VG10 Super Steel Balisong Butterfly Knife – Eel, Kamagong Wood & Brass Handle | Authentic Filipino Balisong BF-40

Eel Balisong Butterfly Knife (BF-40)

Named for pure fluid motion — the animal that is all continuous curve. The BF-40 eel balisong butterfly knife is hand-forged in VG10 Super Steel on the traditional Batangas pattern in the Philippines, by smiths working the way balisongs have been made for generations.

Blade & Steel

The blade is VG10 super steel — a Japanese cutlery alloy built around roughly 1% carbon, 15% chromium, plus cobalt and vanadium. Hardened to about 60–61 HRC, it takes a finer edge than 440C and keeps it longer, while the chromium and cobalt keep corrosion in check. This is the upgrade steel for people who actually cut with their balisong.

Handle, Bolsters & Balance

The inserts are kamagong — Philippine ebony, one of the densest hardwoods in Southeast Asia and the traditional material for Batangas-made balisongs. It is heavy for wood, close to non-porous, and it darkens with handling, so the handles you carry for a year will not look like the handles you unboxed. 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 5.29 oz (150 g), this sits at the light end of the range. Light balisongs change direction fast — rollovers come round quicker, aerials need less wrist, and long practice sessions do not leave your forearm burning. It is the weight class most people learn on, and the one competitive flippers reach for when they are chaining tricks rather than showing a knife off. 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, it measures in the compact-to-standard Batangas range — the size most Filipino makers settle on, and the size that suits the widest range of hands. Large enough to feel like a real knife, small enough to carry comfortably.

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-40 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 × Eel 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