I got my first 2 Balisong off of Amazon for like $12 when I was 13, they lasted me very shortly and then I lost them for several years. I went to TN and found a cheap live blade at a souvenir shop in 2023 when I was 20 and thought it was so cool, then I went to the World’s largest knife shop in TN and got a really nice heavy live blade. I did some basic openings with those that I had learned, and then I found your channel. After a few weeks of watching your videos and getting into the community, I bought the Vulp! It BLEW MY MIND!! It was the first real Balisong, meant for flipping, that I had ever held or flipped and it got me HOOKED! I flipped that for 2 months every single day and then I purchased the winter nautilus v2 and fell in love all over again! I plan on acquiring many more Balisongs as I learn more tricks and get better at flipping.
just picked up my squidtrainer v4 and learned y2k, chaplin, ice pick, all the beginner stuff in about a day. Very good flipper. EDIT: THANK YOU Will because i didn't like balisongs before ur videos
My first is this awful little all steel pin-driven job I got at a festival last July. Thing weighs like a pound and is almost impossible to flip cause the handles are so, so heavy. Then, in December, I found it in a drawer and decided I wanted to learn to open it. I had no idea you could do flashy fancy tricks with these until looking at all these UA-cam videos... Then I saw your reviews and saw you do all of those tricks (and sometimes drop the balisong), and talk about it with all of that passion and explain what makes a good balisong good, and then Brandon popped up for a gag, and it clicked something over in my head that just hooked me. You dragged me into my first good hyperfixation in half a decade. Love the videos, love the sheer positivity yall exude. And I absolutely adore my Vulp, which was the first "good" balisong I bought. I have another cheap trainer I bought that was *okay,* but it's loaned off to a friend right now. But yeah, first good bali was the Vulp, and your videos were absolutely what pulled me all the way into this hobby. Stay awesome, man!
My first balisong was a brandon color vulp that I got in feburary bc they didn't have the green that I wanted. I later upgraded and got a kraken and then a slift and now all I have is my good ol Slift-P with zippy inserts.
I agree so much with you dude! Thank you for making the Vulp because I had the same quality of my first bailsong as yours will! But having the Vulp is great because now so much more people are going to get into bailsong and stay in it! So awesome job will! I really want that black and red Vulp pro because black and red is the best colors to exist.
My balisong journey hasn’t officially started yet, bc my balis haven’t arrived yet, but I bought a cheap comb one because I thought it would be an interesting thing, saw it had one review *after* buying it, did my research, and bought a squiddy. My interest in Balis came about from a mistake, but hey its a happy accident
My first balisong was a Squid Krake Raken 2.5 with black handles and inked tanto blade. I picked it up at Blade Show West in 2022, simply because I knew they sold out pretty quickly. And then I didn't flip it for an entire year, because I was afraid I would cut myself. 😂
ive had quite a few "first balisongs". Christmas of 2022 i got a little shoddy 12 dollar bali. flipped it a bit and then got one that was about 30 bucks. the 30 dollar one wasnt the greatest but it worked. i then looked for a few budget flippers and found the squiddy. Picked it up and loved it, it was the first good balisong i had. after a few months i wanted a metal trainer. did some research and stumbled upon the vulp. i consider the vulp as my "first trainer" due to it being the first metal knife i had that wasnt straight trash LMAO, but fast forward to now and i have almost 8 knives. My newest being the flytanium lucha, but i have to thank you for allowing me to be so passionate about this hobby and starting my journey into the realm of balisongs!
Wow you actually mentioned me in the video!!! ❤❤❤ Thanks for getting me back into the hobby with your (and brandon's) amazing videos and production quality!
My absolute first balisong was some very cheap CCC from Wish (I believe) back in 2016/2017, it didn't last me very long so I kept on ordering cheap balisongs and obviously I had enough of them breaking at some point, so I stopped. Fast forward to about 3 months ago, I ordered a $20 plastic bali from Temu to try flipping again and that's where it got me really into the hobby. Not long after I got the plastic bali, I ordered myself a B+ Krake Raken clone which I really enjoyed. I started wanting more and more because I just really love the look and I wanna get to feel more balis so the next one I got was a Polaris from Balisongflipping. I enjoyed flipping those two for a while but obviously I ended up getting more balis. So I then ordered two more balis which was an Armed Shark Nautilus v2 and an Apocalypse Prysma. The Nautilus came first and the build quality was definitely a step-up from the previous ones I had. THEN came the Prysma and I fell in love with it, it's my favorite out of the bunch and I already knew I had to get the real deal, so I ordered a Prysma v1 not long after because they had one of their last drops just a few days ago (lucky me), I also ordered a Nabalis Wing as I thought it looked stunning. Now today I actually got my Wing and wow the tolerances are incredible, like, it barely budges at all. Still waiting for my Prysma and I have a feeling it's gonna be my absolute favorite for a long time.
Hey Will! I've been practicing flipping for about three months, here's the story of how I ended up buying a BBSuperfly :) My first balisong was a really old, really dull, really shitty one with very light plastic handles with loose pins for pivots lol. It was my dad's, I've got no idea where he got it but he let me have it and I enjoyed playing with it for a bit eight or so years ago. I learned how to do thumb rollovers and could occasionally land a y2k to aerial, and marveled at people who could do behind the eight ball. I unfortunately don't have it anymore, but I gave it to a friend of mine who was learning tricks with me when my interest shifted mostly to yoyos. Flash forward to a few months ago, and I saw a $15 mall trainer and bought it immediately. I was pleasantly surprised with it, it felt way better than my old one! I still had muscle memory for my thumb rollovers, and surprisingly could pretty consistently land aerials! I'm pretty dexterous and like to throw catch things a lot, so I didn't find it difficult anymore. It probably helps that it was weighted better too lol. After spending like two weeks practicing behind the eight ball on it while it was literally falling apart (the pivot holding the end of the sandwich handle fell out and I lost it, so I wrapped it in tape to make do), I decided to order myself a BBFireFly zx.1 and BOY HOWDY was I in love. I still love that thing, as fat and loud and goofy as it is. Couple weeks after that and after learning a few more tricks, I decided I wanted a more "normal" balisong (as youtube would have me believe that while the Firefly is super fun, it's definitely irregular when it comes to "standard" flipping). I had been really eyeing the Superfly since before I ordered my Firefly, and decided that I would splurge. I am SO GLAD I DID, the Superfly is LOVELY. I adore everything about how it looks, the tolerances came perfect (however it now does need some work as I dropped it a bit too many times and it developed tap), it's so comfy and decently heavy and SO QUIET and I adore it to pieces. I don't need to buy another balisong for a long time either, as this thing is more than good enough for me at my skill level. I would recommend it to anyone who can afford it, beginner or not, as the thing is just spectacular. If anyone knows of a live blade that fits on it please let me know, as it has my favorite looking handles I've ever seen and I'd love to have a live blade version some day.
You should make a video on how to pick a second bali. Like for a beginner that has only 1 thing and doesn’t know what to get from there, because they don’t have the power of comparison
My first balisong was a squiddy but when I think back on my first balisong I think of my vulp! learned nearly everything on it and it was so good that after tuning problems I got a second one, don't regret it even with the first vulp working fine now
I had 2 first balisongs. The nabalis g10 from amazon and also the vulp from amazon! The red and balck one is soo clean! I got in to fliping cuz of your videos!
