Is a Tanto Blade Worthless?

I

IGotStabbed

Joined
Jul 11, 2007
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I always had the impression that the Tanto blade is all looks and absolutely worthless in terms of utility. Is this true?

Even in a tactical/defensive role, is the Tanto blade good?
 
A traditional tanto is curved, with the characteristic tip. The curve gives the blade good utility (hey the whole thing is belly- shallow belly but belly nevertheless).

I "modern" straight blade tanto might as well be a sharpened spike. You can't really cut anything with it, it's all for stabbing. And looks.
 
GregY is correct. there is a marked difference between traditional tanto styles. there are more than one. and the "western tanto" which is most easily recognized by the compound grind angles. i have a custom tanto with a hissatsu blade shape and it is my "truck knife". very useful for everyday chores and certainly capable of defensive use. of course, i am no expert in japanese blade design and my opinions are for entertainment purposes only. :D


bodhizatfa
 
I got a pile of cardboard, and a sliced tomato sitting here that a minicqc7 tanto knife cut just fine.
 
Lycosa said:
NO!
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I would have to disagree with a catagorical dismissal of the design out of hand.

The traditional tanto blade styles (and there were more than one) were in use for hundreds of years. I doubt they would have lasted that long if the design was totally worthless. A tradtional tanto works well as a fighting knife, if used with the proper fighting style and techniques. It works for both cutting and stabing attacks if you know what you are doing. Like just about any edged weapon, it can also be employed in more mundane day to day tasks. Although it might not be the best choice for EDC, it can do most of what we would ask an EDC blade to do.

Now, IMO at least the angular modern or american tanto blade is not as good as a traditional style blade for either fighting or EDC and its main advantage seems to be the stronger construction of the chisel like blade. Again, it can do most things a knife can do, although its probably not the optimum choice for most roles.

RESEARCH this blade design!!
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Isn't that the reason he is here asking questions? :rolleyes:
 
I have no beef against tantos in general. What I dislike is the left handed chisel grind often associated with them. With a "V" grind they do just fine.
 
Obviously the traditional Asian shape was useful, or it would not have evolved and thrived.

If you're talking about it being useful as a pocketknife, I think some of the more traditional-leaning designs are pretty useful. One example would be to compare my two Large Regular Sebenzas - one of which is a tanto, and the other a standard blade.

For many purposes, it's helpful to have a smaller radius in the belly as it nears the tip, so the standard profile wins there. The standard profile also provides a much more refined tip, that's very good for initiating cuts into paper, as an example. It works well for clipping things out of the newspaper by starting the cut skew to the paper's surface (trying to use mundane examples here).

OTOH, the standard profile is also pretty weak in the tip area, probably disproportionately so for a blade of its size. So for heavier tasks where there is significant lateral force on the blade, the tanto is much better. An example of that would be prying heavy staples out of paper bindings. Another thing about the tanto is that it gives you a secondary "beater" edge that can be trashed independently of the primary edge, and relatively easily restored. Its shape also creates a secondary point that's very ergonomic in terms of initiating slicing cuts (for example, when cutting paper on a cutting board you don't have to elevate the angle of attack, like you would with the standard). Reeve's interpretation of the tanto carries a fair amount of belly through the primary edge, so it's not that awkward to make cuts in the air with (cutting rope or webbing at a loop, for example).

So, bottom line, comparing these two blades that are the same in every other respect except for profile; I'd say the standard profile is a little more practical overall, and much more practical for something like food prep or skinning. But the tanto is much better for scraping, prying, moderately hard penetration, etc., while still being quite serviceable as a utility blade. It is mainly a matter of whether you want more finesse or more strength up near the tip.

I should note that the standard blade also has a swedge, so it has a secondary edge as well as the tanto, only with different placement and characteristics. For example, I would not want the swedge to be as sharp as the tanto's secondary edge, and neither is as sharp as a primary edge.

Anyway, hope that helps point out a few practical differences from the EDC perspective.
 
I prefer a full flat ground blade with a nice sweep. I've found that
tantos on a pocket knife are not as useful. That doesn't mean they're
useless, but just not as functional as other profiles.
 
Granted, a straight edge tanto is not good at some things, such as skinning game. However, when someone says tantos are not good utility blades when every utility knife I've seen has straight edges, i just have to laugh.
 
