440C Stainless Steel Balisong Butterfly Knife – Honeypot Ant, Deer Horn & Brass Handle | Authentic Filipino Balisong BF-05

Batangas Balisong Butterfly Knife — Honeypot Ant BF-05

Named after the desert ant that stores food in its own body — a quiet piece of engineering, which is roughly the idea here. The BF-05 batangas balisong butterfly knife is hand-forged in 440C Stainless Steel on the traditional Batangas pattern in the Philippines, by smiths working the way balisongs have been made for generations.

Blade & Steel

The 440C stainless blade is the workhorse of this catalogue for good reason. Chromium content in the 16–18% range gives it genuine stain resistance, and a 58–60 HRC temper puts it in the sweet spot between edge holding and ease of sharpening. Low-maintenance, high-confidence steel.

Handle, Bolsters & Balance

The inserts are Philippine deer horn, hand-fitted and finished. Deer horn has a slightly coarse natural surface that gives real grip when your palms are damp, and the colour ranges from cream to caramel depending on the section it was cut from. The frame around them is brass, which sets the knife’s weight and gives the inserts something rigid to sit in.

How It Flips

At 10.58 oz (300 g) this is a heavy balisong. Momentum does most of the work once the handles are moving, which makes slow, controlled openings look effortless — but it demands wrist strength and it is unforgiving of a sloppy catch. Experienced hands only; it is not a knife to learn on. The brass in the handles pushes the balance point outward, which steadies the swing further and is why brass-handled balisongs feel calmer in the hand than their weight alone suggests.

Open, this is a full-size Batangas pattern. Long handles mean a longer arc and more leverage, which flippers describe as the knife ‘doing the work’ — it is the traditional proportion, and the one that photographs best on a display stand.

Specifications

Every knife is finished by hand, so dimensions and weight may vary by roughly 3–5%, and natural handle materials differ piece to piece. Yours will not be an exact twin of the photograph.

Who This Balisong Is For

The BF-05 suits anyone moving up from a mass-market balisong to a genuinely hand-made one. It is a working knife rather than a wall piece — it can be carried, flipped and sharpened — but the fit and the handle material make it a legitimate display piece too. If you are buying a gift, this is the price bracket where a balisong stops feeling like a novelty.

What’s Included

• 1 × Batangas Balisong Butterfly Knife
• A handmade wooden presentation box is included with every order over $170.
• Care card with oiling and pivot-tuning notes

Care & Tuning

Wipe the blade dry after handling and put a drop of light oil on each pivot every few weeks. If the handles develop play, seat the knife closed and tighten the pivot screws a quarter turn at a time until the play disappears without the action binding. Zen pins and tang pins can be dressed with a fine file if the handles start to strike the blade — do this a few strokes at a time.

Live blade, sold to adults 18 and over. Customers are responsible for knowing and complying with the knife laws that apply where they live.

Frequently Asked Questions