Thug Heavyweight Balisong Butterfly Knife Review

The Blade:

The blade on this knife is made out of 440 stainless steel. In the 440 lien of steels, there are three different formulas: 440A, 440B, 440C. Out of these three, C is the best steel that you could get for your knife out of this series and A is the least quality. The tricky part about this is that often times the steel and knife manufacturer will only mark the tang of the blade with a “440” instead of including which formula it is. If this is the case, like it is for this knife, you can pretty accurately assume that you are getting either A or B, because C is a steel that most manufacturers are proud of. However, even if you are getting A, which is the least quality out of the three, it is an inexpensive and highly corrosion resistant stainless steel, so you don’t have to be disappointed in your blade. This steel was made in China, when a steel company developed the 440 lien to be a modified version of 7Cr17MoV by adding in more vanadium.  Unfortunately, this steel does not have high wear resistance, which means that it cannot stand up to heavy use or force. If you are choosing to use this steel for your day-to-day activities than this steel is going to help you get the job done. The two best qualities that this steel is going to boast is that it is inexpensive and it is very stain resistant, even in extreme environments such as salt water.

The blade has been finished with a black coating. The black coating is there to give this knife a very sleek look seeing as it is an all-black knife. However, the coating does serve a wider variety of purposes instead of just overall aesthetic. This is your typical powder coating, which is essentially a thick plastic coating that covers the blade. The biggest advantage to having a coated blade is that it helps to enhance the blades ability to resist corrosion. This is because the powder coat creates a thick layer in between the steel and the environment which means that as long as the coating is intact, nothing is going to be able to touch the steel. Secondly, the black coating reduces the shiny surface of the blade, which is a trait that people require on tactical knives. Thirdly, a coating can actually reduce a drag during a cut because it creates such an even surface. There are drawbacks to a coated finish, but the biggest issue is that a coating is going to chip, scratch, or peel off after heavy use or long term use. Once your coating does scratch off, the only solution to keep the qualities in check is to re-coat the blade.

The blade on this butterfly knife has been carved into a drop point style blade, which happens to be the most popular blade shape in the cutlery industry to date. This style of blade is popular for a reason: it is versatile and tough. Because of this, you can find a drop point blade on anything from hunting knife, to a tactical blade, to an everyday carry knife. The blade shape is formed by having the spine of the knife run straight from the handle to the tip of the knife in a slow, curving manner. The sharpened edge of the knife bulges out to provide the user with a large belly and then curves upwards to meet the lowered tip. The lowered tip allows you to control your cuts, allowing you to perform plenty of fine detail or tip work. The drop point blade also has one of the broadest tips that you are going to find throughout different blade styles. It is the broad tip that gives the drop point its characteristic strength that people have come to love and expect. Because it is lowered and strong, you are able to take on almost every day-to-day task as well as having the capability of using this knife for a tactical or even a survival knife if needed. One of the best features about a drop point style blade is that it has such a large belly, which allows the user to slice with ease. One of the most common things that you are going to perform with your knife is slicing, which makes this Thug a great everyday carry knife. The drop point blade does have one major disadvantage, which includes its broad tip. Because of the broadness behind it, you do lose out on almost all of your stabbing and piercing capabilities. If you are looking for an all-purpose knife that can also pierce, you should find a knife that boasts a clip point style blade.

This butterfly knife does sport a combo blade, which means that the upper half of the cutting edge (closer to the point) is a plain edge and the lower half of the cutting edge (closer to the handle) is serrated. This style of edge is designed to give you the best of both worlds. It is said that you can still slice and perform fine detail work with the half plain edge while being able to saw through thicker materials with the teeth of the serrated section. While in essence, this is a fantastic design, there is a complaint that because each of the portions is so small, you cannot actually use either portion well. This is a larger blade though, so this complaint should not come into play with this specific Thug knife.

The Handles:

The handles on this knife are made out of stainless steel. Stainless steel is not uncommon to find as a knife handle material, but because of the weight that it carries, it is also not a super common knife handle material. The benefits of stainless steel handles are that the steel does give the knife crazy high durability. A knife that has stainless steel handles is going to be a challenge to break. Because of this durability, this knife is going to be able to handle the wear and tear from everyday life with ease. In fact, it will even be able to take on a lot more than just your everyday wear and tear. One of the other advantages to the stainless steel handles is that it has very high resistance to corrosion. This makes it a challenge to rust which will cut down on maintenance time over the course of its life.

