Good Tantos?

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knifedaddy84

Joined
Oct 8, 2002
Messages
339
I'm looking for a solid tanto for use and display. Cold Steel's appear to be solid, but look like they have rubberized/plastic handles that are probably practical but don't have the traditional look I want. Any ideas? I'm not interested in cheap but fancy looking showpieces, I want a real working blade. (As if I need to say that here :p )
 
A couple of production models come to mind.

Benchmade 910 Strykers and the old discontinued 970 and 975 models.

There are several Emersons as well.
 
I'm waiting for the corkum/CRKT knife to come out this month. The Recon Tanto is a great knife. I've had one for probably 8 years and has been abused endlessly. It still doesn't have much damage done to it. Here's the CRKT First Strike:
CR2705.jpg
 
Cold Steel's appear to be solid, but look like they have rubberized/plastic handles that are probably practical but don't have the traditional look I want.
Click to expand...
Hmm...so you want a traditional look for the handle, but a nontraditional look to the blade?

When folks use the word "traditional" in this context, it gets my attention because I'm wondering what they look to as "traditional" in the first place. Is it just a diamond pattern cord-wrap that constitutes traditional? Or perhaps a blade that doesn't have a geometric chisel-type point? I usually have very high standards to what I call "traditional" but I realize that not everyone expects real mountings and proper shaping and what-not. Specifically, what level of "accuracy" do you want in your piece?

I don't want to come off as too much of a jerk, I'm just curious :) If you want a classical (functional also) piece, you will probably want to look to other sources than those normally listed by knife folks.
 
I want a knife that looks like it could be carried by a stereotypical samurai, for the wall, but not a cheap showpiece made of tin, a real knife, but obviously not an original 500 year-old weapon carried by some Shogun.
 
How much are you looking to spend? What specific features are you looking for?

-- Rob
 
I'm sorry, but I doubt you will find any traditional tanto in that price range. The best I can think of is to check the Chen offerings. Do a search for "Paul Chen tanto" and see what you come up with. The trouble with traditional is that there isa lot of pieces to them, and a lit of hand work, so the price is up there.
 
I think I would agree with Crayola in looking into Hanwei offerings. There were some relatively nice things said about the Yoshimitsu tanto if you can find one, and others like Bushido model are kinda nice. However, as they are Japanese-styled short swords, they are fairly expensive.

Kris Cutlery makes good quality stuff, but I am not too confident about their finishing/polishing abilities. Some people are happy with them, but I was never terribly impressed with the quality of finish on them. Perhaps I just ran across a bunch of lemons, but then that would say QC is kinda bad. Of course, for the price you can't really ask for much.

But if you want a short sword (tanto) in Japanese-style, it's difficult to get high quality for low price. Simply too much work involved to make it cost-efficient. They can be quite lovely though :D
 
Cold Steel has a traditional tanto. Look under "Cold Steel Swords" at the Bladeforums store. If you want the modern Americanized tantos, the Cold Steel Recon Tanto is a good choice, especially if you can get a factory second. You might also want to look at Newt Livesay and TOPS.
 
You didn't mention length.

If you want a small tanto blade, you might want to consider the Spyderco Lum Tanto fixed blade for about $125.
 
Find some Steve Corkum's pieces, you might like 'em.

It has a hamon that will give you a traditional look on the blade, professionally wrapped handle and sharp as hell.
 
go for the Cold Steel Master Tanto with san mai steel. then get the handle (traditional)cord-wrapped or do it yourself if you know how. simply AWESOME! you wouldn't believe the feel of the kraton (rubber) under the cord. great grip even when soaking wet, both materials have "some give" or squeeze so handle doesn't feel too thick at all. i have found this to be the best of both worlds. got my tanto for $160 new, then got a friend who knows this type of cord-wrapping to put it on for me. try it.
 
papadops:

From what I've read from the original poster, he seems to be after something a little more classical in design. I'm sure the Master Tanto is a decent knife, but it's certainly no traditional tanto (even if you had it cord-wrapped).

Compare:

cs-13bn.jpg


with

2098-gt.jpg


The latter is the Yoshimitsu tanto by Hanwei, just for clarification.

Ultimately it'll be up to knifedaddy84 to pick what he wants, but so far his posts seem to have been pointing towards more traditional, rather than Americanized/tactical stuff.
 
ooops, he wants something to put on the wall. I thought he wanted something he could put through a wall! Sorry, I get carried away sometimes.
 
Have a look and the fixed blade Spyderco Lum Tanto. The micarta handle isn't "Traditional" but the knife is beautiful enough for display.
 
German knifemaker Marcus Balbach makes great handmade tantos – the exact replicas of medieval Japanese knives using the authentic shapes and making methods.
tanto_01.jpg

Here is pictured lady version of this traditional Japanese fighting knife, man’s one should be bigger and more decorated.
As you can see it has nothing common with so-called americanized tantos.
 
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