Full tang, stick tang, poon-tang

I really prefer the balance of my hidden tang knives.







But, :o ...I like poon-tang too. :p





Big Mike
 
I actually prefer stick tang knives! This type allows the maker a lot more freedom to do more with the handle. Especially with natural materials. As far as strength, no difference! You can break anything! :D
 
I don't have any problem with stick-tangs/hidden-tangs in general. I have used and still have Ka-Bar, Ontario, and SOG stick tangs, a few bayonets here and there and I've had a few M3 Trench Knives over the years. I have broken more tips over the years than tangs...and yes doing things the knife was never intended to do. I trust these particular stick tangs because they have proven trustworthy.

That said if I were at a table at a show looking at knives made by an unfamiliar maker and they had both stick and full tang designs on the table I'd be more likely to by a full tang model than a stick tang model because of the psychological effect of implied strength. However the odds of me purchasing a knife I intended as a "survival" knife from an unfamiliar maker are rather astronomical...
 
Hi all,

Ken, I like full tang over the stick. IF for what ever reason the handle gets damaged or comes off I can still hold onto that sucker with ease for the most part. I might wrap the handle with cloth or tape or even bark or string. The point being that a stick is harder to do that stuff with. Not all but most I have seen. I like the convenece of the full tang. and Extended tang too.

Fall through the ice and into cold water trying to get that full tang knife into ice to help pull you/me out is going to be easyer than with a stick tang handle.
Remember it only has to take one time.

I also like the extended tang too for being a great window breaker too. If your car goes into the water.

Bryan
 
I like my B11 for chopping. The handle transfers less shock from the impact. I trust it implicitly. That being said full tangs are sexier and poontangs are the sexiest.
 
I like a knife to be suitable to the task that I require of it - for chopping and batoning I prefer a very strong knife (I don't care that some people have successfully batoned with a Mora) and with a full tang knife like my Beckers I have a lot of confidence. For carving some wood or sharpening a stick to use as a stake I don't feel a need for full tang and I am happy to use a Mora. For EDC I have confidence in my SAK for the tasks that I need it for.

So when I go into the bush I'll take at least one full tang knife and a few other knives that wont necessarily be full tang - I'll baton with the full tang one though.

Overall I'd have to say that my favourite is poon-tang.
 
poon·tang (poontang)
n.
1. Vulgar Slang Sexual intercourse with a woman.
2. Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a woman.

Hmm???
 
I pretty much always advise a full tang because I don't really know how much the person I'm talking to knows. If you figure that about one in five people that are members of this board and reading this are vocal enough to post regularly, then you have one person saying "x" and a minimum of four other people just taking what is said at face value. Now extend this to the outright cases of the DA we see in our everyday lives, let alone to people with minimal to no training going out to knock around in the woods that are reported by you guys all the time, and I can't help but shoot for "more steel = probably tougher ----> probably tougher = better".

If we can keep a tool active for even a few extra whacks of the baton for these untrained people out there neck deep in it, those few extra whacks just might be enough to make a difference, and that's a good enough reason for me to advise everyone to get a full-tang blade if they have the option. :thumbup:
 
I've yet to break a knife, as much as I'd like to think I would, hidden tang or full tang. As long as it's well made, you should be aok.

Professor.
 
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Some people like 1/4" full tang, I like 3/32" hidden tang. All good, especially the poon tang (or so I'm told, I'll ask the wife if I can get a reminder of what it is). As long as it cuts comfortably I'm okay with it.
 
PDE said:
poon·tang (poontang)
n.
1. Vulgar Slang Sexual intercourse with a woman.
2. Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a woman.

Hmm???
Click to expand...

If you google the word you'll find many more definitions than that:
World English Dictionary said:
poontang (ˈpuːntæŋ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]

— n
1. the female pudenda
Click to expand...
 
1. the female pudenda

What's a "pudenda"? Is it near the poonanny or the "taint"? :p
 
tidefan said:
1. the female pudenda

What's a "pudenda"? Is it near the poonanny or the "taint"? :p
Click to expand...


Pudenda comes from the Latin verb "pudere" or the noun "pudor," which refers to a sense of modesty or chastity - particularly in women.


Class dismissed!
 