Way back in '98 a friend of mine let me borrow his Benchmade 259. A year or so later, at a flea market, i bought the ccc version of that knife. Jaguar is the brand, back then they made a lot of clones, before i even knew what a cheap crappie copy was. Still have it in my lock box as part of my collection.
My first Bali was a really thick and heavy ccc my cousin bought me at random 6 years ago. I never really learned to flip or collected until 2 years ago after tokakus video on them and seeing your review for the Morse. Once I realized the level of quality that was accessible to me I've been hooked ever since. Including gifts for friends, I'm 24 balis deep with a Will hirsch case. Love it here.
i started off with a mako in 2022 then I got a squiddy B, sold my mako and got a prysma v1 then I got a madko and I recently just got a Serif Trainer, Love this hobby so much
my first few balisongs were some shitty amazon ones (like a bunch of other comments) for like . . . 30 bucks total. i learned a ton of tricks with it two years ago; all the basic stuff Big Flips had up 2 years ago, a bunch of the intermediate stuff i was picky to learn, and then a couple advanced ones from Big Flips. watching your videos helped me grasp the hobby + community more along with various other youtubers, and then i stopped after all of my crappy ones broke. if anything, i dream to get a good balisong now - i've continued to watch your content and saw you talk about releasing the vulp (lord i wish i could get one) and now we're onto teflon which is super interesting! just noticed this video's 9 months old damn
1) I absolutely LOVE your rants about things such as “the manly man knife hobby” god that had me cracking up. Couldn’t agree with you more. 2) first balisong was a ccc, followed by a Glidr Artic then a Kraken v2. 3) I’ve bought like 3 vulps now to give to friends as their first Bali to get them into the hobby
I’ve been flipping for one year and my first Bali was a 10$ amazon knife that broke in 1 day then I got a squiddy butThe vulp was my first good Balisong I wanna get a vulp pro but I’m broke lol you should send me one for some videos lol 😂 jk
My first balisong was also a cheap mall knife but mine was black instead of gold. It broke when I dropped it for the 1000th time. When my first bali broke I went to the same mall but went to the knife store instead of the "gift shop", saw a Benchmade booth and they had a 41, 51,47, &42. I was an impatient teenager and bought a Bear and Sons cast 3.5" balisong and that also broke years later. Fell out balisongs and focused on knives. Eventaully I was gifted a steel 42 clone, CruWear Smallfly, and an old Benchmade 239b. Recently got back into balisongs and bought a trainer and a cheap live blade. I have a bunch of blank blade steel, G10 and other handle materials. Thinking about making a balisong.
First balisong was a CCC called the "jaguar classic" had it for years and didn't really learn any tricks outside of the basic opening and closing. Got back into the hobby as an adult and bought a BM51 from BHQ in 2018
Just got my first balisong today - a red and black Vulp! My 10-year old son has been flipping for about a year (he started with a cheap no-name $10 Amazon trainer) and after getting a Nautilus and a Vulp for Christmas, he convinced me to get a Vulp for myself to try to learn some tricks with him. He can do chaplins, aerials, and all sorts of tricks I don't know the name of. After much practice today, I can finally open mine without smashing my knuckles with the handles. 😂
My first balisong was some no brand metal one that I got for my birthday. It has helped me to learn the very basics and how to generally mantain the knife. My first quality one after that was Benchmade 51 which probably remains to be my favourite balisong of all time until this day. I have a Ti Basilisk R, Squidtrainer, Replicant, Krake Raken V2.5, the Squiddie and the OG BBBarfly bottle opener, BM67 and a BM43 clone but anytime I come back to my 51, it feels like home. I can do every trick effortessly and I am not afraid to do them. My only gripe with it is that my ti liner has broken and Benchamde no longer has any spare parts so I can't use it with a latch anymore but I flip it without it nowadays anyway. It's been my Baby since day one and I don't think it's gonna change anytime soon. Probably a knife I'll never sell
My first Bali was a random 12 dollar thing I bought off of Amazon because I didn’t do my research. 2 months in, I got a squiddy and I’m so happy it did.
I found your page while researching for my first quality balisong. I ended up getting a kraken. Thank you for putting your knowledge out there for people just getting into the hobby.
My first balisong was the Balipen but my first real one was a mako v2. The first balisong I’ve actually really made value of was the vulp and I really got into the hobby from it
Over thirty years ago, some flea market POS like you did. The Vulp is my roughly tenth bali. I also have a BM51 from back when they were everywhere with flytanium scales.
my first balisong was a CS:GO trainer, I got it around 2017/2018 and immediately learned things like chaplins and y2k. then I just, put down balisongs for a bit, until coming back to it in 2021 where I finally learned the fan and other tricks with a nautilus clone. I would say I am still at the beginner/early intermediate skill level after all these years even with a chal bare bones XD
My first balisong was this crappy amazon trainer that i got for like 5 bucks, but it was good enough to let me do some tricks and get into the hobby. So my "first" balisong (i say that because its the good actual trainer i had ever bought) was the Vulp, and it holds and special place in my heart, and in my collection. Thanks Will
My first balisong was made out of popsicle sticks when I was very young. It was completely impractical, and couldn’t even do a standard opening but it got me into the hobby. Then I started 3-D printing, my own designs, and although they were awful, I was able to start properly learning. My first real knife was the nabalis G10 after hearing you and Brandon recommend it. I don’t have it anymore because I keep lending it to friends to get them into the hobby! Then I got an Antarctic 2, once again after seeing your video on it and I just today, Bought a fellowship blade Gaboon as my first life blade. I may not have gotten into the hobby with a vulp, however, your recommendations, as well as your enthusiasm for the hobby is what really got me into it, so thank you for that. You also made a really good point about the appeal to queer and neurodivergent people, I often recommend the hobby to people in those demographics, and many of them have seen a really big positive impact on their life
Benchmade 62 😮 Waaay too heavy to be a good flipper, but in terms of aesthetics it’s the epitome of what comes into my head when I think of how a Bali looks.
My first was a cheap 2 bali from Amazon, just to see if it was something to get into. I knew they were absolutely terrible in the long run but after a day or two i started looking into good beginner balis. Thats when i found the vulp and eventually this channel. As of writing this, it has been 2 months, loving flipping, and i just ordered the nabalis wing a week ago and am quite excited for it to arrive.
I started with CCC when I was in high school, then dropped the hobby. Picked it up again once I had an income and got a nautilus based purely on the aesthetic.
Just ordered my first balisong trainer, it's the cheese from nebalis. I did own a cheap live edge gas station Bali for years. Very similar to your first one from the mini mall.
My first Balisong was, stupidly, a live blade. It was a crappy live blade that had a blue/purple gradient colorway to it. Of course, me not knowing how to flip it open properly, i did get some nicks on my hand and fingers. Nothing too major, thank god, but i really should've gotten a trainer. I got it back in 2016/17, somewhere around there. It did end up breaking after a month of use. Then I got a CSGO replica knife which was a dull blade. I did learn the standard open, and the icepick open, but to no one's surprise, it did not flip well. A year ago, it broke. Then I got another crappy metal trainer on Amazon for 15 bucks. It still flips somewhat well, but my god, it was SUPER heavy. However, i did get used to the weight. Overtime, It developed a horrible creaking sound in the pivots whenever I flipped it, and i cannot adjust or take out the actual pivots because it's one of those weird ones that hide the pivots, so i'd basically have to break it open to see the pivots. But, i finally got the OG Vulp a month ago, and I cannot put it down. I love it, although the pivot screws keep spinning, so i used Teflon tape, and its good now. I have a Edit Lite coming in the mail soon, so can't wait to flip that. Love your videos, and I hope to see you review either the BRS Replicant or REVO Nexus!
