vg10 stainless steel
Balisongs do not rust on the blade. They rust in the pivot, where sweat runs down the tang and sits in a channel nobody thinks to wipe because nobody can see it. That is the failure we see come back through the workshop, and it is the reason VG10 exists on this shelf.
VG10 is properly stainless, not the semi-stainless compromise D2 makes. High chromium, fine grain, and no oiling routine. Wipe it, close it, get on with your day. In a humid climate that is worth more than an extra hundred cuts of edge life.
30 VG10 knives here, $109.45 to $178.75, averaging $131.24, all from the hand-ground animal-named series.
The trade-off is real and we will not pretend otherwise. Stainless steels buy corrosion resistance with chromium, and chromium locked into the matrix is chromium not forming the hard carbides that make D2 wear so well. You are choosing low maintenance over long edge life. For anyone who carries a balisong rather than works with one, that is the right way round.
Thirty knives sit below, catalogue numbers BF-26 to BF-55, each one named after an animal. Most share a single frame: 24cm open, a 12cm blade, and a weight somewhere between 150g and 185g. Three are noticeably bigger. The Macaque, the Crane and the Crocodile run 29cm open on a 14cm blade at 220g to 225g, which changes how the knife swings far more than the extra edge changes what it will cut. Handle frames are brass on 27 of the 30 and stainless steel on the other three. Kamagong is the usual insert, with narra, bone, carabao horn and Visayan deer horn turning up on a handful. Every blade is hardened to around 60 HRC and arrives in a fitted leather sheath, and every one can be ordered as an unsharpened trainer for the same money.
Showing 1–24 of 30 results
Common Buzzard Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Stainless Steel and Kamagong Wood Handle | 24cm Lightweight Flipper Gift | BF-26
Cow Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Brass and Kamagong Wood Handle | 24cm EDC Flipper Gift for Him | BF-27
Crab Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Stainless Steel and Kamagong Wood Handle | 24cm Lightweight Flipper Gift | BF-28
Crane Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Brass and Carabao Horn Handle | 29cm Full Size Collector Gift | BF-30
Crocodile Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Brass and Carabao Horn Handle | 29cm Full Size Collector Gift | BF-31
Blade Materials – Vg10 Super Steel
Deer Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Brass and Kamagong Wood Handle | 24cm EDC Flipper Gift for Him | BF-32
Dog Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Brass and Kamagong Wood Handle | 24cm Lightweight Flipper Gift | BF-33
Donkey Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Brass and Kamagong Wood Handle | 24cm Lightweight Flipper Gift | BF-34
Dormouse Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Brass and Kamagong Wood Handle | 24cm Lightweight Flipper Gift | BF-35
Dragonfly Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Brass and Kamagong Wood Handle | 24cm EDC Flipper Gift for Him | BF-36
Duck Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Brass and Kamagong Wood Handle | 24cm Lightweight Flipper Gift | BF-37
Eagle Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Brass and Kamagong Wood Handle | 24cm Lightweight Flipper Gift | BF-38
Earwig Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Brass and Kamagong Wood Handle | 24cm Lightweight Flipper Gift | BF-39
Eel Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Brass and Kamagong Wood Handle | 24cm Lightweight Flipper Gift | BF-40
Elephant Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Brass and Kamagong Wood Handle | 24cm EDC Flipper Gift for Him | BF-41
Falcon Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Brass and Kamagong Wood Handle | 24cm Lightweight Flipper Gift | BF-42
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Fire-Bellied Toad Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Brass and Kamagong Wood Handle | 24cm Lightweight Flipper Gift | BF-43
Fly Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Brass and Kamagong Wood Handle | 24cm Lightweight Flipper Gift | BF-44
Flying Squirrel Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Brass and Kamagong Wood Handle | 24cm Lightweight Flipper Gift | BF-45
Fox Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Brass and Kamagong Wood Handle | 24cm Lightweight Flipper Gift | BF-46
Frog Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Brass and Kamagong Wood Handle | 24cm EDC Flipper Gift for Him | BF-47
Gecko Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Brass and Kamagong Wood Handle | 24cm Lightweight Flipper Gift | BF-48
Gerbil Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Stainless Steel and Bone Handle | 24cm EDC Flipper Gift for Him | BF-49
Glass Lizard Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Brass, Bone and Kamagong Wood Handle | 24cm EDC Flipper Gift for Him | BF-50
What VG10 is, and why it sits on this shelf
VG10 is a Japanese stainless steel with chromium at roughly 15 percent and a fine grain that takes a very clean edge off the stones. Every blade carrying this tag is hardened to around 60 HRC. The chromium is the whole reason it is here. There is enough of it to make the steel properly stainless rather than semi stainless, so the tang and the pivot channel do not start blooming orange after a wet month. That is the failure people actually meet with a carried balisong.