Here I am on new years eve day minding my own business sipping a little Johnny Walker and reading about poontang and then along comes rock6-I hope when the keyboard dries out it will work again. :D
Happy and prosperous new year to all!
 
Great thread Ken..... totally wrong as usual... but a cute attempt clever reasoning.:p:thumbdn:

Just kidding, bro.

Still, funny you bring me up everytime you talk of thick tools.:D But seriously, I only have 2 models that I designed with 1/4" spines in mind. Those were specialized "beater" models, too. Most of my bushblades are 3/16" or thinner. Also, 75% of my handles are now hidden tang... so you'll have to strike me from your full-tang/too-thick list, buddy.

So now that I have scrambled to clear my good name, Let me tell you why I personally prefer heavier blades with thickererer tangs for my "survival" knives. Just for reference, my current hierarchy of blades reads like this... (in order of importance/necessity/preference)...

1. Big knife (7-10")
2. Small knife (3-4")
3. Folding saw (8-10")
4. Hatchet/Hawk (14-19"handle)
5. Folding Saw
6. Takedown Bow Saw

My number one tool is a big honkin knife. It has to have a strong build... stronger than me. Meaning, that it should do what I need it to do, without risk of breaking under a modest amount of human power. So far, every narrow tang and blade under 3/16" has failed in the big-blade category. (KABAR, Marbles, Coldsteel, HI and a few customs) The truth is, as a maker, I can't think of a way to make a strong enough stick tang. That is not to say someone else couldn't... I just haven't come across one... EVER.

Do I need a big knife everytime I go out? Nope... I don't think I'll be getting stranded or lost in the woods around my local county. I can afford to fool around with smaller blades. When I go up North to train we are literally walking into oblivion.... you could get lost forever up their. I want a blade that'll take whatever I throw at it. It is easy to say you will use technique over brute force but that mentality gets old quick when you are either tired, hungry, thristy, freezing your ass off or all of the above. Most of us will never have to go through that. I was stupid enough to volunteer(and pay money) to see what that feels like..... IT SUCKS. Digging in frozen ground to pry up rocks to strike fire with, busting open stumps to get at punkwood or mealworms and chopping out ice for drinking water. "Get to da choppa!" ... extra heavy on the tang, please;):thumbup:

Mind you, that's just me in my environment. In the end, it's all "what ifs" anyway, right?" (What if you need a big knife? What if you need a firearm? What if the SHTF?). Still, I would never be so bold as to tell someone else they're doing it wrong. Aside from Kenny, of course... cuz, well... he IS doing it wrong.:barf:

All in fun.:D
Rick
 
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What Rick said. (although I really didn't read his post thoroughly - he is always right :p )

I like thick knives and full tangs because I just like the way they feel better. Some stick tangs feel alright, but I really do like full tangs if I had to rely on the knife.
 
Well said Rick. I am hard on stuff , and I am one improvising son of a gun. So give me the full tang thick stock please and it will still cut stuff like any other knife will , and will also take being beat into a tree with a rock and used as a step if I felt so inclined to do so.
 
I do rely on knives in my day to day life. I have never broken a blade. But I will continue to use full tang knives basically exclusive( aside from occasional saks and slippies I suppose). Not because of the blade at all. But because I don't want to wreck or break th handle! A broken handle on a short tang. Rattail tang or whatever. Is so much farther from it's intended purpose than a full tang knife. It's the same reason I carry a standard oldschool woods handled hatchet or axe. If the handle breaks I can easily make it useful. If a fishers breaks I can't fix it it's. It's a matter of making my primary knife and axe ALSO my back up given the most common of disasters. A broken handle. There is no other reason for me. I am in the bush for extended periods and given the option I tale a full tang knife and a wood handled hatchet. I wouldn't drive a car with tires I couldn't swap in the event of a blow out. Not because its common but because it makes more sense and there is no downside other than perhaps price in this case. Which thankfully is not my problem in this case.

Ps sorry if this had errors. It's new years. I'm into te gin.
 
Then again I have never tried functioning with I broken handled knife of any sort. Maybe it's just engrained me like keeping two hands on my hockey stick or expecting rain when a loon flies overhead or not ripping bArk off a live birch? Haha just things that are in your head without thinking at all. Natural due to upbringing. Like hating anything but cheese curds on a good poutine or being mAd that they peeled the potatoes before frying them haha upbringing
 
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