Tanso Handmade D2 Steel Balisong Knife| Brass Handle | Premium Butterfly Knife with Leather Sheath BF-154

The BF-154 has a brass handle. Not brass bolsters with wood or horn between them, brass all the way. It is the only one in this block built that way and it behaves noticeably differently from everything else here.

What all brass does to the balance

Brass is heavy. Roughly eight and a half times the density of water, against rosewood at about one. Replacing the panels with metal moves a significant amount of mass out into the handles, away from the pivot.

In the hand that means:

• More momentum once it is moving. Rotations carry themselves further with less input from you.
• More effort to start and stop. Sharp direction changes need real intent.
• More stable in the air. Aerials settle rather than tumble.
• More tiring. A long session with a brass handled balisong is felt in the forearm.

Flippers tend to have a strong opinion in one direction. People who like heavy knives really like this one. People who prefer a light quick knife will find it wearing, and there is no point pretending otherwise.

Grip, and the honest downside

Polished brass is slick. Dry hands, no problem. Damp hands, it moves. Wood, horn, stag and micarta all grip better than metal when your palms warm up, and this is the one real functional cost of an all metal handle.

Two things help. The tarnish that develops over the first months is very slightly less slippery than fresh polish, and most owners settle into a firmer grip within a week without noticing they have.

The patina, which is not damage

Brass oxidises. It will go from bright gold to soft gold in weeks, then to warm brown over a year or two, and on an all brass handle that transformation is the whole surface rather than two small bolsters. It is the most visually dramatic ageing of any knife on this page.

Polish it back with a cloth and a minute of effort whenever you like. Or leave it, and in three years you will own something that looks like it has a history. We prefer the second, but it costs you nothing to change your mind either way, which is more than can be said for most finishes.

Durability of a brass handled balisong

This is the toughest handle here. Brass does not crack, split, chip, warp, rot, dry out or care about humidity. It dents if you hit it hard enough, and a dent in brass can be worked out. There is no maintenance schedule.

The D2 blade on this tanto butterfly knife

D2 tool steel at 58-60 HRC, 14cm on a 29cm frame. High carbon, high chromium, long edge retention, sharpens without special equipment, resists rust but is not stainless.

Who this is for

Somebody who has flipped enough to know they like weight. You are paying for a lot of hand worked metal, and for a knife that will physically outlast every other material we sell.

Specifications

What you actually receive with this D2 balisong

A knife that has been sharpened, tuned and checked by hand, a leather sheath cut for this frame, and a gift box.

Or take it as a trainer instead: identical frame and weight, no cutting edge, and the price does not move. Use it for anything you have not done a hundred times.

Engraving is $19 for initials or short text and $29 for a custom logo, chosen on this page. Shipping is free inside the United States and a flat $49 to everywhere else.

An all brass handle shifts real weight out into the handles, and our guide to balisong weight and balance explains what that does to rotation speed and fatigue over a long session. The Tanso is part of our Balisong Prime line. For the same heft with a Damascus blade over a stainless handle instead of solid brass, the Pilak is built along similar lines.