Spyderco has introduced the BaliYo as a nod to all those
pen-flippers out there who might or might not share interesecting demographics,
Venn-diagram style, with balisong flippers. While I’ve never been much of a pen
flipper, I’ve always wanted to be; I have a manager who regular spins a large
pen around his hand when he’s in meetings and I find it hypnotic. I am, of
course, a balisong owner and flipper, and so when I saw the chance to flip my
way through some boring meetings myself, I got more excited than I’ve ever goten
about a pen.

The BaliYo is
meant to be used for writting in the closed position. The tip of the center pen
module is twisted to reveal the ballpoint. There’s a Fisher Space Pen cartridge
inside, which writes (in blue ink from the factory) smoothly at any angle. It
doesn’t have the same tactile joy to it that my liquid ink pens have, but it’s a
decent pen nonetheless.

There are metal weights in the tips of the
flipper arms that give the BaliYo just enough weight to operate, though the
whole thing is really very light. This light weight means that, while you can
use the BaliYo to practice balisong-style openings and closings, you can also
perform tricks that (at least for me) would not be possible with a heavier metal
balisong). I’ve already taught myself to spin the thing over the top of my hand,
which is a new move for me.

The fit and
finish of the BaliYo itself are quite nice, though of course it’s a plastic,
hinged pen, so there’s plenty of play. The wire pocket clips can be removed and
the individual pen segments mixed and matched if you buy different colored
BaliYos (the pen is assembled with Torx screws). The Fisher Space Pen module is
replaceable. You may prefer to remove the clips for ease of flipping; I left
mine in place. Use caution when carrying your BaliYo, however. I was carrying
mine clipped to my pants pocket, not my shirt pocket, and nearly lost the little
guy when I got up from eating lunch and the pen was left lying on the
chair.

Flipping the
BaliYo is remarkably addictive. I found myself wandering around at work, idly
flipping the pen — and then being forced to explain to several managerial types
that the item in question was, in fact, a pen, and nothing else. Sales on the
Spyderco website have been brisk, so as of this writing the BaliYo is hard to
come by, but I imagine it will be available for a long time to come. This is
easily the coolest pen I have ever owned.>>

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