Well, I supposed I didn't *need* to shave three grams off my Baladeo 22g, but I really couldn't see the benefit of the belt clip, and it sort of got in the way.

So! Behold! My Baladeo 19g.



Materials used:
- No. 6 washers (zinc, Home Depot)
- T6 and T8 Torx bits (T8 for the blade and T6 for the stopper)
- That's it!

Nice....I wonder what it would weigh with a Ti washer?

:)

I've got one on the way so I'll likely do something similar.

couple questions

1) I assume so, but is the Baladeo stainless steel? if not, might you have friction issues with the washer being a different type of metal?

2) The description on both the Baladeo knives product pages are very generalized and lacking detailed, useful specs, and rather have 2 paragraphs of marketing hype. Not what one should expect of BPL! Anyway the point question of this is: does this knife have a locking mechanism?

-Evan

I assume it's a stainless steel. I'll look on the box when I get home from work. But the bolt through the knife doesn't rotate with the blade. I.e., there's the screw, a plastic washer, the blade, a plastic washer, the knife "body," the belt clip (now the washer) and finally the other half of the screw/bolt.

And yes, it does lock. I'll post a photo of how when I get home.

Evan, this was taken from the Baladeo website:

22 grams, not one more for this ultra light pocket knife that do not compromise the essential functionality expected from a fine blade: a flawless edge, a safety catch, easy accessibility, and an excellent grip.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS :
All stainless steel knife with locking system. Belt clip. Delivered in a gift box.

WEIGHT PER UNIT : 75 gr

Thanks for the clarification Eugene, and I just looked again at the Baladeo 34g page (here on BPL) and it does mention an "efficient locking" system. I should have read it more closely. But I am still curious to see a picture of how exactly it works!

I really do think that companies should have more detailed images of many different angles and the product in operation on their product pages. Even cottage manufacturers do a better job than say, REI (who, for the mainstream posts maybe 2 pictures of a product and expects you to but it on marketing hype), but still could do better sometimes.

just my 2c

Edited by edude on 09/30/2010 22:25:23 MDT.

The "body" of the knife is just a big wishbone, basically. One fork has the blade bolted on it, the other is tensioned so it locks the blade when it's open.




Pressing down on the fork unlocks the blade. Below you can see more clearly, I hope, the lock action. In the first photo, I'm not pressing on the lock, in the second, I'm barely pressing on it, in the third, the lock is fully depressed.





O.k., look, on my camera they were rotated the right way!

Edited by bderw on 10/01/2010 00:33:15 MDT.

Nice clever design. I can't wait for mine to show up.

A word of warning:

Apparenlty Baladeo's design is VERY well-thought-out.

The belt clip acts as a tensioner to keep the "body' of the knife pressed against the blade while it is closed, thereby rendering it "safe," i.e., it won't stab/cut you when folded.

Taking the belt clip off removes this tension.

I've since reattached the belt clip, and now have a regular-old Baladeo 22g.

Ç'est la vie.

It was a nice experiment none-the-less. I just hope you didn't realize this info after a quick trip to the ER.

Looking at the catalogue picture caused me to wonder about carrying it around in my pocket and not being fully enclosed.

Did the blade being exposed seem like a problem?

There are a number of single-bevel knife designs like the Baladeo that carry safely enough. The CRKT Kiss comes to mind. The lock is a little scary to me.

Some of the spring-assist knives can pop open in your pocket under the right conditions. Just getting the thumb studs hung up on other stuff in your pocket or the fabric can open the knife as you are trying to extract it. The Emerson Wave opener is a feature that is a hook on the top edge of the blade to deliberately open the knife on the edge of your pocket as you pull it out.

I don't think the blade will be a problem when it's closed. The blade sits really close to the handle so you'd have a very hard time catching it on anything.

However, this knife doesn't cut straight because the blade isn't sharpened on both sides evenly, but rather just one side of the blade is tapered. So instead of this ^, the blade is shaped like this |\. It makes it hard to do a straight cut on stuff like cheese, salami etc.