Are we too pre-occupied with full tang blades?

[lambertiana]

I have confidence in these hidden tang knives because I have seen how Ray makes the tang, with radiused corners.

This one is a frame handle, made entirely out of micarta

For me, one of the big benefits of a hidden tang is lower weight.

 

[facablade]

It seems an almost rare occurrence to see custom covered tang blades posted here. We had a couple of good examples recently. The reason I'm posting this thread is to talk about some of the advantages of covered tang blades.

On the one hand, full tangs provide immediate recognition of the characteristics of the tang and this conveys some display of its strength attributes. A covered tang is not immediately apparent how long or how thick the tang is relative to the blade. However, in today's digital age with the availability of good cameras, a maker can easily take a couple of pictures of the knife 'in process' to show the tang before covering it with a handle.

There are some clear advantages to covered tang knives. They provide insulation against the cold. They are more flexible in the types of shapes and ergos that can be built into them. You can add an attractive and useful butt plate that is far more effective at hammering than a piece of exposed tang. Some handle styles, like stacked leather, can only be done fully covered. A covered tang can be built as strong as a full tang blade. I'm thinking of my scrapyard blades here.

So why do we see so few covered tang bushcraft and survival blades? Clearly the classic leuku and pukko blades are all covered tangs, yet the high end custom scandi's mostly seem to all be full tang? Is this just market niche and product differentiation?

This thread is both a tribute to the covered tang bushcraft/survival blade and a chance to discuss its merits.

IMHO now more fashion fulltang becouse easier to make and cheaper less time consuming during making process

 

[6shooter]

Excuse my ignorance, I know this is a minor detail, but I thought a full tang knife is one in which the tang runs the full length of the handle? So these "hidden tang" knives would still in fact be full tangs, though not "exposed" full tangs?

 

[PeterPHWS]

You can have hidden tangs which do not run the total length of the knife....some hidden tangs are fixed with a but cap and rivet and do go the whole way....others are not given a but cap and the tang runs however far up the handle the maker thinks it should go....not using a but cap though does not mean a weaker knife if the maker is the right one...here is my most comfortable user by Ichiro Hattori...

The Sambar Ivory grip was sanded by me to give a bespoke fit for my hand....and the nickel/silver guard was reduced to enable an easier choked grip for fine work...it does'nt have a but-cap but is incredibly well made and strong...the steel is Cowry X forged by Ichiro into a damascus laminate with softer steel on the outer edges and the harder Cowry X in the centre....similar to how he makes his Samauri swords and the knife is given a convex hamaguri-ba edge again like his swords...it has a very special cutting ability....

I think the cutting ability is a mix of the geometry of the edge and the high Rc 64 of the inner laminate Cowry X steel....it is my most expensive "user" and is my best performing "user" and I have compared this to a lot of other top quality knives....

I was worried at first battoning with the knife...but it is as tight now as it was new...I have'nt used a magnet to see how far up the handle the tang goes...but I imagine it will be similar to the proportions on a sword....usually 75-80% of the total handle length. I have a lot of confidence now in this knife and it is a real pleasure to use.

 

[beef]

I love that blade. Reminds me of a Randall.

 

[Gadgetaholic]

I don't think that rat-tail tang knives like the Mora knives would be as strong as a full tang knife - so I would not use them for chopping or batoning. My BK7 or BK9 are obviously strong full tang knives and I can use them for chopping or batoning. Of course a Mora is still quite capable of the majority of camp tasks that you would expect of a smaller knife and there is no reason to fear that it may be fragile and would break if used on something harder than butter.

I was just looking at my Kabar Kukri machete and realised that it has a hidden tang, I presume that the tang goes most of the way through the handle and I have no intention of taking it easy on this knife. I'll test it out with hard use tasks and assume that it is a tough knife - exposed tang or not!

 

[C_Kyle]

I think it's probably easier to make a full tang versus a hidden tang/stick tang/partial tang. Things like mortising the handle, locating the tang for pin drilling, peining the tail over the but cap or threading the tail for a screw-on pommel seem more difficult than just profile grinding a handle.

 

[jw2n]

Go thru the knife failure survey thread, add up the number of failures with stick tangs and I believe you will have your answer.

 

[BlackHills]

I have confidence in these hidden tang knives because I have seen how Ray makes the tang, with radiused corners.

I absolutely love that knife. :thumbup:

 

[99f250]

I think it's just cheaper to slap a couple slabs on the blade and call it done, I prefer a finger guard or bolster just to give it a more finished look, reguardless if the tang is exposed or not. Like on my Berreta Loveless drop point, with the tapered tang even, a lot more work went into that.