Szabofly Review

[DaBird]

Hiya all or Hi ya'all {south of the Masion/Dixon}
I've had my Szabofly around a week and it was time to post MY thoughts on this Bali --- to each their own.

It was designed by Laci Szabo , who makes/designes some of the most wicked fighting blades on the planet. He was in the French SFs and is a well known Martial Artist as well.

While the Szabofly is at first look , kinda goofy looking , it is a TRUE Fighting Bali.

In pic 1 --- you will see a large "hump" on the tang , with the bali closed , this protrusion is very usefull for "prying" or impacting bone or close to the surface nerves etc.


In pic 2 , you can see it is a very slim bali compared to a BM -- this makes it easy to carry in your pocket and keeps the weight down which makes it fast in the hand.


In pic 3 , you see how it looks in the "foil or sabre" grip --- Mr. Szabo has made the grip shape where it really "locks" into your hand while gripped this way. IMHO , when held like this -- it would be VERY hard to have the knife dislodged and almost impossable for your hand to slide down onto the blade during a hard thrust or slash.


In pic 4 , you can see the knife held in the "dagger/ice pick" grip -- it is as secure and comfortable as almost any knife I've ever used in Pikal/ Arnis / Eskrima and again , with a hard slash or power thrust -- your hand will stay on the grip and should not slip off.



In pic 5 , you can see the usefullness of the "goofy" large curve on the back of the blade --- in the pic , I am "trapping" the arm and you can see that a quick thrust to the chest would follow next. The "curve" is also usefull for a "pass" where you redirect a incomeing arm/hand or weapon.


By now , you should be able to tell --- I LIKE THIS BALI as a pure fighter It is thin , fast , balanced , great point , sharp as Hell and usefull closed as well.

What don't I like about it ?? Well , AT FIRST -- it feels "assbackwards" as far as how you hold it to open --- it DOES NOT lock with the latch when opened -- and it is a bit harder to do a "dagger drop" {my #1 fast deployment method } .

As some may know -- I've carried a Bali for EDC for over 20 years , BUT in reality , I DON'T consider myself as a "flipper" like Loosey , Zoid , and some of these other Young Guns.

BUT , I DO KNOW a good FIGHTING bali when I see/handle one and this is A FIGHTER !! Do a search on youtube , you will see some IMPRESSIVE demos of the Szabofly being "flipped".

[panner]

Great review and pic's,THANKS

[CDR_Glock]

I am getting mine this week.

I really like the Spyderco Bali lineup. My lineup will finally become complete:
Spyderfly
Smallfly, G10 and SS
Szabo

[JerrBear]

Mr. DaBird,

That is one wicked-looking Bali - I likes it a lot! Outstanding photography!

[Bama]

Great pics. Thanks for the review. I have never seen one in person.

[CDR_Glock]

Great pics. Thanks for the review. I have never seen one in person.

You need one!





The Szabo is nice. I still need to oil mine since it is not smooth out of the box.

[CDR_Glock]

The Szabofly is a sandwich construction Balusong with stainless handles and spacers. They came in a numbered VG10 which I gladly sold, and a 154 CM. The finish is not refined. It's a matte gray finish but it's finish is better than the Spyderfly. The spring latch is good however it doesn't look durable to me. I had to oil around the contacts to actuate the latch.

The hinge points were stiff from the factory. I used silicone spray followed by spraying air through the hinges. No debris came out so I used Rem oil that I use for my Glocks on the hinges. It takes a few twists and oiling to get it smooth to do rollovers smoothly. There is very little play so the tolerances are tight. It's a quiet flipper compared to my benchmade 42. The characteristic holds on the ends make it easier to do some quick draw openings. I love the Szabo, it's a nice knife.

I also have a Warren Thomas. It has a similar design. For a flipper, the Szabo pales in comparison. But then again, it is severalfold more expensive for a WT.