Colorado Cool Stuff: BaliYo

Eric Peterson //August 1, 2009//

Colorado Cool Stuff: BaliYo

Eric Peterson //August 1, 2009//

A spinoff from Golden-based knife maker Spyderco, BaliYo is a butterfly knife without the knife. “Up-and-coming CEO” Eric Glesser, son of founder and CEO Sal Glesser, “is a real big fan of high-end pens and balisong, or butterfly-style, knives,” says BaliYo spokeswoman Joyce Laituri. “So he took the concept and combined it with a Fisher Space Pen”— the pressurized pen developed for astronauts.

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After the BaliYo’s launch last summer at the 2008 World Yo-Yo Contest in Orlando, “It’s taken off,” Laituri says. “It’s like an action pen for people who are real fidgety.” The market is dominated by males aged 9 to 19, but Laituri notes, “We do have a couple of doctors who BaliYo.”  $28 retail for the premium BaliYo (made in Golden); $8 retail for the standard model.

Made for BaliYo by Spyderco Inc., Golden, www.baliyo.com.

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