Microtech Tachyon III Balisong Butterfly Knife (4.5" Stonewash) 173-10

But they're wearing a rather heavy helmet. It's a bit blade-heavy and I wouldn't attempt anything daring with it (especially with the shaving-sharp edge right out of the box).

Don't get me wrong, I really like this flipper, but more as a Microtech that happens to be a flipper. If that makes sense.

If you're looking for something more flip-centric, go for a BRS or that Squid 'Kraken Pops', or 'Karl go Rake the Leaves', or whatever they butchered the final name to be.

Great quality. I think its one of the best EDC balisongs for the money. And service was great. Tje only con i can say about the tac32 is the blade is blade heavy on the aluminum versions. But the Ti version is sick.

I love the weight and flipping is easy for me with it. The blade is sharp so I would use gloves to play around. The only issue is my clip is a little loose and you need a special tool to tighten it.

Very smooth action due to the ball bearings but the blade-heavy feel makes controlled flipping very difficult. Opens quickly using double-rollover but anything involving spins or chaplains is very difficult as the center of gravity is way forward and the handles just get pulled along with the blade as if they aren't there.

As far as fit and finish, the blade is high quality but the handles feel and look a bit cheap. There is some blade rub even though the bearings result in very little handle play. Pocket clip fell off after a couple hours of use and spent 10 minutes looking for the screws.. Was expecting more.

The knife is light enough to use as an EDC but IMO the Benchmade 51 is lighter and better for that purpose if that's the main use.

Added this to the collection but would advise to consider what you will use the knife for. As an EDC balisong I give it a 4/5 stars. As a flipper, a 2/5. Now that I have one in hand, I also feel that these knives are a bit over-priced for what you are getting. IMO a Benchmade 51, BRS barebones, or Dogbite are much better knives for less. A knife like this in terms of construction, quality etc should be in the 100-200 range and taking away the brand name, I put this on par with Bear Ops balisongs. IMO microtech's specialty is OTF not balisongs.

The tachyon 3 is a great knife. It's very smooth with the ball bearings. Flips nicely. I really like its light weight. Overall I'm very happy! I'd call it long and smooth.

I owned a tachyon 2 before this and let me say the tach 3 was a huge let down. The knife had blade rub out of the box with one of the ALUMINUM handles. The pocket clip had really rough sharp edges that hurt my hands on aerial catches, and better yet it requires a 22 dollar micro tech made only tool to remove... what a joke. All in all I would not pay over 100 for this knife and I am upset that I cannot refund it. I would recommend either looking for a tach 2 or staying away from microtech. I just had to send my tach 2 in just for a small replacement spacer the whole process cost me over $40 because of there rma system. Quick Edit: The tang pin has started to fall out after the second day of owning the knife tried pressing it back in and I can not get it to stay.

I really love this knife, I have a Kimura vii and a custom 51 and this blows them both out of the water. I think I am honestly gonna have a hard time going back to flipping either of them after this. The size and weight are absolutely perfect for flipping in my opinion and the bearing system is soooo smooth and no play at all. I really hope the aluminum holds up over time, after several hours of flipping there is still no sign of wear tho so that's a good start. I can't recommend this knife enough! I now want a custom tach 3 for my collection but I'm not sure I will like the extra weight as its a full ounce heavier, I may have to just chance it tho, the design and feel of these knives are awesome, exactly what I would expect from microtech.

Love this knife a lot. Thought I was gonna be disappointed but I was proven wrong. It flips really nice and feels great in hand, should have bought two.

I had reservations about purchasing this knife. I own a Tach 3 with Titanium handles and I've been waiting for the production run to buy another. I was extremely disappointed once I found out that the production run would have aluminum handles (especially considering the price). IMO a knife made with aluminum handles should never be this expensive. Please be aware that the rating and review I'm giving doesn't have price factored in to it.

Anyway, I reluctantly decided to purchase this knife with the thought that I would just return it and get a Ti handled version if I didn't like this one. To be honest, I was pleasantly surprised with this knife. This one flips extremely "fast" should you choose to do so. Balance is extremely good IMO (however flippers vary on what the balance of a knife should be for their flipping style). There is almost zero blade wiggle or handle play. I have many different bali's in a wide range of price points and they all have there own unique quality and this one is definitely a home run in a wide variety of characteristics that a bali should have (price not considered). This knife is a tad light however, heavier than a 51 and larger. This knife will be staying in my collection, the more I flip it, the more I like it.

If you are on a budget and were planning on buying a 51, I would say wait and save up an extra $55 for this one. This flips, hands down, 10 times better than a 51. You won't be disappointed.

I've only been flipping this knife for about 2 hours now so I can't speak of the durability. I really don't know how the aluminium handles and the black anodizing will hold up over time. I really don't care about the ano not holding up because I'm planning on changing the color scheme anyway. I mod every knife I own to "make them mine". I just hope that the aluminium handles hold up, time will tell.