A lack of belly in the Americanized tanto does not take away all utility as a cutting blade. In my experience, it doesn't take away most of the utility. Sometimes I get the impression that people actually think that they would no longer have the ability to cut the things that they normally cut with an American tanto. This is just ridiculous. I don't know anything about skinning an animal so it may not be very functional in that scenario. But in most things EDC, I've never found myself with a tanto saying to myself "If I only had a belly on this knife, I'd be able to cut this."

To answer the OP's question, American tantos work just fine if that's your preference. There are many members whose primary EDC is a tanto and it certainly hasn't stopped them from cutting anything. For common EDC cutting, I not only think tantos are underrated on these forums, but that the belly of a blade is overrated.
 
Aside from the actual grind lines of the edge, most makers design a tanto that is more a pry bar than a knife. Strider has beefed up the Western Tanto to be too thick to be useful as a dedicated knife, other companies also add extra thickness to strengthen the design which draws from its usefulness.

I think it's a handy design, but in most cases built too thick, similar to my SnG nice blade..but a bit thick.
 
Kaizen1 said:
A lack of belly in the Americanized tanto does not take away all utility as a cutting blade. In my experience, it doesn't take away most of the utility. Sometimes I get the impression that people actually think that they would no longer have the ability to cut the things that they normally cut with an American tanto. This is just ridiculous. I don't know anything about skinning an animal so it may not be very functional in that scenario. But in most things EDC, I've never found myself with a tanto saying to myself "If I only had a belly on this knife, I'd be able to cut this."

To answer the OP's question, American tantos work just fine if that's your preference. There are many members whose primary EDC is a tanto and it certainly hasn't stopped them from cutting anything. For common EDC cutting, I not only think tantos are underrated on these forums, but that the belly of a blade is overrated.
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+1 :thumbup:

I couldn't agree with you more Kaizen. I've been able to cut pretty much anything I can with my tanto Mini-Grip that I can with any of my drop, clip, bowie or spear shaped knives. There may be "some" loss of utility in the Americanized tanto, but I have not experienced it.
 
65535 said:
Aside from the actual grind lines of the edge, most makers design a tanto that is more a pry bar than a knife. Strider has beefed up the Western Tanto to be too thick to be useful as a dedicated knife, other companies also add extra thickness to strengthen the design which draws from its usefulness.

I think it's a handy design, but in most cases built too thick, similar to my SnG nice blade..but a bit thick.
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True. My two tantos (an old Kershaw and a circa-1999 CRKT Stiff Kiss) are both far too thick at the edge to have any real utility. I keep meaning to introduce the CRKT to my belt grinder and rework it into a wharncliffe- a pure straight edge at least has some use.
 
I can't speak for those that don't like tantos, but I get the feeling that when someone says that a tanto is "not useful", what they're actually saying is "I don't prefer them" or even that they "find them annoying to use." I'm going to take a wild guess and say that none of these people are actually saying that they "lack the ability to cut what they normally cut", with the possible exception of skinning game. Even then, I find it hard to imagine that it's impossible to do that if one had to.
 
I've got a lot of tantos lying around, some traditional and some not, and they're all good knives. One of my favorite knives is the Cold Steel Gunsite I (5-inch), with partially serrated blade. It's good for stabbing and cutting. A far less traditional tanto is the CRKT M16-14SF/A, but I even find that it suits most of my needs fine.

Where less traditional tantos might be less useful is for hunting/scraping. A good Bowie-type regular blade is better for that; however, if you're using it as a tactical, a tanto would be my choice. For cutting cardboard, tree bark and so forth, there's not much difference. For self defense and emergency, I prefer Cold Steel's serration pattern, which is lighter, more aggressive and cuts straight.

The lockup of a knife means more to me than anything else, and I don't want one that has any chance of coming back at me. I also don't want the tip breaking off. And, finally, I don't want a knife that has a chisel-grind blade.


Konjo1_1a.jpg


The Cold Steel Konjo I is a beautiful little knife with a great
personality and a sharp edge. What's not to like?


CSTantos.jpg


The CS Recon One and G.I. Tanto knives are popular for outdoor
and survival use.
 
Yes as a utility field knife. Do every task with you have ever done with a folder now try it with a Tanto folder...which works better 99% of the time?
 
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