Damascus Balisong Butterfly Knife Original Traditional Filipino Butterfly Batanga Knife with Handmade Brass and Stag Antler Handle Black Mamba Knives USA | DB-13

Description

A short Damascus balisong with stag antler scales and brass fittings, 6.2 inches overall, with a bold ladder pattern across an angular blade.

Works best for: people who like natural material on a knife and want something with visible history in it rather than a uniform synthetic scale.

Stag is never the same twice

Antler is the only handle material here that grew rather than being cut from stock. Its outer surface carries the ridges and pitting the animal put there, and its interior is porous, so every scale takes finish differently. That has consequences beyond looks: stag is grippier than polished wood or metal when your hands are damp, which is the practical reason it has been used on working knives for centuries. It also means yours will not match this photograph in its markings. The brass caps at each end are there to protect the fragile ends of the antler where it would otherwise chip.

An angular blade on a short frame

The blade runs straight from the ricasso then breaks sharply to the point rather than curving to it. On a 6.2-inch knife weighing 5.6 ounces, that flat spine and abrupt tip keep weight forward of the pivot without adding length, so the knife has more swing authority than its size suggests. The layering shows as long wavering bands running with the blade rather than the tight rings you get on a wider piece, because the billet was drawn out narrow. The construction guide covers how the handles and pivots are assembled.

Care for stag and carbon steel

This blade is forge-welded 1095 with 15N20, taken to a hardness of 58 to 60 HRC. Neither is stainless, so dry it and oil it sparingly once you have finished handling it; that is the whole discipline, and skipping it is how these pick up spotting. Antler wants the opposite treatment from the steel: keep oil off it. Oil soaks into the porous core, darkens it unevenly and never fully leaves. Clean stag with a dry brush at most. Keep the knife away from direct sun, which bleaches antler, and out of damp storage, which is bad for both halves. Whether these patterned blades rust at all gets asked constantly, and we take the question on in do Damascus knives rust.

Questions

Is the stag dyed? No. The color variation is natural.

Is it too small to flip properly? It is short but not a novelty; expect fast rotations and less momentum than a full-size knife.

What else uses brass this way? The DB-22 pairs brass with a different scale material.

Model: BMK-DB-13