Toys are fun, and dangerous toys are even more fun but don’t get careless because they’ll turn round to bite you in the back, or in this case, stab you in the foot if you lose control and drop it. It’s our job to let you in on a few tricks and safety tips when learning how to open a butterfly knife. After this, you’ll have a killer party trick to show off to your friends and maybe make a couple of people slightly intimidated by you.
Here Are 5 Steps On How To Open A Butterfly Knife For Beginners.
1. Correct Starting Position
This step is the most important one because if you don’t get this right then the whole maneuver will be wrong and you’ll probably end up cutting yourself. Before we get to the correct starting position it’s worth noting that for your safety we recommend using gloves when learning these techniques, and it might even be worth buying a fake butterfly knife that has no sharp side on it.
With that being said, the correct starting position is quite simple, you want to find the safe side. When the butterfly knife is closed tight, you want to look into the middle of the knife where the blade is and identify which is the sharp side of the blade and which is the dull side. Hold the safe side to start. If you want to know how to open a butterfly knife fast then it would be a good idea to get a strong feel for which is the correct side to hold. Now you’re ready to move on to the flipping techniques.
2. The Backflip
No, you don’t have to perform a backflip from standing, this is just an easy way to remember the second step. After grabbing the knife by the safe side you’re going to hold out your arm away from your body with your palm facing the ground and your backhand pointing to the ceiling. You can let the blade dangle or you can hold the knife closed tight.
The next step is to simply flick or flip the knife back and to the side, more like a side flip. This is done by flicking your wrist backward, not by moving your arm or any other part of your body, just your wrist. The knife should open up and rotate about 360 degrees. It’s kind of weird at first when figuring out how to spin a butterfly knife but if you remember to do a backflip then you’ll be fine. Don’t be too gentle with your movements, give a fair bit of effort but not so much that the blade could fly out of your hand and get pegged into the wall.
3. The Pausing Step
You will soon realize that the sharp side of the blade is going to be heading to your knuckles at some point during the backflip stage. Don’t be scared because that means you’re doing the right thing. All you need to do is let the safe side handle piece sit loosely in your hand in such a way that the handle can rotate a lit bit in your grip when you flip it back. This allows for the knife to spin around gloriously while keeping the sharp side of the blade away from your hand.
When the knife has done a full flip or spin and has returned to a dangling position where your palm is facing the ground, you’re going to pause for a moment. This is not how an expert does it, an expert would complete the full technique in one motion but for the benefit of learning, this is the best way to do it. After pausing you can take in what just happened and practice it a couple of times to get it right. You will find that you build up your confidence a lot as well which is the key element in learning how to open a butterfly knife.
4. The Second Flip
Once you’re comfortable with the first 3 steps you are ready to tackle the final two steps. The second flip is much like the first flip in that it still uses the backflipping technique only with slight adjustments. After flipping the knife for the first time you might’ve noticed that the knife position is upside down to how you began in step one. This is essential to take note of because if this isn’t the case then you need to go over the first 3 steps again and correct yourself.
The second flip can be described as having to do a second backward flick of your wrist but with a little more to it. You will be moving your wrist more circularly and then downward at the end to propel the other handle to piece to fly over and click into place with the blade. You should hear the handle make a clicking noise when they come together. Also you should absorb the rotation at the end of the flip by moving your arm downwards. Once the handle is settled over the blade and you have the step down confidently then you can try to combine the first 4 steps into one continuous motion.
5. Final Flick Back
The last part is the easiest and most satisfying of all the steps. One of the main reasons butterfly knives can become so addictive is due to the final step. The beautiful clicking sound that the final flick back makes when the two handles connect is enough to keep you glued for hours. The final flick back is not complicated, all you have to do is swing your wrist up to the ceiling and the handle will come flying back over and fall into place with the blade remaining outstretched pointing away from you.
The important thing here is that you have to make sure your thumb and fingers are out of the way. The previous step relies on the knife pieces hitting against your fingers to some extent but this time you need to make sure that the handle piece can fly neatly into the gap where the other handle is. The more cleanly the two come together without hitting into something the more amazing the sound will be. Also, be sure to give the knife a fairly strong flick to accentuate the last step which creates a grand impression on people.
Another thing to watch out for as we conclude is to be careful that you are away from people when you perform the butterfly knife trick because it is sharp and is being flung around quite aggressively. So once you have mastered the steps on how to open a butterfly knife be sure to be very careful where and how you perform the tricks. It is a wonderful thing to watch but as always safety comes first. Enjoy and persevere; It won’t take too long to get it. Good luck.
