Balisong
Also known as: butterfly knife
A Filipino folding knife whose blade is covered by two rotating halves of the handle; it is named after the town of Balisong in Taal, Batangas province.
Quick Facts
PhilippinesAbout the weapon
The balisong is a folding pocket knife originating in the Philippines, in which the blade is covered by two rotating halves of the handle. Mass production is documented from the early 20th century; its centre was the barangay of Balisong in Taal, Batangas province, together with neighbouring Pandayan, home to smiths making knives and other blades. The knife takes its name from this village. A disputed etymology derives the name from Tagalog words for "broken horn", referring to handles made of carabao and deer horn; but the mass-produced knives already had metal handles. Another theory looks for a forerunner in the folding French pied du roi measuring stick of the 16th to 18th centuries, though how it might have reached the Philippines we have not been able to establish. A classic balisong measured 29 centimetres when open. Blades were traditionally forged from railway-rail steel and from recycled vehicle leaf springs. Handles are built either as sandwich or as channel construction. Filipinos, especially in Tagalog areas, carried the balisong for self-defence as well as a utility pocket knife. Before modern razors arrived, hollow-ground balisongs also served for shaving.