A Question About Benchmade & Bali-Song

C

Columbo

Joined
Feb 1, 2000
Messages
418
Hi,

I asked Bernard Levine about this and he had no answers for me.

I have just bought my first Benchmade knife. The blade reads Benchmade and the box and papers are Benchmade. The only model designation is the dealer's label. It reads "Benchmade Folding Skinner, Monarch Series, 507S". I believe that the number should probably be 501S. The blade is a kind of mixture of scimitar and spearpoint styles and is partially serrated. There is a thumb disc, black G10 frame, black Kraton inserts, rear lockback, and no clip.

What puzzles me is that inside the Benchmade butterfly logo is the name "Bali-Song". The pouch/sheath also has the same markings. I have read that the Monarch series has been out of production for a few years. Are these normal markings for this knife, or is it some kind of transitional model?

I didn't pay very much for it and intend for it to replace my Gigand Summit as my EDC. I most certainly won't be disappointed if it isn't anything special. I would just prefer not to mess up a knife that might happen to be collectable.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Cordially,

Dave
 
Hi Dave,
I think the Monarch's have been out of production for awhile. Also I think that Bali-Song inside the butterfly was their logo on everything for awhile.
I doubt that it has much collector value but maybe a Benchmade collector can give you some more info.

Dave
 
Dave,

Thanks for the reply. I thought that this knife was probably just an out of production model, but just wanted to make sure.

Cordially,

Dave
 
Pacific Cutlery, the name under which the company operated in the beginning, made butterfly knives (called Balisong in the Phillipines where they originated.) That's the reason for the butterfly logo and the term Balisong which used to be a part of the logo as someone mentioned above.


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Fred
Knife Outlet
http://www.knifeoutlet.com
 
Fred,

Thanks for the info. Now I can use my new knife and not be concerned about normal wear and tear. It seems like a pretty good knife, too.

Cordially,

Dave

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Dave
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If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
 
Columbo, if you check the latest BM catalog for the model 42 "Butterfly Knife" you'll see the word Balisong in the logo. Its the only model they continue to use it on. Kind of a tradition I guess. Your Monarch blade is made from Swedish Sandvic steel and was offered in plain or serrated styles. Handles are of Zytel. Current collector price for NIB is around $50 on the national market. Enjoy your new knife!!
smile.gif

Edit- a check of a '93 BM catalog yeilds the following:500 is a drop point / 501 also with the addition of a thumb disk / 505 Scimitar blade / 507 same with thumb disk hope this helps.
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Pete

[This message has been edited by OUCH (edited 06-03-2001).]
 
my AFCK about 6 months old has the bali-song benchmade label too for what ever its worth

sifu
 
There is a difference between Balisong and Bali-Song, the name Bali-Song is ™, Bali-Song™ and Mr. deAsis holds that. The hyphen is everything in this case.

Bali-Song Cutlery/Bali-Song USA, Pacific Cutlery, Benchmade.

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Usual Suspect Some of my Knives and other neat things
 
My BM CQC7 (at least 5 years old) and my BM42 butterfly both haves "Bali-Song" in butterfly logo. Both are also marked "Benchamade U.S.A." (and CQC "Emerson,,,etc" of course).
I think that all Benchmades are "Bali-Song in butterfly" trade marked.
 
Bali-Song with the hyphen is a registered trademark owned by Mr. DeAsis and currently used by Benchmade. Balisong without the hyphen is a generic word that refers to a knife with two handles that counter-rotate around the tang, a.k.a. a butterfly knife.

The Bali-Song tradename and the butterfly logo was first used by Bali-Song Cutlery, Mr. DeAsis first company. It was then used by Pacific Cutlery (which is when the (r) was added to the logo). And now it is used by Benchmade.

Until recently, Benchmade used this logo, the butterfly with the word Bali-Song in the middle, on all of their products, fixed blades, conventional folders, and exotic folders including balisongs. About a hear ago, maybe two now (time flys when you're reading bladeforums.com) Benchmade adopted a new logo, the old butterfly but with the name Benchmade in the middle. As far as I know, that transition is now complete and all of there product now bears the new logo except for the balisong products, the model 42 and its variants, which retain the old logo out of tradition.

So, all Benchmade products made until just a few years ago have the Bali-Song logo on them.

FYI, BTW, Balisong is a city in the Philippines which is famous for making knives.


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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by chairman moe:
Actually, the name of the city/Province famed for making Balisong knives is Batangas.</font>
Click to expand...

Isn't the Balisong Barrio IN Batangas?

That was my understanding anyway...


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Usual Suspect, Electromagnet for Trolls and Manipulator of Sharp Things... Some of my Knives and other neat things
 
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