Benefits of the tanto

[Sho Nuff]

Im looking at buying a Recon 1 cold steel, but Im not sure of the pro's and con's of the tanto style. Any thoughts?

 

[Julian Elliot]

As far as I know, the only performance "pro" is high penetration strength. If you plan on stabbing through armor, might be a good idea. Mostly people get tanto points because they like how they look. They are slightly more difficult to sharpen, because they are basically two different edges. Some common cutting chores are best done with a nice, continuous edge, rather than a tanto. Basically, the tanto is a specialized edge - if you don't need it, better to stick with a standard blade.

 

[Sho Nuff]

Many thanks

 

[nozh2002]

Good article about Tanto:

http://www.swordforum.com/sfu/japanese/americanized.html

As I understand "high penetration strength" is related to wide angle on the tip, plus wide angle on the edge and it is not really related to so called tanto style. Finnish leuko or even laplander have similar geometry.

Real Tanto I saw in Japan - samurai knives do not have that second tip and looks like normal knife, may be thicker and bit bended (which is probably some technological things, higonokamy is slightly bended also).

Thanks, Vassili.

 

[yuzuha]

To add to Julian's comment. Yes, the American tanto (as opposed to a real tanto which looks more like http://www.ksky.ne.jp./~sumie99/sword5.html ) looks cool and has that "tactical" mall-ninja appeal. From a practial (rather than "de-animating evil villians) standpoint, they are great for opening boxes, scraping like a small angled chisel, for making precise cuts on flat surfaces (i.e. cutting out coupons or scoring along the lines when making a drywall cut-out etc.) and basically many things you could do with either a Wharncliff blade or a diagonal chisel.

Actually, I find them easier to sharpen than trying to follow the curve of a knive with a lot of "belly" since they are simply two straight sections of blade, though I do touch up that second point where the two straight sections meet after sharpening them (I like a slightly rounded corner there rather than a sharp angle)

 

[Stormdrane]

I have the spear point Recon I, I sold my clip point model. They're nice knives, but they are fairly large folders. You may want to get 'hands-on' before you buy. They older models made in Japan have AUS 8 steel, and the newer Taiwan made version is in 440A and costs reflect it. It has their version of the axis lock. If you get a chance, watch the Cold Steel video, my 5 year old nephew loved it, it's more amusement than anything else. I'll probably trade or sell mine as it's just too large for an EDC.

 

[ayz]

i prefer recurve blades simply because most of my knife use requires an actual cutting motion.

i have a small wharncliff blade on a keychain knife for cleaning fingernails, opening boxes, anything of that sort that requires a precise cut

certainly the tanto gives u greater precision on cuts but those cuts you're trying to make could probably be done better with a smaller knife

point strength is a plus, but when are you actually going to have to stab something hard enough for that to be an issue? as for using it as a prybar, i would highly recommend against using a cold steel knife as a prybar, despite their video.