My personal first was the classic white squiddy but i made sure my wife started out with a vulp. I went from the squiddy straight to the prysma v2 and that absolutely blew my mind. Your content really got me into flipping and has been an absolute invaluable resource to me, thanks will!
First Bali was a ccc like 15 years ago. Fell apart and I tossed it. Getting into the community now I got a squiddy U. Within like 3 days I bought a vulp hahaha. Still use both of em like everyday
my very first bali was a cheap comb that literally fell apart seven years ago and i don't have it anymore. then i got a csgo trainer which also fell apart and i don't have anymore. after that i got a brs replicant which has blade rub and stripped pivot screws and broken zen pin screws now. to answer you're question from the last video i got a new sofa from ikea for christmas!
My first balisong is the nn03, its pretty cheap and has turned into a maraca at this point. Someday i was just flipping it and it fell so hard that the floor cracked😂. I was planning to get on to the hobby when i watched a cool balisong video back in 2019 but then i saw the price tags of the balisongs😅. So now i just started 2 months ago and im already pretty decent👌
My first balisong that I ever actually owned was a cheap amazon trainer, but my first balisong that was actually good was the Nabalis g10 trainer thing which I loved and now it's falling apart, so I count the Nabalis g10 as my true first bali that got me to where I am today
I remember being at work with my coworker a few months ago, who just had a bunch and I told him "Knives aren't my thing. I don't think I'd spend more than $10 on one of these guys." He let me borrow his Mamba clone, I took it home and learned the basic opening and quickdraw and I remember I was like "Oh shit.." So yeah, my first balisong was the Nabalis Lightning, and my collection has grown by about $900 and 11 balisongs. Thanks for guiding me into a new hobby.
I got my first Balisong at a vendors mall and it was a insta knives evolution and after learning the basics I noticed it was extremely blade heavy so I added two small nuts to the handles where the pocket clip and latch would be to add some more weight in the handles and then I bought a squiddy b flipped that for a year then bought a kraken trainer and that’s basically been my main flipper I still use the evolution for edc and if I wanna flip a live blade
my first was actually made by myself, it was plastic and the handles were made from a paper fan (look up like paper fan, it's not the traditional Asian paper fan, you'll see what i mean) and the paper was glued to the handles and i ripped the paper out, hot glued the end of a plastic fork to it and it kinda worked as a bali. the thing sucked and was super light but somehow blade heavy, its pivot system doesn't use screws but used plastic sticks? to keep the handles connected. i then got a ccc that is handle heavy bc the handles are steel and the blade (which is a comb) is like aluminum. the screws would get loose every 5 seconds and i had to use my finger to tighten it. i got tired of that and didn't know of and didn't have loctite and put hot glue in the screws (yerrible ik). I'm still using it but it's not great but i can still do a helix on it so it works(ish) I'm planning on getting a vulp soon and i hope that it will help me with my flipping adventure.
ccc comb on amazon, spent like 2 months flipping, decided to get something better, which was a squiddy c clone one ebay (really wanted the original squiddy c but they just went out of production) i spent like 4 months on this thing, then the vulp got announced, so i started saving up for it, then the vulp v2 came out so i decided to get it, its been with me ever since, and i will never forget the feeling of a well tuned balisong without tap or bladerub. Since the vulp v2’s blade recently broke on me, the spine of the blade broke off, it still has enough material to chaplain, but any spine blade tricks are very uncomfortable now, right now as the new year starts, i want to get a vulp pro or a ldy orion (depends on what colors come in stock first and if i even got the money lol). Its been 1yr and 4 months of flipping and im currently at a level where i want to get into more techy flipping but require a better balisong to do these. Ahh I can’t wait to get my hands on a new metal balisong 😭 I’ve also been considering buying a new vulp blade but i feel i’ve been with the vulp for quite a long time so I was curious on how other balisongs felt and wanted to see what all the fuss about the vulp not being able to chaplain is?! Personally its the only thing that can chaplain in my tiny collection so I’m really looking forward to seeing what I’m missing out on! Smaller circles and faster chaplains? Whats that?
My first was a Filipino handmade balisong from Batangas. Blade heavy as FUCK. first good one was a chinese copy and ended up with a rep (modded chinese copy, working on getting a reblade done to get it to full custom) rn. bought a 51 blade (chinese copy too, at least it's discontinued and has bushings) and some titanium, should be making some rehandles for personal use in a month. Side note, I live in the Philippines. the hobby is still very much a MANLY MAN KNIFE world. But I was shocked once I started flipping at a party because my ass was socially exhausted the gay dude from my class got interested in the rep lmfao.
That's such a cool way to have started from my perspective, as someone where a real Filipino handmade balisong is relatively inaccessible! I also started with some clones back in the day, including the Rep and 51, and they led me into learning a lot about modding, so they do still have their place as options!
@@WillHirschFlipsi have thought about making a filipino style set from aluminum U channel, capiz shell and some excess ti from the handle project. maybe in the future future. i like the handle feel and shape of the Filipino handmade ones but really hate the balance and how the handles cut you a lot. clones are more of a monetary limit, though i know people who have imported real squid stuff. I've gotten blem handles as well, not on a real blade unfortunately, stuff costs half my laptop after taxes and shipping, hardware from truelink will often cost 5x as much. college kid money will not keep up even after part time work, so i just decided to finally tool up and become self sustaining balisong wise.
my first balisong was this weird pakistan-made bali from the 70's-80's i found at an antique shop that was sandwich and the pivots were pins rather than barrels, it was far from good but it got me into being a collector. i blame my poor financial choices on that $10 thing
my first was a silly old 1970s liveblade balisong but my first real flippable balisong was an OG squiddy looking back i wish i had sprung for the squiddy B instead :p
its kinda funny because my first live blade is a ccc that i still have from my dad, but my first balisong in general was a trainer ccc i gave to a friend before he moved away
I got into flipping a little over a week ago after just thinking about it for a long time. The one I got is just a cheap mall trainer, it has a lot of play just like the one you showed. I'm learning the first few tricks, and I'm hoping that if I stick with it long enough, I can find an opportunity to buy a much better one. I'm always fidgeting, so I figured this would be a good hobby for me to get into.
@@WillHirschFlips i had probably 2-3 knives at the time (most notably a zero tolerance) and was ready to venture into balisongs. this entire time i have had a personal connection to hinderer, and was stoked to hear that they made a flippable balisong! that allowed me to both support hinderer and get a competent flipper, and it’ll always be a staple in my collection.
My first balisong was an exiled cutlery fu42 with the 43’s bowie blade. Trainers have their place in learning, you just haven’t mastered I trick till you can do it on a live blade
I love that! It's so interesting how people dive like, super deep into this hobby after getting a pretty cheap starter thing. Balisongs hit different fr
I don't yet have a balisong (I only flip a weird lego technic one that I made few years ago and that I improved over time), but I'm thinking about buying a MachineWise Prysma Pro in green. I really don't know if this is a better purchase than the vulp since I have the budget for both, but I really hope that I will be enjoying the (real part of the) hobby on either of those knives (and by the way you also are, for me, the person who got me really interested about balisongs and got me to actually remain interested despite my unfortunate lack of knife) the
It would make flipping, flipping hard if we didn’t have trainers because we’re not allowed live blades in England. My first balisong was the one you recommended off Amazon with the g10 handles and the curvy blade, it was great, I also really enjoyed following your video on tuning it etc 👍 also what you say about all people being special is true, God created you individual and unique and He loves you (John 3:16) and He blesses us everyday with family, friends, food, clothing etc so yes we are greatly blessed 🙏🏻 just want to thank you aswell for the blessing you have been to me, I am awaiting a kidney and pancreas transplant and dialysis so I am spending a lot of time in hospital and I have been watching your videos and it really helps, so thank you 🙏🏻
the vulp was almost my first bali but I cheaped out a little and got myself a lightning a couple months ago haha. Though I do now carry a vulp pro around!
My first balisong was technically a squiddy-B that I got for free at an airsoft game. I had wanted to get into balisongs for so long and knew nothing about them. I didnt realize at first how lucky I was to get a quality flipper for free like that. Later on though, and huge thanks to you and your reviews, I ended up buying my first one. That being a beautiful triton V2. (Since then Ive gotten a kraken and nautilus :p)
My first balisong was a one I made with popsicle sticks. I used it to learn basic openings and I even learned the y2k on it. I think everyone should make one with popsicle sticks or buy a cheap one just to see if they enjoy the hobby before buying any balis over $30. Just my couple of cents. After the popsicle bali, I purchased a cheap metal one from amazon from a company by the name of "moon boat" that was super chonky. It had really thick handles, no pins, and felt like it was made of solid iron. I flipped that one for a while until one of the handles flew off while doing an aerial. I learned a few basic tricks like the wrist pass on that one. I also accidentally brought it through TSA while it was in my pocket and that was a really unfun experience. Anyways, After that I bought a Boker Plus balisong from Blade HQ for ~$50 because it was the only option that was better than cheap amazon but not over $100. Had that one for about a year and learned other slightly more advanced tricks on it like behind the 8 ball, helix, reverse index roll, orbit, etc.. It was good but it was sharp in a lot of weird places like on the latch (which I ended up taking off anyway) and the throughmills in the g10. After that I bought my flamingo Glidr Arctic when the drop for it came about 2 or 3 years ago I believe. Its been my main flipper ever since. I took a break from flipping for a while because I was entering college at the time so I still have a lot of improvement to go before I can safely consider myself a "good flipper". So anyways I just bought a vulp yesterday and it should arrive tomorrow. I bought it because of the maintenance tools that comes with it and also because I have yet to ever flip a channel construction balisong. I like the way they look a lot better than the sandwich ones so I am very excited to flip it when I recieve it tomorrow. ;D
The Vulp is my first- happened exactly like you mentioned, I discovered balisongs through some friends cute novelty flippers and started doing research, found your channel and the vulp and then my boyfriend got me one for christmas! Still waiting for it to arrive, Australian shipping is miserable but I'm really excited to take it to Furdu and get more people into them hahah.
My first balisong was a cheap amazon trainer for 5 bucks but i quickly upgraded to a Marcolo Comet (mostly due to the Vulp not being available on amazon at that time) and I recently got myself a Vulp. I really like the Vulp and i would say objectively it's better than the Comet but the Comet still has the "first balisong" feel to it.
My very first was decades ago and it was some Chinese gas station piece of crap. But my real first as of being an adult and learning to actually flip, I picked something I was literally told not to get for my first lol. I bought a vulp pro for my first. I’m a week in and have no regrets about the decision.
first Balisong was 15 dollar live blade from flea market in 2005(basic opens and closes only..I was in a moped gang and we flipped when we worked on bikes)..lost in a flood..jump to two years ago.. got a mtech dragon for 15 dollar at a flea..then got a squiddy b ti mod one year ago!learned tricks ..got a nabalis morse..then a Marcolo comet ,then bionic osi,then finally triton v2 inked!im a beginner one year in flipping got me hooked!thanks to the community to learn !
that would be cool but I’m a beginner and want to wait to up some flipping video..I learn only from UA-cam so it takes awhile ..u know what a loki roll is?can u describe for me?@@Balibalistic
@@fasterdetail I don’t know what that is but there are plenty of tutorials on UA-cam I also have a app called balisong mastery and it are a bunch of balisong tutorials for beginners intermediates and advanced there are also maintenance videos on it.
i got myself the kuno for chrismas and as a "present" a trip to japan with my family. and btw my first balisong was besides a lego one i build myself, also the vulp. beat regards from germany ;)
I started about a month ago. My first balisong was a pin only 9 $ metal amazon bañisong, and second was a plastic amazon clone. I am a neurodivergent pansexual man who fidget objects really help me with alot of aspects in my life. Ive been into cubing and tons of other fidgets for years. Balisong feels natural. Thanks will for being awesome.
First balisong is actually a pair that arrived today. I got a Wing and a Vulp Pro. Canyon is on the way too. No idea what I'm doing, but the hobby looked fun. :D
I got my first 2 Balisong off of Amazon for like $12 when I was 13, they lasted me very shortly and then I lost them for several years. I went to TN and found a cheap live blade at a souvenir shop in 2023 when I was 20 and thought it was so cool, then I went to the World’s largest knife shop in TN and got a really nice heavy live blade. I did some basic openings with those that I had learned, and then I found your channel. After a few weeks of watching your videos and getting into the community, I bought the Vulp! It BLEW MY MIND!! It was the first real Balisong, meant for flipping, that I had ever held or flipped and it got me HOOKED! I flipped that for 2 months every single day and then I purchased the winter nautilus v2 and fell in love all over again! I plan on acquiring many more Balisongs as I learn more tricks and get better at flipping.
I once visited that shop in TN lol, wish I thought to get one then!
Why does the first half sound exactly like me
just picked up my squidtrainer v4 and learned y2k, chaplin, ice pick, all the beginner stuff in about a day. Very good flipper. EDIT: THANK YOU Will because i didn't like balisongs before ur videos
That's so awesome, and I'm so glad you found this hobby!!
Those slippers are great! Thanks for the video too!
Thank you! So glad people have liked them haha
@@WillHirschFlipsWHERE DID YOU BUY THEM
My first is this awful little all steel pin-driven job I got at a festival last July. Thing weighs like a pound and is almost impossible to flip cause the handles are so, so heavy.
Then, in December, I found it in a drawer and decided I wanted to learn to open it. I had no idea you could do flashy fancy tricks with these until looking at all these UA-cam videos...
Then I saw your reviews and saw you do all of those tricks (and sometimes drop the balisong), and talk about it with all of that passion and explain what makes a good balisong good, and then Brandon popped up for a gag, and it clicked something over in my head that just hooked me. You dragged me into my first good hyperfixation in half a decade. Love the videos, love the sheer positivity yall exude.
And I absolutely adore my Vulp, which was the first "good" balisong I bought. I have another cheap trainer I bought that was *okay,* but it's loaned off to a friend right now.
But yeah, first good bali was the Vulp, and your videos were absolutely what pulled me all the way into this hobby.
Stay awesome, man!
Well this just popped up... Very nice o stopped collecting em about 9 or 10 years ago... Im glad more peeps are making em now
My first balisong was a brandon color vulp that I got in feburary bc they didn't have the green that I wanted. I later upgraded and got a kraken and then a slift and now all I have is my good ol Slift-P with zippy inserts.
My first Balisong is going to be the Vulp. I don’t have it yet but it’s supposed to arrive on Tuesday and I can’t wait!
I agree so much with you dude! Thank you for making the Vulp because I had the same quality of my first bailsong as yours will! But having the Vulp is great because now so much more people are going to get into bailsong and stay in it! So awesome job will! I really want that black and red Vulp pro because black and red is the best colors to exist.
Thank you!!
My first balisong was a lego balisong, then benchmade trainer clone, now I have a Madko.
omg I forgot about my real first balisong I made out of paper haha!!
I see the freakin Squiddy-WH underneath the pile of balisongs at 0:35. He wasn't lying that he was teasing it
My first ever balisong…. A blue CSGO Bali from Amazon…. Yup. But my first great balisong, Squidtrainer v2.5. Which I still have.
My balisong journey hasn’t officially started yet, bc my balis haven’t arrived yet, but I bought a cheap comb one because I thought it would be an interesting thing, saw it had one review *after* buying it, did my research, and bought a squiddy. My interest in Balis came about from a mistake, but hey its a happy accident
My first balisong was a Squid Krake Raken 2.5 with black handles and inked tanto blade. I picked it up at Blade Show West in 2022, simply because I knew they sold out pretty quickly. And then I didn't flip it for an entire year, because I was afraid I would cut myself. 😂
The fact that you got the widely considered "best balisong" as your first is awesome. Most people waste their money on CCCs when they start out
@@ChilI11what are cccs
@@zebramuffins6304 Cheap Chinese Crap. Just basic amazon 10 dollar balis
@@zebramuffins6304 cheap chineese crap
ive had quite a few "first balisongs". Christmas of 2022 i got a little shoddy 12 dollar bali. flipped it a bit and then got one that was about 30 bucks. the 30 dollar one wasnt the greatest but it worked. i then looked for a few budget flippers and found the squiddy. Picked it up and loved it, it was the first good balisong i had. after a few months i wanted a metal trainer. did some research and stumbled upon the vulp. i consider the vulp as my "first trainer" due to it being the first metal knife i had that wasnt straight trash LMAO, but fast forward to now and i have almost 8 knives. My newest being the flytanium lucha, but i have to thank you for allowing me to be so passionate about this hobby and starting my journey into the realm of balisongs!
Fox mini butterfly.
In terms of something people can actually flip with, It was either a BM43 or a CSAA, we kinda don't have options back then.
Wow you actually mentioned me in the video!!! ❤❤❤ Thanks for getting me back into the hobby with your (and brandon's) amazing videos and production quality!
Thank you for watching!!!
My first Balisong was the vulp! I just got it and started flipping this week. I’m very happy and excited!
That's so exciting! I hope your journey in the hobby goes well!!
My first balisong was a $15 flea market balisong from my grandmother in 2015
My absolute first balisong was some very cheap CCC from Wish (I believe) back in 2016/2017, it didn't last me very long so I kept on ordering cheap balisongs and obviously I had enough of them breaking at some point, so I stopped. Fast forward to about 3 months ago, I ordered a $20 plastic bali from Temu to try flipping again and that's where it got me really into the hobby. Not long after I got the plastic bali, I ordered myself a B+ Krake Raken clone which I really enjoyed. I started wanting more and more because I just really love the look and I wanna get to feel more balis so the next one I got was a Polaris from Balisongflipping. I enjoyed flipping those two for a while but obviously I ended up getting more balis. So I then ordered two more balis which was an Armed Shark Nautilus v2 and an Apocalypse Prysma. The Nautilus came first and the build quality was definitely a step-up from the previous ones I had. THEN came the Prysma and I fell in love with it, it's my favorite out of the bunch and I already knew I had to get the real deal, so I ordered a Prysma v1 not long after because they had one of their last drops just a few days ago (lucky me), I also ordered a Nabalis Wing as I thought it looked stunning. Now today I actually got my Wing and wow the tolerances are incredible, like, it barely budges at all. Still waiting for my Prysma and I have a feeling it's gonna be my absolute favorite for a long time.
Hey Will! I've been practicing flipping for about three months, here's the story of how I ended up buying a BBSuperfly :)
My first balisong was a really old, really dull, really shitty one with very light plastic handles with loose pins for pivots lol. It was my dad's, I've got no idea where he got it but he let me have it and I enjoyed playing with it for a bit eight or so years ago. I learned how to do thumb rollovers and could occasionally land a y2k to aerial, and marveled at people who could do behind the eight ball. I unfortunately don't have it anymore, but I gave it to a friend of mine who was learning tricks with me when my interest shifted mostly to yoyos.
Flash forward to a few months ago, and I saw a $15 mall trainer and bought it immediately. I was pleasantly surprised with it, it felt way better than my old one! I still had muscle memory for my thumb rollovers, and surprisingly could pretty consistently land aerials! I'm pretty dexterous and like to throw catch things a lot, so I didn't find it difficult anymore. It probably helps that it was weighted better too lol. After spending like two weeks practicing behind the eight ball on it while it was literally falling apart (the pivot holding the end of the sandwich handle fell out and I lost it, so I wrapped it in tape to make do), I decided to order myself a BBFireFly zx.1 and BOY HOWDY was I in love. I still love that thing, as fat and loud and goofy as it is.
Couple weeks after that and after learning a few more tricks, I decided I wanted a more "normal" balisong (as youtube would have me believe that while the Firefly is super fun, it's definitely irregular when it comes to "standard" flipping). I had been really eyeing the Superfly since before I ordered my Firefly, and decided that I would splurge. I am SO GLAD I DID, the Superfly is LOVELY. I adore everything about how it looks, the tolerances came perfect (however it now does need some work as I dropped it a bit too many times and it developed tap), it's so comfy and decently heavy and SO QUIET and I adore it to pieces. I don't need to buy another balisong for a long time either, as this thing is more than good enough for me at my skill level. I would recommend it to anyone who can afford it, beginner or not, as the thing is just spectacular. If anyone knows of a live blade that fits on it please let me know, as it has my favorite looking handles I've ever seen and I'd love to have a live blade version some day.
You should make a video on how to pick a second bali. Like for a beginner that has only 1 thing and doesn’t know what to get from there, because they don’t have the power of comparison
The Vulp was my first balisong
My first balisong was a squiddy but when I think back on my first balisong I think of my vulp! learned nearly everything on it and it was so good that after tuning problems I got a second one, don't regret it even with the first vulp working fine now
first bali was a ccc comb, learnt some good tricks on it, and bought my first live blade, it was a localy made live blade which flips pretty well
I have had a number of really cheap CCC combs and I loved all of them back in the day
I had 2 first balisongs. The nabalis g10 from amazon and also the vulp from amazon! The red and balck one is soo clean! I got in to fliping cuz of your videos!
How big of a difference are they? I have the G10 and I'm looking at the vulp rn.
Way back in '98 a friend of mine let me borrow his Benchmade 259. A year or so later, at a flea market, i bought the ccc version of that knife. Jaguar is the brand, back then they made a lot of clones, before i even knew what a cheap crappie copy was. Still have it in my lock box as part of my collection.
That's awesome, a very classic way of being introduced to the hobby!
My first Bali was a really thick and heavy ccc my cousin bought me at random 6 years ago. I never really learned to flip or collected until 2 years ago after tokakus video on them and seeing your review for the Morse. Once I realized the level of quality that was accessible to me I've been hooked ever since. Including gifts for friends, I'm 24 balis deep with a Will hirsch case. Love it here.
i started off with a mako in 2022 then I got a squiddy B, sold my mako and got a prysma v1 then I got a madko and I recently just got a Serif Trainer, Love this hobby so much
my first few balisongs were some shitty amazon ones (like a bunch of other comments) for like . . . 30 bucks total. i learned a ton of tricks with it two years ago; all the basic stuff Big Flips had up 2 years ago, a bunch of the intermediate stuff i was picky to learn, and then a couple advanced ones from Big Flips. watching your videos helped me grasp the hobby + community more along with various other youtubers, and then i stopped after all of my crappy ones broke. if anything, i dream to get a good balisong now - i've continued to watch your content and saw you talk about releasing the vulp (lord i wish i could get one) and now we're onto teflon which is super interesting!
just noticed this video's 9 months old damn
1) I absolutely LOVE your rants about things such as “the manly man knife hobby” god that had me cracking up. Couldn’t agree with you more.
2) first balisong was a ccc, followed by a Glidr Artic then a Kraken v2.
3) I’ve bought like 3 vulps now to give to friends as their first Bali to get them into the hobby
I’ve been flipping for one year and my first Bali was a 10$ amazon knife that broke in 1 day then I got a squiddy butThe vulp was my first good Balisong I wanna get a vulp pro but I’m broke lol you should send me one for some videos lol 😂 jk
Ahhh yes those $10 amazon knife vibes, classic
My first was a flea market special in 2007 and when I really started flipping I got a squiddy and kraken trainer
My first balisong was also a cheap mall knife but mine was black instead of gold. It broke when I dropped it for the 1000th time. When my first bali broke I went to the same mall but went to the knife store instead of the "gift shop", saw a Benchmade booth and they had a 41, 51,47, &42. I was an impatient teenager and bought a Bear and Sons cast 3.5" balisong and that also broke years later. Fell out balisongs and focused on knives. Eventaully I was gifted a steel 42 clone, CruWear Smallfly, and an old Benchmade 239b. Recently got back into balisongs and bought a trainer and a cheap live blade.
I have a bunch of blank blade steel, G10 and other handle materials. Thinking about making a balisong.
Every one is able to flip their first balisong almost perfectly
I love watching some of the korean flippers with cheap steel and chinese knives, doing like 7 scissors in a row on them
My first balisong was a cheap comb bali. Upgraded to a Böker trainer, and then my first live blade was a benchmade 62.
First balisong was a CCC called the "jaguar classic" had it for years and didn't really learn any tricks outside of the basic opening and closing. Got back into the hobby as an adult and bought a BM51 from BHQ in 2018
Just got my first balisong today - a red and black Vulp! My 10-year old son has been flipping for about a year (he started with a cheap no-name $10 Amazon trainer) and after getting a Nautilus and a Vulp for Christmas, he convinced me to get a Vulp for myself to try to learn some tricks with him.
He can do chaplins, aerials, and all sorts of tricks I don't know the name of. After much practice today, I can finally open mine without smashing my knuckles with the handles. 😂
My first balisong was some no brand metal one that I got for my birthday. It has helped me to learn the very basics and how to generally mantain the knife. My first quality one after that was Benchmade 51 which probably remains to be my favourite balisong of all time until this day. I have a Ti Basilisk R, Squidtrainer, Replicant, Krake Raken V2.5, the Squiddie and the OG BBBarfly bottle opener, BM67 and a BM43 clone but anytime I come back to my 51, it feels like home. I can do every trick effortessly and I am not afraid to do them. My only gripe with it is that my ti liner has broken and Benchamde no longer has any spare parts so I can't use it with a latch anymore but I flip it without it nowadays anyway. It's been my Baby since day one and I don't think it's gonna change anytime soon. Probably a knife I'll never sell
My first Bali was a random 12 dollar thing I bought off of Amazon because I didn’t do my research. 2 months in, I got a squiddy and I’m so happy it did.
I found your page while researching for my first quality balisong. I ended up getting a kraken. Thank you for putting your knowledge out there for people just getting into the hobby.
My first balisong was the Balipen but my first real one was a mako v2. The first balisong I’ve actually really made value of was the vulp and I really got into the hobby from it
My first trains were the csgo trainers and a cheap black one. Eventually I got a squiddy and learned everything from there so yea 😂
Over thirty years ago, some flea market POS like you did. The Vulp is my roughly tenth bali. I also have a BM51 from back when they were everywhere with flytanium scales.
my first balisong was a CS:GO trainer, I got it around 2017/2018 and immediately learned things like chaplins and y2k. then I just, put down balisongs for a bit, until coming back to it in 2021 where I finally learned the fan and other tricks with a nautilus clone. I would say I am still at the beginner/early intermediate skill level after all these years even with a chal bare bones XD
my first bali was a brandon vulp and a 2023 white squiddy love them so much learned a lot on both
My first balisong was this crappy amazon trainer that i got for like 5 bucks, but it was good enough to let me do some tricks and get into the hobby. So my "first" balisong (i say that because its the good actual trainer i had ever bought) was the Vulp, and it holds and special place in my heart, and in my collection. Thanks Will
My first balisong was made out of popsicle sticks when I was very young. It was completely impractical, and couldn’t even do a standard opening but it got me into the hobby. Then I started 3-D printing, my own designs, and although they were awful, I was able to start properly learning.
My first real knife was the nabalis G10 after hearing you and Brandon recommend it. I don’t have it anymore because I keep lending it to friends to get them into the hobby!
Then I got an Antarctic 2, once again after seeing your video on it and I just today, Bought a fellowship blade Gaboon as my first life blade.
I may not have gotten into the hobby with a vulp, however, your recommendations, as well as your enthusiasm for the hobby is what really got me into it, so thank you for that.
You also made a really good point about the appeal to queer and neurodivergent people, I often recommend the hobby to people in those demographics, and many of them have seen a really big positive impact on their life
just bought the Nautalis V2 in Teal, first bali since my friends brother bought me one from a pawn shop when i was in middle school.
Benchmade 62 😮
Waaay too heavy to be a good flipper, but in terms of aesthetics it’s the epitome of what comes into my head when I think of how a Bali looks.
My first was a cheap 2 bali from Amazon, just to see if it was something to get into. I knew they were absolutely terrible in the long run but after a day or two i started looking into good beginner balis. Thats when i found the vulp and eventually this channel. As of writing this, it has been 2 months, loving flipping, and i just ordered the nabalis wing a week ago and am quite excited for it to arrive.
My first was a falcon, bought it for myself and had a blast, still have it today.
I started with CCC when I was in high school, then dropped the hobby. Picked it up again once I had an income and got a nautilus based purely on the aesthetic.
Just ordered my first balisong trainer, it's the cheese from nebalis. I did own a cheap live edge gas station Bali for years. Very similar to your first one from the mini mall.
My first Balisong was, stupidly, a live blade. It was a crappy live blade that had a blue/purple gradient colorway to it. Of course, me not knowing how to flip it open properly, i did get some nicks on my hand and fingers. Nothing too major, thank god, but i really should've gotten a trainer. I got it back in 2016/17, somewhere around there. It did end up breaking after a month of use.
Then I got a CSGO replica knife which was a dull blade. I did learn the standard open, and the icepick open, but to no one's surprise, it did not flip well. A year ago, it broke. Then I got another crappy metal trainer on Amazon for 15 bucks. It still flips somewhat well, but my god, it was SUPER heavy. However, i did get used to the weight. Overtime, It developed a horrible creaking sound in the pivots whenever I flipped it, and i cannot adjust or take out the actual pivots because it's one of those weird ones that hide the pivots, so i'd basically have to break it open to see the pivots.
But, i finally got the OG Vulp a month ago, and I cannot put it down. I love it, although the pivot screws keep spinning, so i used Teflon tape, and its good now. I have a Edit Lite coming in the mail soon, so can't wait to flip that. Love your videos, and I hope to see you review either the BRS Replicant or REVO Nexus!
That's an awesome journey for real! I'm glad you've stayed with it and are enjoying your Vulp, I think you'll really like the Edit Lite too!
My personal first was the classic white squiddy but i made sure my wife started out with a vulp. I went from the squiddy straight to the prysma v2 and that absolutely blew my mind. Your content really got me into flipping and has been an absolute invaluable resource to me, thanks will!
my first balisong i brought a few months ago, was a 1$ trainer from amazon, lubed up and all
I like your new carpet
I'm really happy with it! I think the pop of color is nice and it's a lot more comfy to stand on then the wood was
Just ordered my first mako v4.5 and I can’t wait for it to arrive
But my first knife was a little pos knife that I bought from Amazon
First Bali was a ccc like 15 years ago. Fell apart and I tossed it. Getting into the community now I got a squiddy U. Within like 3 days I bought a vulp hahaha. Still use both of em like everyday
my very first bali was a cheap comb that literally fell apart seven years ago and i don't have it anymore. then i got a csgo trainer which also fell apart and i don't have anymore. after that i got a brs replicant which has blade rub and stripped pivot screws and broken zen pin screws now. to answer you're question from the last video i got a new sofa from ikea for christmas!
My first balisong is the nn03, its pretty cheap and has turned into a maraca at this point. Someday i was just flipping it and it fell so hard that the floor cracked😂. I was planning to get on to the hobby when i watched a cool balisong video back in 2019 but then i saw the price tags of the balisongs😅. So now i just started 2 months ago and im already pretty decent👌
My first balisong that I ever actually owned was a cheap amazon trainer, but my first balisong that was actually good was the Nabalis g10 trainer thing which I loved and now it's falling apart, so I count the Nabalis g10 as my true first bali that got me to where I am today
My first balisong/butterfly knife is a tamper steel coloured butterfly knife rainbow off of takealot which is a south African vision of Amazon
I remember being at work with my coworker a few months ago, who just had a bunch and I told him "Knives aren't my thing. I don't think I'd spend more than $10 on one of these guys." He let me borrow his Mamba clone, I took it home and learned the basic opening and quickdraw and I remember I was like "Oh shit.." So yeah, my first balisong was the Nabalis Lightning, and my collection has grown by about $900 and 11 balisongs. Thanks for guiding me into a new hobby.
I got my first Balisong at a vendors mall and it was a insta knives evolution and after learning the basics I noticed it was extremely blade heavy so I added two small nuts to the handles where the pocket clip and latch would be to add some more weight in the handles and then I bought a squiddy b flipped that for a year then bought a kraken trainer and that’s basically been my main flipper I still use the evolution for edc and if I wanna flip a live blade
my first was actually made by myself, it was plastic and the handles were made from a paper fan (look up like paper fan, it's not the traditional Asian paper fan, you'll see what i mean) and the paper was glued to the handles and i ripped the paper out, hot glued the end of a plastic fork to it and it kinda worked as a bali. the thing sucked and was super light but somehow blade heavy, its pivot system doesn't use screws but used plastic sticks? to keep the handles connected.
i then got a ccc that is handle heavy bc the handles are steel and the blade (which is a comb) is like aluminum. the screws would get loose every 5 seconds and i had to use my finger to tighten it. i got tired of that and didn't know of and didn't have loctite and put hot glue in the screws (yerrible ik). I'm still using it but it's not great but i can still do a helix on it so it works(ish)
I'm planning on getting a vulp soon and i hope that it will help me with my flipping adventure.
Yup my first is the vulp
That's awesome!
My first Bali song is a rainbow metal Amazon balisong it’s super similar to the 8 dollar one that was really big a couple years ago
ccc comb on amazon, spent like 2 months flipping, decided to get something better, which was a squiddy c clone one ebay (really wanted the original squiddy c but they just went out of production) i spent like 4 months on this thing, then the vulp got announced, so i started saving up for it, then the vulp v2 came out so i decided to get it, its been with me ever since, and i will never forget the feeling of a well tuned balisong without tap or bladerub. Since the vulp v2’s blade recently broke on me, the spine of the blade broke off, it still has enough material to chaplain, but any spine blade tricks are very uncomfortable now, right now as the new year starts, i want to get a vulp pro or a ldy orion (depends on what colors come in stock first and if i even got the money lol). Its been 1yr and 4 months of flipping and im currently at a level where i want to get into more techy flipping but require a better balisong to do these. Ahh I can’t wait to get my hands on a new metal balisong 😭 I’ve also been considering buying a new vulp blade but i feel i’ve been with the vulp for quite a long time so I was curious on how other balisongs felt and wanted to see what all the fuss about the vulp not being able to chaplain is?! Personally its the only thing that can chaplain in my tiny collection so I’m really looking forward to seeing what I’m missing out on! Smaller circles and faster chaplains? Whats that?
My first was a Filipino handmade balisong from Batangas. Blade heavy as FUCK.
first good one was a chinese copy and ended up with a rep (modded chinese copy, working on getting a reblade done to get it to full custom) rn.
bought a 51 blade (chinese copy too, at least it's discontinued and has bushings) and some titanium, should be making some rehandles for personal use in a month.
Side note, I live in the Philippines. the hobby is still very much a MANLY MAN KNIFE world. But I was shocked once I started flipping at a party because my ass was socially exhausted the gay dude from my class got interested in the rep lmfao.
That's such a cool way to have started from my perspective, as someone where a real Filipino handmade balisong is relatively inaccessible! I also started with some clones back in the day, including the Rep and 51, and they led me into learning a lot about modding, so they do still have their place as options!
@@WillHirschFlipsi have thought about making a filipino style set from aluminum U channel, capiz shell and some excess ti from the handle project. maybe in the future future. i like the handle feel and shape of the Filipino handmade ones but really hate the balance and how the handles cut you a lot.
clones are more of a monetary limit, though i know people who have imported real squid stuff. I've gotten blem handles as well, not on a real blade unfortunately, stuff costs half my laptop after taxes and shipping, hardware from truelink will often cost 5x as much. college kid money will not keep up even after part time work, so i just decided to finally tool up and become self sustaining balisong wise.
I started with the vulp and then i went straight to a kraken and i just got my prysma pro
That's a great path tbh
@@WillHirschFlips thanks
my first balisong was a 3d printed one that my friend printed for me :)
That's super cool actually!
@@WillHirschFlips you are the first major u tuber that has replied to me... thank you sm
my first balisong was this weird pakistan-made bali from the 70's-80's i found at an antique shop that was sandwich and the pivots were pins rather than barrels, it was far from good but it got me into being a collector. i blame my poor financial choices on that $10 thing
either your first balisong is one a youtuber recommended or a sandwich aluminum balisong with a tool steel blade
my first was a silly old 1970s liveblade balisong but my first real flippable balisong was an OG squiddy
looking back i wish i had sprung for the squiddy B instead :p
its kinda funny because my first live blade is a ccc that i still have from my dad, but my first balisong in general was a trainer ccc i gave to a friend before he moved away
I got into flipping a little over a week ago after just thinking about it for a long time. The one I got is just a cheap mall trainer, it has a lot of play just like the one you showed. I'm learning the first few tricks, and I'm hoping that if I stick with it long enough, I can find an opportunity to buy a much better one. I'm always fidgeting, so I figured this would be a good hobby for me to get into.
