Can you imagine this knife with a double guard and a 14-16" blade? It would be even more awesome! Chris did make a few legendary short swords in the past and I wish they would return as I am sure there are many here who would be interested in one. How about with a traditional sword polish and a clay tempered wave-shaped hamon! Sign me up!
I also have a Tanto I that I obtained from the late Jim Mattis a week before he passed on. It came with good Karma; the small dimple indentation on the blade flat that indicates that it was tested for proper heat treat on the Brinnel Hardness Tester. I have never seen another CRK blade with a BH dimple before or since.
Outside of the Tanto Sebbies and the new "Limited Edition 150" fixed blade tanto made for NICA-member dealers, CRK has from time to time in the past made small runs of the fixed blade tantos (with a different tanto tip grind than the NICA tanto knives) in various blade lengths. The Tanto I's are 9" and the Tanto IV's are 4". I think there has also been 5" and maybe 7.5" versions as well. All of these fall into the category of "limited production" as opposed to "limited edition". The difference is that limited production are produced every so often in small runs, typically 20-25 pieces I believe. Limited edition knives are produced for one run after which the design is retired.
I don't think there is much interest in the fixed blade tantos, at least among those that post to this forum. But in the knife world in general, there is a growing interest in knives with a Japanese influence. Look at the popularity of tantos from custom makers Mike Snody, Steve Corkum, