When you’re first introduced to knives and even later on down the road from then, you’ll realize that there’s a lot of bad information out there. Some of this may involve legislation, yet sometimes it rears its ugly head on the finer points of knife construction regarding materials, length, or what we’ll look at today — balance.
Many fixed blade knives, from 11-cent flea market blades to ABS Mastersmith blades worth tens of thousands of dollars, will balance perfectly in the center of the knife. This can be tested by setting the bolster or hilt on your finger and balancing it. This went from being “perfect balance” to “perfect knife” in some circles. This seems rational and sensible. Yet, it can be a falsehood for many different types of working blades.
Most tactical folders will obviously fail this test because the handles are significantly heavier than the blade when G10 scales, titanium backspacers, locking mechanisms, etc., are taken into account. However, there are a number of fixed blades that have more of a bias toward the handle and for a very good reason. These
