Kalansay Handmade Karambit Balisong Butterfly Knife | High Polished Blade | Skeletonised Full Steel Handle with Leather Sheath BF-170
Original price was: $279.95.$209.96Current price is: $209.96.
No wood, no horn, no bone. Steel all the way through, drilled out to bring the weight back down, and nothing on it that needs oiling once a year.
Blade Material – High Carbon Steel, high polished
Handle Material – Skeletonised steel with finger ring
Overall Length – 24 cm
Blade Length – 12 cm
Hardness – 58-60 HRC
Sheath – Fitted leather, included
Handmade in Austin, TX. Ships Worldwide.
Every knife is built by hand in our workshop in Austin, Texas, by Filipino makers trained in the Batangas tradition. We ship to any country we are allowed to send a knife to. Free shipping inside the United States, 49 USD flat everywhere else. Shipping and delivery times
Not quite what you want?
Pick your own blade, steel and handle in our custom balisong builder.
The BF-170 is a karambit balisong with no handle material at all. The handles are the frame, drilled through, polished, with a finger ring at the butt. And it is the cheapest knife in this group for a reason worth understanding.
Why a bare steel handle costs less
Because it skips a whole stage of work. Fitting panels means sourcing matched material, shaping it, drilling it, pinning it and finishing it flush with the frame, and doing it twice per knife with a material that varies from piece to piece. Remove the panels and that work disappears.
What does not disappear is the frame itself, which on this knife is doing more than usual because it is the visible surface. It gets finished properly rather than left as a rough interior part.
The drilling is not decoration
A solid steel handle on a folding knife is heavy in the wrong place. Both handles swing around a pivot at the blade end, so mass out at the butt makes the knife feel sluggish and end heavy, and on a karambit the ring already puts weight there.
The holes remove metal from precisely the places that do nothing structural. The result balances closer to the pivot, which is where you want it. If you have handled a cheap all steel folder that felt like a hammer, this is the difference.
What you gain by having no natural material
Nothing to maintain. Horn dislikes dry heat, bone dislikes soaking, wood wants an occasional oil. Steel wants a wipe.
It also means nothing to crack, nothing to shrink away from the pins after five winters, and nothing that will look different from the photograph because a buffalo grew it slightly differently.
What you give up
Warmth, mostly. Steel takes the temperature of the room, so on a cold morning this knife is cold in a way a horn handle never is. It is also more slippery than rose wood with wet hands, which the ring compensates for rather than solves.
And it is anonymous. That is a real cost. A stag handle tells you something about the animal it came from; a polished frame tells you about the machinist. Some people want the second thing, which is entirely fair.
High polish on a working frame
The blade and the frame are both taken to a mirror. It will scratch, and on a knife with this many edges and holes it will scratch sooner than on a flat one. Consider the first scratch a formality and get on with using it.
Specifications for this steel handled karambit balisong
| Overall length | 24 cm |
| Blade length | 12 cm |
| Blade | High carbon steel, mirror polished |
| Hardness | 58-60 HRC |
| Handle | Skeletonised steel with finger ring |
| Sheath | Fitted leather, included |
Ordering the BF-170
Sharpened, tuned and checked by hand, with a fitted leather sheath and a gift box.
Or take it as a trainer instead. Identical frame, identical weight, no cutting edge, and the price does not move. Of everything in this group, this is the one most people should learn on first.
Laser engraving is $29, chosen on this page. Free shipping inside the United States, flat $49 worldwide.
Every knife is checked for lockup, pivot action and edge before it goes in the box. Nothing ships that we would not keep for ourselves.
Processing
Most orders leave the bench in 1 to 3 business days. If the knife you picked is not in stock we forge it for you, which takes roughly 2 to 3 weeks. Engraving adds a little time on top of that.
What shipping costs
- United States: free on every order.
- Everywhere else: a flat 49 dollars for the whole order, however many knives are in it, so two at once ship for the same as one.
How long it takes
- USA: 4 to 8 business days
- International: 8 to 14 business days, longer if customs takes an interest
Those are carrier estimates, not promises we can enforce.
Tracking
A tracking number reaches you by email as soon as the parcel is collected. Carriers often take 24 to 48 hours to start showing movement, so a quiet first day is normal.
Customs and local law
Import duty, VAT and customs fees are set by your own country and are yours to pay. Balisong law varies by country and by US state, so it is worth checking yours before you order.
The full detail lives on Order and Shipping and Return or Exchange.
Hand-forged in the Batangas tradition
The balisong was born in Batangas, Philippines. Every knife in this catalogue is made by Filipino artisans and metalworkers, many from families with generations of experience, now working in the United States. Blades are ground from 440C stainless, D2 tool steel, VG10, high carbon and Damascus, and fitted to handles of kamagong ebony, carabao horn, Philippine deer horn and bone.
Checked four times
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.
Engraving available
Initials or short text $19 in the font you choose, a custom logo $29. Select it above Add to Cart and upload the logo file at checkout.
A sheath with every knife
Every knife includes a fitted leather sheath. Both live blades and trainers are offered, and every order ships worldwide with tracking.
Buying more than one?
Trade pricing starts at ten pieces and reaches 45% under retail at volume, with your logo on the bolster. See wholesale and bulk, or design one from scratch.
Owner reviews
What owners say
9 reviews for Kalansay Handmade Karambit Balisong Butterfly Knife | High Polished Blade | Skeletonised Full Steel Handle with Leather Sheath BF-170
Shipping and returns
Processing
Most orders ship in 1 to 3 business days.
USA delivery
4 to 8 business days, tracked door to door.
International
8 to 14 business days. Customs times vary by country.
Made to order
Out of stock pieces are handcrafted for you in 2 to 3 weeks.
We ship worldwide. The customer is responsible for customs, VAT and local legality.
Returns and exchanges Read the warranty
Blade Materials – 440c Stainless steel
Larry Patel –
Overall a good buying experience. Blade is sharp but not quite razor sharp out of the box. Still very happy with it and would recommend.
Robert Garcia –
No regrets on this purchase at all. This flips cleaner than knives twice the price. Handles have a great grip even during fast flips. Weight is perfectly balanced for flipping. This is going straight into my daily rotation.
Patricia Perez –
Ordered late at night on a whim and woke up glad I did. Balisong Butterfly keeps setting the bar higher with each order. Comes with a nice pouch which is a nice touch. Respect to the Filipino craftsmanship behind this, all made and shipped from the USA. This seller clearly takes pride in their work.
Nicole Mendoza –
This is one of those purchases that just makes you smile. Comes with a nice pouch which is a nice touch. Can’t wait to see what else this maker has to offer.
Jason Moore –
Not going to lie. This exceeded my expectations by a lot. Comes with a nice pouch which is a nice touch. Shipping was fast and everything arrived well packaged.
Christine Fox –
This has already earned a permanent spot in my collection. Latch snaps shut clean every time. This flips cleaner than knives twice the price. Can’t recommend this enough.
Joshua Wilson –
So happy I finally pulled the trigger on this one. Handles have a great grip even during fast flips. Every piece I’ve gotten from Balisong Butterfly has been solid. Action is smooth right out of the box, no break in needed. 10/10 would buy again.
Scott Barrett –
This is hands down one of the best balisongs I’ve bought online. This is my third order from Balisong Butterfly and they never disappoint.
Adam Patel –
Got this for a gift for a fellow flipper and now I want one for myself too. This is my new favorite in the collection.