Golden-Crowned Handmade VG10 Super Steel Original Filipino Balisong Butterfly Knife with Brass and Kamagong Wood Handle | 24cm EDC Flipper Gift for Him | BF-53

The BF-53 Golden-Crowned is a 180g VG10 balisong, brass handles with kamagong wood inserts, 12cm blade in a 24cm frame. The name comes from the golden-crowned flying fox, a Philippine bat and one of the largest in the world, which is a better piece of trivia than most product pages manage. What is worth your time on this page is the steel, because VG10 is the most misunderstood thing we sell.

What VG10 actually is on a butterfly knife

VG10 is a Japanese stainless steel developed for kitchen cutlery. Roughly 15% chromium, with vanadium and cobalt in the mix, hardened to around 60 HRC. Those numbers translate into three practical facts: it takes a very fine edge, it keeps that edge for a long time, and it does not rust in any life a balisong is likely to have.

The chromium is why it will survive a sweaty palm and a damp pocket. The hardness is why the edge lasts. Neither is marketing. You can look up the composition from the mill, which is more than can be said for a lot of the “surgical stainless steel” being sold at knife shows.

The bit that surprises everyone

VG10 is the cheapest steel band on this site. Not the most expensive, not a premium upgrade, the entry point. Our D2, high carbon and Damascus knives all cost more.

People find this hard to swallow because VG10 has spent twenty years being used as a selling point by kitchen brands, so the name arrived in the knife world carrying a premium it never really earned in raw material terms. It is a very good steel that happens to be widely produced and easy to buy. We are not going to charge you extra for a reputation.

The honest drawback

Hardness cuts both ways. Once a VG10 edge is genuinely dull, it takes more time and more patience on a stone than 440C does. The same hardness that keeps the edge sharp resists you when you are trying to put it back.

The practical answer is to never let it get there. A few passes on a strop every so often keeps a VG10 edge alive almost indefinitely, and most owners of this knife will never take it to a stone at all, because it is going to be flipped several thousand times more often than it is going to cut anything.

Sharpening it, if you want to

• Strop first. Leather with a little compound restores most of what feels like dullness.
• Diamond or ceramic if you go to a stone. Softer natural stones struggle at 60 HRC and you will wear the stone out before the edge comes back.
• Keep the angle low and consistent. VG10 rewards a fine edge, so do not put a thick shoulder on it out of impatience.
• Or send it back to us. We would rather resharpen a knife than watch someone ruin a good grind in an afternoon.

Specification

How this VG10 balisong actually handles

At 180g this is one of the heavier short-frame knives in the series. Rollovers feel smooth because the mass carries the handle through, aerials hold their line, and reversals ask more of you than they would on one of the 150g builds. Kamagong inserts keep the brass from turning slick in a warm hand, which is the practical reason we use wood at all.

Trainer, sheath and shipping on this drop point balisong

The option above the Add to Cart button gives you this knife unsharpened, which also happens to sidestep the whole sharpening question. Fitted leather sheath included. Free US shipping, flat $49 worldwide.

the VG10 is hardened to 58-60 HRC, which is the window where it holds an edge without turning brittle on you.

This 24cm Golden Crowned balisong runs VG10 super steel against a brass and kamagong wood handle, a combination built for regular flipping rather than a display case. For a sense of how this size compares to the rest of the range, our balisong sizes guide lays out blade and handle length across the whole lineup. For more like it, our VG10 balisong lineup has the full set, and the Green Bee Eater VG10 balisong is a natural next stop if this one is not quite the shape you want.