Description
Three materials on one knife: brass at the ends of each handle, dark horn carved with a spiral twist through the middle with a pale section set behind it, and a forged blade with filework and a row of drilled holes along the spine. The DB-09 is 8.6 inches open and 6.3 ounces.
| Overall length | 8.6 inches |
| Blade length | 4.3 inches |
| Handle length | 4.3 inches |
| Steel | 1095 + 15N20 Damascus, 352 layers |
| Hardness | 58–60 HRC, oil tempered |
| Weight | 6.3 oz |
| Handle | Damascus Balisong Butterfly Knife with handmade brass and Horn handle |
Shorter, and lighter with it
This is a mid-size piece: under the 9.4-inch forged balisongs we build and noticeably lighter in the hand than any of them. Less mass means the knife changes direction faster and tires a wrist more slowly, and that is the honest argument for buying it. An hour of practice with a seven-ounce knife is a genuinely different experience from an hour with this one, and your forearm will tell you so. The flip side is that there is less momentum carrying you through a chained move, so imprecise technique shows up straight away instead of being smoothed over by inertia.
Handle length is the specification to check
The handles measure 4.3 inches. For small and average hands that is a comfortable full grip with the little finger still on metal. For large hands the little finger will hang past the end, and if that describes you it is worth sizing up before ordering rather than discovering it afterwards. Nothing about a short handle is a defect; it is simply a fit question, and fit is the one thing a photograph cannot answer for you.
Three materials, three different answers
Brass, horn and an etched high-carbon laminate at 58-60 HRC each want something different from you. The brass asks for nothing beyond a wipe and will darken whatever you do about it. The horn wants a little oil now and then and wants to stay away from heat, because horn is a protein and heat is what deforms it. The blade wants to stay dry and lightly protected, which the forged-blade care page goes into properly. None of the three enjoy sitting sealed in a pouch in a humid room for a month.
Cleaning it is two jobs, not one
Do the pivots and the handle channels first, using the approach set out in the pocket knife cleaning guide, then do the handle materials separately and by hand. Solvent that is fine on a pivot is not fine on carved horn, and a cotton bud takes ten seconds. The drilled spine collects lint faster than you would expect, so blow it out while you are in there.
If reach matters more than lightness
The 9.4-inch brass forged balisong gives you the extra length and the extra mass in an all-metal handle. Both are forged, ground and fitted in Memphis, Tennessee. Balisong ownership rules vary by state and by country, so please confirm yours before you order.
Model: BMK-DB-09
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