D2 Tool Steel Filipino Balisongs Butterfly Stainless Steel Ebony Wood Inserts Black Mamba Knives World Class Knives | BMK-457

Description

Brass handles with ebony wood inserts, a D2 blade, and 9.1 inches of knife when it is open. The heaviest-feeling balisong we make in this size.

Sits best with: a flipper who likes momentum. Brass is roughly twice as dense as the stainless used on the lighter models in this family, so this knife carries its weight out in the handles and keeps swinging once you start it. That is a virtue in rollovers and a liability in fast, tight aerials. Try it if you have found lighter balisongs feel vague.

Brass, and what it does over time

Brass does not stay bright. It goes from yellow to a deeper gold and eventually to a soft brown patina wherever your fingers touch it most, which means the wear pattern ends up mapping your grip. Some owners like that and leave it alone. If you would rather have it bright, any brass polish and a soft cloth takes it back in a few minutes, and it will start over. There is no functional difference between the two states. Brass also dents more easily than steel, so a drop onto concrete leaves a mark you can feel.

Ebony inserts

Ebony is dense, close grained and very dark, near black in most light with the grain only visible up close. It is one of the more stable woods for a knife handle, so it barely reacts to humidity, and it burnishes rather than fuzzes against a pocket lining. It is also brittle compared with a burl. A hard strike on the insert edge can chip it where a softer wood would just dent.

Keeping it right

The blade is D2, so it wants a dry wipe and very little else. The brass wants nothing at all unless you want it shiny. The joint between wood and metal is the part to watch: never submerge the knife, and never leave it sitting in a damp sheath, because water gets into that seam and lifts the insert over time. A drop of oil on each pivot every month or two keeps the action even.

Buyer questions

How heavy is it really? Noticeably heavier than the stainless models at the same length. That is the point of it.

Will the brass turn my hand green? Occasionally, on damp hands. It washes off and it is harmless.

Is the ebony stained? No. It is naturally that dark.

Read what each part of a knife is called if the bolster and insert language is unfamiliar, and channel versus skeletonized handles covers why weight sits where it does. For the same brass frame with horn instead of wood, see the deer horn brass balisong.

Model: BMK-457