made in the United States of America.

 

Conclusion:

The 115 series of butterfly knives are one of several new knives released by Bear & Son Cutlery this year. This line of knives has expanded off of the popular 114 and 113 series of knives by offering different handle colors with the same traditional blade finishes and options. Offered in a wide variety of sizes, colors and finishes, these butterfly knives showcase pin construction and the blade smoothly operates on bronze phosphorus washers and precision ball bearing surfaces. This model, 115TANB, features black casted zinc handles, a closing latch with a double tang pin design and a tanto style blade in a black finish. The blade on this butterfly knife is made out of 1095 steel, which is tough and hard. The blade is easy to sharpen and can be brought to a razor sharp edge. The blade has been coated, which cuts down on corrosion and gives a very sleek look to the knife. The tanto blade shape is tough and can take on almost any task that involves piercing through something, although it does not have a belly, which means that it won’t be an all-purpose knife. The handles are made out of zinc, which are extremely corrosion resistant. The skeletonized handles cut down on the weight of the overall knife. Pick up this fantastic knife today at BladeOps.