BRS Replicant

Absolutely amazing

I bought and still own one of the first Alpha Beasts from BRS and although I remain unimpressed with the service of BRS (to be fair, most flippers... including myself are a bunch of ultra nit-picky hard to appease knife nerds if there ever were any) but like anyone knows who collects or otherwise tries to obtain any balisong worth a damn... if you see it, get it.
Now, as I already… read more admitted, I am ultra nit-picky and if I am really honest, I wasn't over excited to get this knife. I was searching for a second alpha beast.
I even let the thing sit in shipping package for a whole night which is weird for me. When I finally opened the box, I was stunned. First off, I knew about the new Brs purse you get but I thought it was for customs. The previously mocked case is outstanding but when I picked up the knife, I was blown away. BRS has come a long way, the finish is no longer clumsy and dull looking but the titanium is finely brushed and consistently elegant. The feel of the knife is perfectly tuned for any speed. The blade has a wonderful edge on it. The latch actually works and stays free of interfering. It's funny because my old ass alpha beast has a bastard latch from a benchmade 62 (the only damn thing that actually works on a benchmade 62 the way it's supposed to) but the latch on the replicant is like a better version of that and a way better version of the original lego sized latch on the original alpha beast.
The replicant is smooth, consistent, beautiful, high performing and has now topped my list of favorite flippers. I mean, I actually like it more than my Hom and dare I say, first run of the tachyon 3.
Time to forever retire my now Beta Beast in favor of the hybrid replicant. Damn thing just works well

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Awesome but heavy, many better value options out there.

Feels great, love the ergos of the replicant and it's very solid for sandwich construction. Sounds amazing when tuned and lubed. Has held up well from months of flipping and carry, handles drop well. The alt blade shape is more useful. Not a slicer but sharp and steel is ok (for balisongs). However, per below, BRS has way overpriced this even against its own products.

It's… read more good because the G10 replicant is good, and that's the problem. The G10 premium replicant is $315.99, so for nearly $140 more, all you get with this hybrid is ti scales. That's it. They are more premium but also make the knife heavier handle side. Stock hardware is still sketchy at best, and one of my bushings came crimped from the factory. If you don't have a Bali yet, the squid industries Krake Raken blows this out of the water in bang for your buck.

I added kuski barrels which helped the balance (for me) but that's another $40 bucks. I still like the knife a lot, but should have been like $390 tops. Either get a regular replicant and aftermarket scales or get an alpha beast.

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It's a BRS, nuff said.

So first off, the description says "washer pivots", which is incorrect. Yes, there are phosphor-bronze washers but this and ALL replicant variations, AB variations, and so forth ride on BUSHINGS. There are a lot of Reddit posts in the balisong communities that bash and trash the hybrids because of this accidental typo in the description, they run on bushings. So to sum the description… read more all up real quick, it's a replicant with handle weight of a CHAB or maybe a tiny bit more handle bias in my own personal opinion. To me BRS has put out some of the absolute best production flippers money can buy, they are built to be abused. Sometimes reviews are made without ever having owned or flipped a particular knife so my opinionated advice/suggestion is to pick one up if you think you will like it and flip it yourself. All balisongs handle differently by different people so really the only opinion that matters is your own. Buy it, flip it, enjoy it, and on the small chance you don't like it these things have a resale value of equal or more in the community, no joke, these knives are highly sought after. Anyway, that's my opinion, best to try it out yourself and see how you feel about it. Have a great day and be kind to each other, kindness is in short supply these days so let's bring it back. SkippyVonB

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Decent but not worth the money in my opinon

I was disappointed in this knife. For $450 I'd expect, at least, custom hardware. Maybe if BRS spent less money on the ridiculous zipper case this would be priced reasonably but as it is I felt kind of ripped off.

It's tuned well enough out of the box and flips pretty well but I wasn't a fan of the balance, metal scales + liners make it too handle-heavy for my taste. It's… read more certainly well made, just not a good value. And the G10 Reps flip and feel much better.

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My new favorite flipper

Im relatively new to balisong flipping, but have been practicing every day and am becoming more fluid with combos. I started with a generic ccc decades ago, but only started seriously learning actual tricks with the Kershaw Lucha. I then upgraded the Lucha with the Flytanium titanium scales and ceramic bearings and found that I preferred the weight of the heavier original scales.… read more Ive since switched over to the Benchmade 51. While that is a convenient and fun knife, it is a little too light for me to love. I then went on to the Benchmade 85 and absolutely fell in love with it. Ive been wanting to try and collect other higher end brands, but you know how difficult it is to get your hands on them. Luckily I caught the recent BRS drop (thanks to the helpful email reminder,) and immediately snatched up a Replicant Hybrid standard, and a Replicant Hybrid Alt. Holy f~~~! I didnt think Id find a knife I enjoyed flipping more than the 85, but thats exactly what I did! These knives are amazing! The build quality, the feel, balance, weight (on the heavier end which I prefer), and looks are absolutely phenomenal! They both came tuned perfectly out of the box with only microscopic play (so much less than the Benchmade 51) and zero rattle. They spin like an absolute dream and are built like tanks and feel great in my hand. I have zero regrets spending most of my paycheck on two knives. While I will still collect more brands and styles, I am almost 100% confident that these will remain my favorites.

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