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Choosing the best butterfly knife trainer is tough with all the options on the market. Trying to determine what features, handle materials, balance, and blade shapes that work for you will feel mind-boggling if you’re a beginner. In this buyers guide, I have compiled a list of fantastic knives from a few different categories that will serve as a fantastic starting place for your search for the best butterfly knife trainers.
Key Takeaways
- The Squid Industries Squidtrainer V4 is my choice for Best Overall Field Dressing Knife.
- The Benchmade Necron is a top candidate for Best Premium Butterfly Knife Trainer.
- The Best Budget Butterfly Knife Trainer is the Flytanium Zenith.
- The Most Customizable Butterfly Knife Trainer is the Nabalis Marbles.
- The BRS Replicant Trainer is one of the Best Butterfly Knife Trainers.
- The Kershaw Luchal is my honorable mention for Best Butterfly Knife Trainer.
Top Picks
- Best Overall: Squid Industries Squidtrainer V4 Butterfly Trainer
- Best Premium: Benchmade Necron Bali-Song Butterfly Knife Trainer
- Best Budget: Flytanium Zenith Trainer Volt Lime Aluminum
- Most Customizable: Nabalis Marbles Butterfly Knife Trainer
- Best Performance: BRS Replicant Balisong Butterfly Trainer Knife
- Honorable Mention: Kershaw Lucha Trainer Balisong Butterfly Knife
Best Overall: Squid Industries Squidtrainer V4 Butterfly Trainer
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Squid Industries has consistently been the king of the hill in the balisong community during the last three or so years, and for good reason. They are well-known for their amazing build quality, fantastic designs, and endless catalog of different models and color pallets. The Squidtrainer V4 is the fourth iteration of their iconic butterfly knife trainer. With each version, they update the design to further improve performance.
With the V4 you get more rounded edges on the handles, a better blade finish, and more colors. The Squidtrainer has been a staple in the balisong community for years, and will continue to be a top seller, and competitor for the best butterfly knife trainer for years to come. Now that some of the hype has leveled off, the chances of you actually being able to buy one have gone up tremendously. So don’t wait, grab one for yourself and take it for a spin.
Best Premium: Benchmade Necron Bali-Song Butterfly Knife Trainer
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The Benchmade Necron is the newest butterfly knife trainer on this list, as it just dropped for the first time in May 2024. The Necron is the latest offering from Benchmade, who started out manufacturing custom butterfly knives decades ago. Now that they have solidified themselves as being one of, if not the best, knife makers in the world, they have returned to their roots and released one of the most premium butterfly knife trainers on the market. This Necron is the trainer variant of the live blade model by the same name. This means that when you learn the ropes on the trainer, you’ll be able to seamlessly move to the live blade model with confidence.
The Necron has a few unique standout features that put this trainer above the rest. You can customize the handles by adding tungsten weights to fine-tune the balance of the knife to your personal preferences. There aren’t many butterfly knives, especially trainers, that have this feature, making this a quite intriguing option for those of us looking into getting a butterfly knife trainer. Though the price may be a bit on the higher side, like most other Benchmade Knives, you are paying for the heritage and tried-and-true American manufacturing when you buy any Benchmade-produced knife. If I were in the market for a new and premium USA-made butterfly knife trainer, I would go with the Necron.
Best Budget: Flytanium Zenith Trainer Volt Lime Aluminum
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The makers of the famous Talisong-z have come out swinging again with the new Flytanium Zenith Trainer. Zenith refers to the blade shape, which has become iconic, and highly sought after. What was once just an aftermarket “upgrade” to the famous Benchmade 51 balisong, the Zenith is now a standalone butterfly knife trainer complete with its own proprietary handle design. The Zenith trainer can be had for an incredible price of roughly $60, considering it is made here in the USA.
The 7075 milled aluminum channel style handles make this knife feel truly incredible to flip. Not to mention the sound the knife makes while flipping is astounding if you like the sound of a good satisfying click. The handles are latchless, meaning that it will not hold itself closed. Flytanium was thinking ahead and included their fantastic silicone “bali-boot,” which will hold the knife closed while in the pocket. The value you get with the Flytanium Zenith trainer is crazy and will be my go-to recommendation for anyone looking to get into flipping for some time.
Most Customizable: Nabalis Marbles Butterfly Knife Trainer
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Nabalis has put out one of the more intriguing butterfly knife trainers if you are looking for something you can customize over time. The more you flip, the more you learn how important weight distribution is. Nabalis has implemented an ingenious way to modify and fine-tune how your trainer feels in hand with their new “ball magazine” design. This allows you to add copper, aluminum, plastic, or rubber balls into the handle to make the handles feel just right in your hand. This feature is something that really intrigues me because some trainers just don’t feel right out of the box and take some time to get used to. Overall, I think that the Nabalis Marbles Butterfly Knife Trainer is one of the more interesting knives on the market and is my top choice for those who want a more personalized feeling butterfly knife.
