CIVIVI Dracolisk Balisong Trainer: Gain Skills, Keep Fingers

The first time I saw a Filipino balisong, or butterfly knife, was in David E. Steele’s landmark book Secrets of Modern Knife Fighting in the mid 1970’s. The book’s brief pictorial sequence illustrated the balisong’s unique design well. However, I didn’t really understand how special a balisong was at that time. Since that time, the balisong has garnered a large following with its own flipping community. For this reason, CIVIVI designed the Dracolisk balisong trainer so you can train much more safely.

The CIVIVI Dracolisk Balisong Trainer

In 1980, Jackie Chan’s The Big Brawl was released. In it, the villain wielded twin modern balisongs from a then-new company called Bali-Song, Inc. Seeing those knives in action changed my perspective completely, and I knew I had to have one.

As a U.S. Army Private, I couldn’t afford the lofty $150 price tag, so I decided to “roll my own.” While on leave, I bought a Pro-Thro throwing knife, annealed the ricasso, drilled some holes, and crafted twin handles out of brass and Micarta. With that bali, I learned the basics of balisong manipulation. This fueled a passion for the design that has lasted almost 50 years.

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In the late 1980’s, I eagerly embraced the first “balisong craze,” buying Jeff Imada’s pioneering books and video and anything else I could lay my hands on. After learning all the openings and tricks in his materials, I continued experimenting with balisong manipulation and expanding my repertoire.

Ultimately, I produced my Mastering the Balisong Knife video for Paladin Press in 1994 and a much-improved DVD remake in 2005. In simple terms, I firmly represent the “old school” when it comes to balisong culture.

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With that said, I have watched the rise of the new generation of balisong aficionados with both fascination and frustration. On one hand, I am absolutely astounded at the skill and fluidity of today’s bali spinners. They have truly taken the art of butterfly manipulation to levels of sophistication that I never dreamed of.

At the same time, it’s sometimes disheartening to see tricks and techniques that were formalized decades ago “invented” and renamed with complete disregard for historical precedent. I guess that’s part of getting old.

The Purpose-Built Dracolisk

As an established knife writer, I receive press releases on new knives and related products all the time. While I review them all, few spark enough interest for me to want to do a formal review. The new CIVIVI Dracolisk Balisong Trainer was one of those few.

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I have watched the CIVIVI brand grow steadily over the past few years and have been very impressed with the balance of quality and affordability they offer in their products. As such, when they announced their foray into the balisong market, I had to give it a look.

The CIVIVI Dracolisk is a purpose-designed balisong trainer aimed at the flipping enthusiast market. It is not a trainer version of an equivalent live blade, nor is it designed for safe martial arts contact training with a partner. Its raison d’être is as a tool to learn and practice flipping without donating blood in the process.

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A Solid Construction

The Dracolisk’s blade is crafted from 9Cr18MoV stainless steel and features a straight clip-point profile. Both the top and bottom of the blade are beveled to reduce its weight. This is aided by a shallow centerline fuller on both sides.

Together, the stonewashed bevels and fuller remove enough steel to achieve a balance comparable to a live blade. They stand in contrast to a handsome satin finish on the flats and, in some models, are further highlighted by a black coating.

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The knife’s twin handles are painstakingly machined from aircraft-grade aluminum and feature one-piece channel-style construction. To ensure a secure grip and positive control during manipulation, both sides of the handles feature an intricate 3-D-machined texture pattern accented by a central groove. They are available in orange, burgundy, silver, and black, with burgundy and black boasting two-toned blades.

Classic channel-style balisongs typically have a tang pin and a blade kick to limit the handles’ arcs of motion. However, the Dracolisk features modern Zen-pin construction. Its minimalist tang tab indexes steel pins in each handle to lock the blade open, while minimizing the chances of pinching one’s fingers.

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In the closed position, those same handle pins contact notches in the sides of the blade tang. There, they not only keep the blade centered when closed but also provide a handy space between the handles to easily “split” them to initiate opening maneuvers.

Most traditional balisongs have a latch to secure the handles together in the closed position. Designed purely for flipping, the Dracolisk’s latchless design eliminates this feature altogether.

The final detail of the Dracolisk’s construction is its pivot pins. Secured by Torx screws, they feature bronze washers that provide extremely smooth movement with almost zero lateral play.

The Dracolisk is Flippin’ Fun

Measuring 10.04 inches overall and weighing 4.18 ounces, the Dracolisk falls into a very happy “sweet spot” for many balisong enthusiasts. Its balance point when opened is about one-quarter of the way down the handle. Thus, giving it the neutral to slightly blade-biased balance that many younger flippers prefer.  

This balance still allows enough handle momentum for good follow-through. However, for old-school handle-biased flippers like me, it took a little getting used to.

The machined texture of the Dracolisk’s handles provides an excellent grip. The sides of the handles are flat instead of radiused. However, the deep texture allows plenty of traction for techniques that require “rolling” them on their longitudinal axis between the thumb and fingers. Similarly, the texture pattern is deep enough to carry over onto the handle edges. This allows manipulations involving finger rolls in the plane of the blade.

The blade’s asymmetrical shape does provide a perspective for the “safe” and “bite” handles. However, in practice, its latchless design overshadows that reference.

If you’re using the Dracolisk as “training wheels” for live-blade bali-flipping skills, you really need to pay attention to detail. For pure flipping pleasure, however, the Dracolisk is very hard to beat. I’ve been flipping mine obsessively for weeks since I received it. There isn’t the slightest hint of looseness or wear.

At an MSRP of $117.60 and a street price just pennies under $100, it delivers excellent quality at a very affordable price.

CIVIVI Dracolisk Balisong Trainer Specs

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