Vg10 Super steel
“Super steel” is a phrase the knife trade uses roughly the way car dealers use the word “sport”. So here is our answer, from the grinding room rather than the catalogue.
VG10 is a fine-grained Japanese cutlery stainless, and it takes an edge most steels cannot match for sheer keenness. It comes off the stones sharper than our 440C and it gets there faster than our D2. At being sharp, it is genuinely excellent.
What it is not is the toughest steel on this site, and it is not the longest-wearing. Ask VG10 to hold that razor edge through heavy cutting and it will fade before D2 does. Drop it on concrete and it is less forgiving than our high carbon blades.
There are 30 VG10 balisongs here, $109.45 for the BF-42 Falcon up to $178.75 for the BF-31 Crocodile, averaging $131.24. That is the cheapest steel band we sell, which tells you roughly how much weight to put on the word “super”. Good steel. Fair price. It does not need the adjective.
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 is actually inside VG10, and what does each part do in a butterfly knife?
"Super steel" tells you nothing. The recipe tells you quite a lot, and it is short enough to read in one go. VG10 is a Japanese stainless that made its name in kitchen knives before it turned up in folders. Below is what goes into it, what each ingredient does, and what that means for a knife that spends its life spinning around your hand rather than slicing onions on a board.
The recipe, line by line
The carbon and chromium figures below are the ones in our steel comparison guide. The other three are small additions, so we have not put numbers on them.
| Element | Amount | What it does | What you notice on a balisong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carbon | About 1% | Lets the steel harden and forms hard carbides | A blade that can be taken to a fine, keen edge |
| Chromium | About 15% | Forms a passive film that resists corrosion | A blade that tolerates sweat and a damp pocket |
| Cobalt | Small addition | Strengthens the steel matrix | Helps the edge stay firm at high hardness |
| Molybdenum | Small addition | Improves hardenability and adds to corrosion resistance | More even results through the heat treatment |
| Vanadium | Small addition | Keeps the grain fine and forms very hard carbides | The fine grain that lets the edge go razor keen |
Read the last column again and you will see the pattern. Almost everything in VG10 is pointed at one outcome: a thin, very sharp, stainless edge. That is exactly what a kitchen knife maker wants. It is mostly what a balisong owner wants too, with one exception we will come to.
What 59 to 61 HRC means on a knife that gets dropped
Our steel guide puts VG10 at around 59 to 61 HRC. Hardness is resistance to being dented. It is not the same thing as toughness, which is resistance to cracking, and in most steels you trade a little of one for the other. At this hardness VG10 holds a fine edge well, and the guide is plain about the cost: it prefers clean cutting over prying or hard impacts.
A kitchen knife almost never meets the floor. A balisong in the hands of someone learning an aerial meets it regularly. A tip that lands on tile can lose a small piece. That is not a defect in the steel, it is what hard steel does, and our knife hardness guide explains why the same number can feel generous on a cutting board and unforgiving on concrete. If you are still learning, order the trainer version. It costs the same and has no edge or fine tip to worry about.
Jobs VG10 is the wrong steel for
Do not pry with it. Not paint tins, not staples, not the lid of anything. Do not baton it through wood or twist it in a cut. Do not use the tip as a screwdriver, which we mention because people do.
What it does beautifully is slice: letters, parcels, rope, fruit, leather, anything that wants a clean cut rather than brute force. Keep it to that and the recipe above pays you back every day. Want more edge life under heavy cutting? That is a D2 job, and we say so on our best steel guide too.
The thirty knives on this page share that one steel and differ in everything else: frame size, weight and handle. If you have settled on VG10 and just need to pick a knife, the full VG10 balisong collection is sorted there.
Questions about VG10 as a steel
Is VG10 really a super steel? It is a very good cutlery stainless with a fine grain and a keen edge. The phrase is marketing. Judge it on what it does, which is take a razor edge and resist rust, and on what it does not, which is shrug off hard impacts.
What does the cobalt in VG10 do? Cobalt strengthens the steel's matrix, which helps the edge stay firm at the high hardness VG10 is run at. It is one of the things that separates VG10 from simpler stainless steels.
Why is VG10 used in kitchen knives? Because its recipe is aimed at a thin, very sharp edge that does not stain. Kitchens are wet, and cooks want keenness more than impact toughness. Those priorities carry over well to a balisong that is carried and flipped.
Is VG10 tough enough for flipping practice? The steel guide rates its toughness as moderate. It is fine for flipping, but drops onto hard floors can damage the tip. Learn on the trainer version, which costs the same.
Can I use a VG10 balisong for heavy work? We would not. Prying, twisting and batoning are the wrong jobs for a hard, thin edge. If your knife will work hard every day, look at D2 instead.
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.