Well there is a large balisong community which is constantly trying to better themselves as far as manipulating the balisong, it is an art and it takes along time to get really good consistantly...For the most part your right it has alot to do with showing off for most people, but an experienced user likes the balisogn as an everyday knife as well...I sometimes carry one myself, it is very handy and good quality balisongs like Benchmade makes can take a realy beating and be used just like any other knife...
What sucks in this case is that they have effected collectors like me and many others who use our balisongs for fun and not for crime...Most of the time you will not see a criminal use a $100 + knife, but rather the $10 cheapos you cna find at flea markets...but because spyderco is a well knwon compnay and they merchandise can be traced easily they were an easy target, rather than the chinese companies that import these things in unmarked containers that cannot be checked easily because there are so mnay being imported and exported so often...Even though there are thousands of knife collectors that are mad by this the general public think its a good thign to keep weapons off the street, but in reality its only hurting good honest people like myself...
