Handmade D2 Steel Balisong Drop Point Knife| Bone & Brass Bolster Handle | Premium Butterfly Knife with Leather Sheath | BMK-712

Description

Eleven inches open makes this the longest balisong on the bench, and D2 is an unusual steel for the format. Bone scales sit in brass bolsters, the spine carries filework, and the whole thing rides in a tooled leather pouch.

Aimed at: people who already flip and want more blade than the standard balisong offers. Five inches of edge and eleven inches deployed is a lot of knife to be swinging around, so this is not a first one.

D2 in a folding format

D2 is a high-carbon, high-chromium tool steel. It holds an edge considerably longer than the plain carbon steels usually used in balisongs, and it is close enough to stainless that light humidity does not mark it. The cost is sharpening: D2 fights a stone, and getting a truly fine edge back takes patience or a diamond plate. Our steel comparison puts it beside the alternatives.

Filework and bone

The cuts along the spine are done by hand with a round file, one at a time, which is why the spacing is even but not machine-perfect. They also give the thumb somewhere positive to sit. The bone scales are pinned into brass bolsters at each end, and the join is where you judge this kind of work: run a fingernail across it and it should not catch.

Eleven inches changes the flip

Longer handles rotate slower and describe a much bigger arc. Everything you already know still applies, but the timing shifts and the margin for a bad catch is wider in every direction. Clear your space. If you want the same construction in a shorter, faster package, the Damascus balisong with brass and stag is the compact alternative.

Maintenance: D2 is forgiving but not immune; a wipe after handling and a light oil before storage is enough. Pay more attention to the pivots than the blade, since bone dust and pocket lint collect there and stiffen the action. A drop of thin oil at each pivot and thirty seconds of flipping clears it. Keep water out of the filework, where it sits longer than on a flat spine.

Before ordering

Is D2 stainless? Not technically. It has enough chromium to resist ordinary corrosion but not enough to be classified stainless. Treat it as a low-maintenance carbon steel rather than a no-maintenance one.

How hard is it to sharpen? Harder than most. Ceramic or diamond will get there; a soft natural stone will glaze before the edge comes back.

Do the tricks in the beginner guides work at this size? The moves are the same but the timing is not. Learn them on something shorter first — the beginner tricks guide is the place to start.

Model: BMK-711A