Best Performance: BRS Replicant Balisong Butterfly Trainer Knife
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If you are looking for a butterfly knife trainer that gets you as close as possible to the “real” thing, then the BRS Replicant Butterfly Knife Trainer is the way to go. The BRS Replicant is an iconic balisong design that has gained legendary status through the years in the competitive balisong community. This trainer utilizes premium materials and is exceptionally made in the USA. The titanium liners bring a good bit of heft to the knife, which to many is a must. The scales are topped with sturdy G-10, which makes the handles feel grippy and comfortable to hold. Though the Replicant may be heavy, the balance you get is astounding, which is probably the most important aspect of a high-end butterfly knife or trainer. The Replicant will not disappoint, and if you’re looking for pure performance with high end materials, the Replicant is my top choice.
Honorable Mention: Kershaw Lucha Trainer Balisong Butterfly Knife
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The Kershaw Lucha has been immensely popular since its release, topping the charts in sales for months on end. The solid build and excellent design make this nearly perfect for any beginner or seasoned balisong flipper.
There are some drawbacks for me, though. The Lucha is really heavy, because of the solid steel construction. This means that it can hurt when you slam the handles down on your fingers. In the world of butterfly knife flipping, some physical conditioning is necessary. However, there are a lot better options for the price point that won’t hurt as much from the start.
A lot of people use their Lucha as their “beater” trainer because it can take some pretty serious abuse from drops, and also because of its price point. For roughly $150, you can get yourself a more than capable butterfly knife trainer that will serve you well for a long time. If you stick to it, and decide to get serious, I highly recommend upgrading to one of the other knives mentioned in this article, as they will perform much better for you and just feel nicer to flip in general. Or you can upgrade your Lucha with one of the many aftermarket parts manufacturers and get either aluminum or titanium handles and different bearing systems that take the Lucha to the next level. There’s a lot of good to say about the Lucha, but because of the stiff competition, I have put this in the honorable mention category, as the price doesn’t quite match the performance as well as other options.
How To Choose The Best Butterfly Knife Trainer
Handle Material
Handle material is one of the most important aspects to me when I’m looking at butterfly knives. There’s so many different options out there to choose from, so picking a knife that fits your use case is important. For starters, look for knives that have either aluminum or titanium handles. These materials keep the weight down and offer really good strength and durability. Although steel is a more affordable and more robust option than aluminum, it is really heavy and can make your knife feel a little cheap sometimes. So keep these things in mind when shopping around for your next butterfly knife trainer.
Pivot
The pivot and bearing system is what keeps your butterfly knife spinning. This is a very nuanced and deep subject, but to keep it simple: Look for knives that have either phosphor bronze washers or some form of ball bearing pivots. These are probably the two most popular options right now; and if your knife has either of the two, then you’ll be happy. With more experience, feel free to dive deeper into this subject, as everyone has their own preferences.
Weight Balance
Choosing a butterfly knife trainer with a good and well-thought-out weight balance is crucial. Some knives are more blade-heavy; others are more handle-heavy. Most owners will say one or the other is ideal because a knife that is perfectly balanced in the middle can be difficult to build and maintain momentum while flipping.
Handle Latches
A ton of butterfly knives and trainers offer latches on the handles. These are nice to have if you have a live blade because you can latch the handles closed when you carry it in the pocket. However, the latch adds extra weight and can get in the way if you are trying to do more advanced tricks. So as you’ll see on this list, most of the butterfly knife trainers feature latchless design. This is because it’s better and you don’t really need to latch your knife closed because there is no risk of accidentally cutting yourself on the blade since the blades are not sharp.
Why Trust Us
I have worked in the knife industry full-time for four years now and have had the opportunity to handle, test, and compare thousands of knives from basically every maker. I have extensive hands-on experience with so many great and not-so-great knives, which has allowed me to develop some pretty well informed preferences and opinions on mankind’s oldest tool.
Final Thoughts
I never recommend a knife that I haven’t personally handled, tested, or familiarized myself with in some form. Although our opinions might differ somewhat, I stand by my recommendations and invite anyone to give these knives a shot. This is by no means a comprehensive list of butterfly knife trainers, but it should serve you well as a jumping-off point for your search.
FAQ
Question: Are trainer butterfly knives allowed?
Answer: Butterfly knife trainers are legal in the vast majority of places in the world as long as the blade is not sharp. The blunt edge makes trainers exempt from nearly every butterfly knife ban. However, use common sense when out in public with a trainer because most normal people will not know the difference at first sight.
Question: Why do balisong trainers have holes?
Answer: The holes that are milled into the blade and handles of butterfly knife trainers are to remove excess weight to make the flipping experience more balanced and enjoyable.
Question: Is balisong flipping hard to learn?
Answer: Yes, balisong flipping is decently difficult to learn. It takes a ton of practice, time, and effort to build up the skills and muscle memory to perform the tricks that you see a lot of competitors doing on stage. It is not impossible, but it is a pretty decent challenge. So have fun, and practice often.