Handmade Karambit Balisong Butterfly Knife | Forge Finished High Carbon Steel | Rose Wood Handle with Leather Sheath BF-169

The BF-169 is a karambit balisong, forged high carbon steel, rose wood panels, finger ring at the butt, $225. It is a hybrid, and hybrids deserve an explanation before they deserve a sale.

Two traditions, one knife

The karambit came out of the Indonesian and Malay archipelago as an agricultural tool, a curved blade for raking through root and stem, with a ring for the index finger so a wet hand could not lose it. The balisong came out of Batangas as a folding knife that protects its own edge between two handles.

Nobody planned for these to meet. They meet well because both are built around the same idea, which is that a knife should stay attached to your hand and out of your way when it is not working.

What the ring is actually for

Retention. Your index finger goes through it and the knife stays with you whether or not your grip is any good. On the original tool that mattered because hands get wet and slippery in a field. On a folding version it matters because it gives the knife a fixed pivot point in the hand, which is why karambits feel so different to hold from a straight knife.

It is not a knuckle duster and it is not a trick handle. It is the least glamorous feature on the knife and the one that defines it.

The curve, and what a curved edge is good at

A curved edge cuts by drawing rather than pushing. The contact point moves along the edge as you pull, so the same force does more work than it would on a straight blade meeting the material flat.

That makes a karambit very good at anything you pull through: rope, cardboard, webbing, packaging. It makes it poor at anything you push into, and hopeless at anything that needs a point held flat against a board. Buy it knowing which half of that you want.

Forged finish on a curved blade

The dark flat is forge scale, the oxide layer left by working the steel hot. It is part of the blade, not sprayed on top of it, and it wears rather than chipping. The edge bevel is ground back to bright steel because scale cannot be left where the apex is.

On a curved blade that contrast follows the curve, which shows you the geometry rather better than a uniform finish would. You can see exactly where the grind changes along the belly.

Rose wood, in the hand

Dense, naturally oily, close grained. It does not get slippery when your hands are damp, which is more or less the whole requirement for a handle you hold through a ring. It darkens to a deeper red brown over the years and it needs a little mineral oil once a year at most.

Specifications for this karambit balisong

Ordering the BF-169

Sharpened, tuned and checked by hand, with a fitted leather sheath cut for this frame and a gift box. It is high carbon, so wipe it dry and keep it out of the sheath between uses.

Or take it as a trainer instead. Identical frame, identical weight, no cutting edge, and the price does not move. A curved blade on a folding frame is not the thing to learn on sharpened.

Laser engraving is $29, chosen on this page. Free shipping inside the United States, flat $49 worldwide.