High Carbon Steel Filipino Balisongs Butterfly Stainless Steel High Grains Rose Wood Inserts Black Mamba Knives World Class Knives | BMK-447

Description

A plain bright blade and warm brass channels. BMK-447 is the version of the Filipino balisong that skips the pattern work entirely and lets the rosewood do the talking.

Suited to: flippers who care more about how a knife swings than how it photographs. The blade here is high carbon steel with no forged figure in it, hardened to the same 58 to 60 range as the fancier models in the rack. That buys you an edge that takes a wire finish on a stone and holds it, at a price a layered billet never reaches.

Brass, wood and what that weight does

The handles are brass, milled as channels, with high-grain rosewood set into each side and pinned through. Brass is dense. Most of this knife’s mass sits behind the pivots rather than out at the tip, which slows a rollover and makes the return to the handle land softly instead of snapping. Beginners generally get further with a butterfly built this way than with a light one, because a slow knife is a forgiving knife. Rosewood inserts add grip that bare metal cannot, and they warm to the hand within a minute of picking it up.

Proportions

9.1 inches open, split 4.4 inches of blade to 4.7 of handle. That balance point close to the pivots is deliberate. Closed, the blade seats fully inside the channels, which is what keeps a channel-construction balisong quieter and tighter than a bolted sandwich build.

Living with unpatterned carbon steel

High carbon steel is not stainless. Left with fingerprints on it in a humid room, the flats will freckle within a week. That is not a defect, and it is reversible, but it means this knife needs a habit rather than a shelf. Wipe the blade down every time you finish a session. The brass will go from bright yellow to a deeper gold over a year of handling. Some owners polish that back with a metal polish and a cloth; most decide the patina suits it and leave well alone.

Care. Dry the steel, then put a thin film of light oil on it before the knife goes away. Do not oil the rosewood with the same rag you used on the blade, because wood holds oil and the residue will creep onto your hands. Once a year, a drop of wax on the wood is plenty. Keep water out of the pivots. If rust does appear, deal with it early rather than letting it pit.

Questions people ask first

Will it rust in a pocket? It can. The fix is routine, not a special product; see removing rust from a blade.

How is the handle put together? Milled channels, not stacked plates. Balisong construction explained covers the difference.

What changes if I go up to a tool steel? Edge retention, mostly. The D2 balisong with rosewood inserts pairs the same wood with a harder alloy.

Model: BMK-447