Full Tang Or Not To Full Tang

Shaolin

Shaolin

Joined
Apr 25, 2008
Messages
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Is one better to have, than the other? One prefered over the other? Does one make the knive more durable?
 
That's like asking people who like American muscle cars, "high displacement or not?" That's like asking "Lamborghini in subdued boring gray or high visibility yellow?" It's like asking Michael Jackson "Young boy and nose job or not?"... hopefully you get my drift. Full tang is the only way to go excepting Chris Reeve crazy one-piece sheath knives. Anything else is just scary to people.
Zero
 
So much depends on the maker and how much you intend to abuse it. A full tang is probably the strongest way to make a fixed blade but at the same time if the blade will snap before the tang will does it matter if it is full tang or not? I have both in fixed blade knives and I would really have to work at breaking either. Of course the cheaper the knife the better off you are with a full tang. But with a knife like the Effingham Blackjacks for example I think are more than strong enough.
 
This is all new to me, so I had to ask the question. I read somewhere on hear that the person would only buy full tang knives. I'm really not sure, but is a full tang knive one piece, right, with handles attached? If so, I thought it would just be harder to break, but then you would be up shit's creek with it, right/wrong? Also the reason I ask is because I just recieved the ROSarms Stalker, and it is a light knive, and pretty thin. I'm thinking it could break pretty easily, but I could be wrong, it is not full tang.
 
well, the spyderco moran is not completely full tang and neither are the moras, cs finn bear, the gerber lmf or MOD razorback. I think they are all very tough knives. I've been trying to use the finn bear to the point of distruction for the past two weeks and have not broken the handle or separated the blade despite hammering (with a hammer) the spine and handle butt and I think this knife is only a half tang. Initially I didn't like the idea of fixed blades without full tang construction, but if the handle material is strong like glass filled nylon or aluminum, then I don't think there is any difference in performance unless one hammers on the butt enough to crack the handle. If you take the toughest folder, you are talking about only a 1/6th tang and even that is usually enough for most jobs.
 
Shaolin said:
is a full tang knive one piece, right, with handles attached?
Click to expand...

Right, that's what it is.
It can also have a handle rather than 2 handle scales.
Then it would be full tang without the top and bottom of the tang exposed.
(One example - the Fallkniven S1 with stock Thermorun handle.)


Sometimes the tang portion is "skeletonized" i.e. has holes drilled in it for the purpose of making the tang lighter
(thus changing the balance of the knife and its overall weight.)
One example - the Bark River Bravo 1.
 
I have never owned a partial tang knife that didn't break on me. Take that for what it's worth.
 
I personally feel way more confident with a full tang, however, I recognize it is largely a psychological factor. If you plan on batoning, or brutalizing a fixed blade in some other way, a soild hunk of metal is your best bet. Just cutting cardboard or such, full tang becomes less of a necessity. Since prices for many full tang/rat tail constructed knives are modest (compared to most popular folders), I see no reason not to choose them. YMMV.
 
Full tang is full tang, but all the other types depend greatly on the individual knife. For one thing, Moras aren't indestructible, but the tang construction is plenty tough when you consider that the thin blade stock means the blade itself can only take so much. Then there's the Himalayan Imports khukuris. Sure, they're hidden tang... but it's a really substantial piece of metal. There's also countless different hidden tang knives that are flimsy pieces of garbage.

In general I would say full tang is stronger, but a well designed hidden or partial tang can certainly be strong enough.
 
IMO- you will have more problems with the handle scales on a full tang (not flush, falling off....) than you will with a full hidden tang. The hidden tang will also not conduct cold the way a full tang will in winter (if that is a concern), and may absorb impact better. Many of my old knives that are full tang have handle problems while the hidden do not (puukos etc.). What duties are you doing with the knife that you are worried about durability? For what it is worth I have never broken a knife, but I also use prybars as prybars and knives as knives.
 
i have always preffered the full tang myself, it just would have to be stronger than the others, i have had a MOD razorback for a few yrs now though with no probs and its not full tang, but given a choice i would take the full tang every time for sure.

the razorback not having a full tang kinda suprised me, when i got it i figured it was full tang, and with all the hype about a fighting knife designed by ayoob/etc, how strong it was, etc, it suprised me when i removed the grips one day.
 
I don't think it matters much unless you're just abusing your knife.
After all, the vast majority of our pioneer forefathers who settled this land used partial tang knives.
 
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