My first bali was the mako v4. I believe you did a review at squids shop and that was how I discovered you and made my choice
That's so cool!!
I started flipping with my friends squidy-b i learned the behind the 8 ball on it and i bought the vulp for myself to flip more
My first balisong that I owned is the arctic because of your review
Yesss that's a great first option
my first real bali was a hinderer nieves v3.
4.9oz, 10”, bushings, s35vn/titanium, sandwich, handle biased, and also a mid-tech
Oh that's a wild one to start with! Were you already into knives or was this your first foray into the hobby at all?
@@WillHirschFlips i had probably 2-3 knives at the time (most notably a zero tolerance) and was ready to venture into balisongs. this entire time i have had a personal connection to hinderer, and was stoked to hear that they made a flippable balisong! that allowed me to both support hinderer and get a competent flipper, and it’ll always be a staple in my collection.
My first balisong was an exiled cutlery fu42 with the 43’s bowie blade. Trainers have their place in learning, you just haven’t mastered I trick till you can do it on a live blade
started on a triton, now i own several grails but my favorite is by far my cygnus on cf scales
I love that! It's so interesting how people dive like, super deep into this hobby after getting a pretty cheap starter thing. Balisongs hit different fr
I don't yet have a balisong (I only flip a weird lego technic one that I made few years ago and that I improved over time), but I'm thinking about buying a MachineWise Prysma Pro in green. I really don't know if this is a better purchase than the vulp since I have the budget for both, but I really hope that I will be enjoying the (real part of the) hobby on either of those knives (and by the way you also are, for me, the person who got me really interested about balisongs and got me to actually remain interested despite my unfortunate lack of knife) the
Get the Prysma Pro! It's so good, I think I like it better than my live Krake Raken
I bought a theone bm42 in 2014. There was only BRS available. I gave up on the hobby until this year when i discovered the vulp. You gave me hope!
It would make flipping, flipping hard if we didn’t have trainers because we’re not allowed live blades in England. My first balisong was the one you recommended off Amazon with the g10 handles and the curvy blade, it was great, I also really enjoyed following your video on tuning it etc 👍 also what you say about all people being special is true, God created you individual and unique and He loves you (John 3:16) and He blesses us everyday with family, friends, food, clothing etc so yes we are greatly blessed 🙏🏻 just want to thank you aswell for the blessing you have been to me, I am awaiting a kidney and pancreas transplant and dialysis so I am spending a lot of time in hospital and I have been watching your videos and it really helps, so thank you 🙏🏻
the vulp was almost my first bali but I cheaped out a little and got myself a lightning a couple months ago haha. Though I do now carry a vulp pro around!
My first balisong was technically a squiddy-B that I got for free at an airsoft game. I had wanted to get into balisongs for so long and knew nothing about them. I didnt realize at first how lucky I was to get a quality flipper for free like that.
Later on though, and huge thanks to you and your reviews, I ended up buying my first one. That being a beautiful triton V2.
(Since then Ive gotten a kraken and nautilus :p)
My first balisong was a one I made with popsicle sticks. I used it to learn basic openings and I even learned the y2k on it. I think everyone should make one with popsicle sticks or buy a cheap one just to see if they enjoy the hobby before buying any balis over $30. Just my couple of cents.
After the popsicle bali, I purchased a cheap metal one from amazon from a company by the name of "moon boat" that was super chonky. It had really thick handles, no pins, and felt like it was made of solid iron. I flipped that one for a while until one of the handles flew off while doing an aerial. I learned a few basic tricks like the wrist pass on that one. I also accidentally brought it through TSA while it was in my pocket and that was a really unfun experience.
Anyways, After that I bought a Boker Plus balisong from Blade HQ for ~$50 because it was the only option that was better than cheap amazon but not over $100. Had that one for about a year and learned other slightly more advanced tricks on it like behind the 8 ball, helix, reverse index roll, orbit, etc.. It was good but it was sharp in a lot of weird places like on the latch (which I ended up taking off anyway) and the throughmills in the g10. After that I bought my flamingo Glidr Arctic when the drop for it came about 2 or 3 years ago I believe. Its been my main flipper ever since. I took a break from flipping for a while because I was entering college at the time so I still have a lot of improvement to go before I can safely consider myself a "good flipper".
So anyways I just bought a vulp yesterday and it should arrive tomorrow. I bought it because of the maintenance tools that comes with it and also because I have yet to ever flip a channel construction balisong. I like the way they look a lot better than the sandwich ones so I am very excited to flip it when I recieve it tomorrow. ;D
The Vulp is my first- happened exactly like you mentioned, I discovered balisongs through some friends cute novelty flippers and started doing research, found your channel and the vulp and then my boyfriend got me one for christmas!
Still waiting for it to arrive, Australian shipping is miserable but I'm really excited to take it to Furdu and get more people into them hahah.
admittedly, I’m very crazy and I bought my first butterfly knife as an nautilus now the second one I’m getting very soon is a machine wise Serif
My first balisong was a cheap amazon trainer for 5 bucks but i quickly upgraded to a Marcolo Comet (mostly due to the Vulp not being available on amazon at that time) and I recently got myself a Vulp.
I really like the Vulp and i would say objectively it's better than the Comet but the Comet still has the "first balisong" feel to it.
my first balisong was one I made out of paper because my parents wouldn't let me get one of those balisong pens
My very first was decades ago and it was some Chinese gas station piece of crap. But my real first as of being an adult and learning to actually flip, I picked something I was literally told not to get for my first lol. I bought a vulp pro for my first. I’m a week in and have no regrets about the decision.
first Balisong was 15 dollar live blade from flea market in 2005(basic opens and closes only..I was in a moped gang and we flipped when we worked on bikes)..lost in a flood..jump to two years ago..
got a mtech dragon for 15 dollar at a flea..then got a squiddy b ti mod one year ago!learned tricks ..got a nabalis morse..then a Marcolo comet ,then bionic osi,then finally triton v2 inked!im a beginner one year in
flipping got me hooked!thanks to the community to learn !
Why don’t u do a video on it?
that would be cool but I’m a beginner and want to wait to up some flipping video..I learn only from UA-cam so it takes awhile ..u know what a loki roll is?can u describe for me?@@Balibalistic
@@fasterdetail I don’t know what that is but there are plenty of tutorials on UA-cam I also have a app called balisong mastery and it are a bunch of balisong tutorials for beginners intermediates and advanced there are also maintenance videos on it.
i got myself the kuno for chrismas and as a "present" a trip to japan with my family. and btw my first balisong was besides a lego one i build myself, also the vulp. beat regards from germany ;)
I started about a month ago. My first balisong was a pin only 9 $ metal amazon bañisong, and second was a plastic amazon clone. I am a neurodivergent pansexual man who fidget objects really help me with alot of aspects in my life. Ive been into cubing and tons of other fidgets for years. Balisong feels natural. Thanks will for being awesome.
how was you being pansexual or a man relevant?
There's currently a sale on Kershaw's website, $100 Luchas, until 01/14! It's a great Bali to start with!
Mine is arriving today. Thank you for making it. (Vulp)
First balisong is actually a pair that arrived today. I got a Wing and a Vulp Pro. Canyon is on the way too. No idea what I'm doing, but the hobby looked fun. :D
lol nice first balis those are really good