Two frame sizes, seven weights
Thirty knives carry this tag, BF-26 through BF-55. Twenty seven are built on the standard 24cm frame with a 12cm blade. The remaining three use the larger 29cm frame with a 14cm blade. Weight is the more useful number of the two, because it decides how much work your wrist does on every rotation.
| Weight | Knives | Overall length | Blade | Examples in this tag |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 150g | 12 | 24cm | 12cm | BF-33 Dog, BF-38 Eagle, BF-42 Falcon, BF-46 Fox |
| 155g | 3 | 24cm | 12cm | BF-26 Common Buzzard, BF-28 Crab, BF-48 Gecko |
| 175g | 3 | 24cm | 12cm | BF-49 Gerbil, BF-51 Glow Worm, BF-54 Green Bee-Eater |
| 180g | 8 | 24cm | 12cm | BF-27 Cow, BF-36 Dragonfly, BF-52 Goat, BF-55 Hamster |
| 185g | 1 | 24cm | 12cm | BF-50 Glass Lizard |
| 220g to 225g | 3 | 29cm | 14cm | BF-29 Macaque, BF-30 Crane, BF-31 Crocodile |
The 150g knives are the largest single group and the sensible place to start if you have never flipped anything. The 180g and heavier builds swing more slowly, forgive a loose grip less, and hurt considerably more when they land on a knuckle. Neither is better steel. They are the same blade in a different amount of handle.
Brass, stainless, and what goes in the handle
Twenty seven of the thirty run brass handle frames. Three run stainless steel: the BF-26 Common Buzzard, the BF-28 Crab and the BF-49 Gerbil. Brass darkens as you handle it and settles into a dull bronze. Some owners like that and leave it alone. Others scrub it back every fortnight. Stainless does neither: year three looks like day one.
Kamagong, the Philippine ironwood, is the standard insert and appears on 24 of the thirty. The rest are unusual on purpose: narra wood on the BF-52 Goat, bone on the BF-49 Gerbil, bone with kamagong on the BF-50 Glass Lizard, carabao horn on the BF-30 Crane and the BF-31 Crocodile, and Visayan deer horn on the BF-29 Macaque.
What the stainless costs you
Chromium locked into the matrix keeping a steel stainless is chromium not forming the hard carbides that make a tool steel wear so well. That is the bargain, and there is no clever way around it. A VG10 edge will not outlast a well treated D2 edge under heavy cutting. It will come back to sharp faster on a stone, and it will not punish you for closing the knife while it is still damp. For a knife that gets flipped far more often than it gets used, that trade lands the right way up.
Sheaths, trainers and getting started
Every knife on this page ships in a fitted leather sheath. Every one of them can also be ordered as an unsharpened trainer for the same price, using the option above the Add to Cart button on the product page. Learning aerials on a live edge is a hobby with a medical bill attached, so take the trainer version of whichever animal you like the look of.
Common questions about VG10 balisongs
Is VG10 fully stainless? Yes. Its chromium content is high enough to count as proper stainless steel, unlike D2, which is usually described as semi stainless. You should still wipe the pivot dry, because water that sits in a closed pivot channel will eventually find something to attack.
How hard are these blades? All thirty are hardened to around 60 HRC. That is hard enough to hold a fine edge and forgiving enough that the tip is not brittle when the knife meets a tiled floor.
Which VG10 balisong should a beginner buy? One of the 150g knives on the 24cm frame, ordered as a trainer. Twelve of the thirty are built at that weight, so there is plenty of choice without paying for a heavier frame you will not enjoy yet.
What is the difference between the 24cm and 29cm knives? The 29cm frame carries a 14cm blade and weighs 220g to 225g, against 150g to 185g on the standard frame. Only three knives here use it: the Macaque, the Crane and the Crocodile. They swing slowly and deliberately, which is pleasant once your technique has settled and punishing before it has.
What is kamagong? Kamagong is Philippine ironwood, a very dense dark hardwood used across Filipino edged tools. It is the handle insert on 24 of the thirty knives in this tag, on its own or paired with bone.
Do these knives come sharpened? Sharpened is the default. The unsharpened trainer is an option on the same product page and costs exactly the same, so you can own one of each without a price penalty.
About our balisongs
The balisong began in Batangas, in the Philippines, and every knife in this collection is made in that tradition. Our knives are made by Filipino artisans and metalworkers, many from families with generations of experience, now working in the United States.
Blades are ground in 440C stainless, D2 tool steel, VG10, high carbon and Damascus steel. Handles are fitted in kamagong ebony, carabao horn, Philippine deer horn and bone, and every knife ships with a fitted leather sheath. Both live blades and trainers are offered.
Before a knife leaves the bench it passes a four-step quality process: detailed hand inspection, smoothness and pivot testing, blade alignment checks, and durability and finish quality control. If a knife doesn't meet our standards, it never reaches our customers.
Most orders ship in 1 to 3 business days and arrive in 4 to 8 business days across the USA, or 8 to 14 business days internationally. Out of stock knives are handcrafted to order in 2 to 3 weeks, and every order ships worldwide with tracking.