One of disadvantages is that stainless steel handles do not have a lot of grip to them naturally. To give the user a proper grip on this knife, the manufacturer does have to really work with the handles and add in grooves or ridges. On this knife, the manufacturer has skeletonized the handle to give the user a good grip. Going down each of the handles are five ovals cut out, each of these holes gets larger the closer they get to the butt of the handle.

The biggest disadvantage with having fully stainless steel handles is that stainless steel is going to be very heavy. This does weigh the knife down and this Thug knife is one of the heavier butterfly knives that you are probably going to use.

The handles of this knife flare out towards the butt to help give you a better grip on this knife. The handles have been coated with a black coating that matches the blade on this knife. The coating provides the same benefits that it did for the blade: it increases corrosion resistance, adds a nice color, and overall prolongs the life of the handle. However, it also has the same drawbacks that the coating on the blade did: the coating will scratch off after heavy use or long periods of time.

The Mechanism:

This all-black blade is a butterfly knife. This style of knife is also commonly known as a balisong knife, as well as a Batangas knife, and even a fan knife in some areas of the world. This type of knife is a folding pocket knife that has two handles instead of the usual one. These two handles counter-rotate around the tang (which is the portion where the handles attach to the blade) in a way that when this knife is closed, the blade is actually stored in the middle and in between each of the handles.

This specific butterfly knife is constructed in a sandwich construction, instead of the channel construction. The sandwich construction is where the knife is assembled in layers that are pinned together. This allows the pivot pins to be adjusted ore tightly without binding. And when the knife is closed, the blade rests between the layers. This contrasts the channel construction in which when the knife is closed, it would rest in a groove that has been created in the handles. The sandwich construction style is the more common construction; however, it is also the weaker of the two styles of construction.

The butterfly knife can be used for anything from shaving, to every-day purposes, to self-defense, and even as entertainment with manipulations called “flipping.”

The Specs:

The blade on this knife measures in at 4 inches long with handles that measure in at 5 inches long. When this butterfly knife is opened, it measures in at an overall length of 9 inches long. This is a heavier knife because of the stainless steel handles, weighing in at 7 ounces. This weight will allow you to take on tougher tasks, because you do have the heft that you need, but it will weigh you down. Overall, this is just a large knife.

The Pros of the Thug Heavyweight Butterfly Knife:

• The blade steel is very stain and corrosion resistant.
• The blade steel is inexpensive, which keeps the overall cost of the knife down.
• The coated blade increases the corrosion resistance of the blade.
• The coating on the blade cuts down and eliminates glares and reflections.
• The coating adds a sleek look to the blade.
• The drop point blade is strong, tough, and durable.
• The drop point blade has an easily controlled tip.
• The blade boasts a large belly that makes slicing a breeze.
• You can perform detail work and slicing with the plain portion of the blade.
• You can slice through thicker materials with the serrated portion.
• This is a large knife, so you can take on tougher tasks.
• The stainless steel handles are going to be strong and durable.
• The stainless steel handles are crazy corrosion resistance.
• Because the handle has also been coated, the life of this knife is going to be significantly prolonged.
• The butterfly knife can be used for a wide variety of purposes.

The Cons of the Thug Heavyweight Butterfly Knife:

• It is tricky to know which level of 440 steel you are getting with this blade.
• The blade will not have high wear resistance.
• The coating will scratch off eventually, because all coatings do.
• Because of the broad tip, you won’t be super capable of piercing or stabbing with this knife.
• Do you get enough of each edge style to really utilize them?
• This is a very heavy knife, so it might weigh you down.
• Because the handle has also been coated, once this knife reaches a certain point in its life, the coating will have worn off of both the handle and the blade and your knife will be extremely unprotected.
• The sandwich construction is weaker than the channel construction.

Conclusion:

The Thug Heavyweight butterfly knife is a fantastic choice for those just entering into the realm of butterfly “flipping” or if you want something that is as durable as it is cost effective. This knife boasts skeletonized stainless steel handles and a modified drop point style blade that is partly serrated and the integrated tang pin and pin construction is a true testament to why the Thug Heavyweight has been a top seller year after year. Pick up this butterfly knife today at BladeOps.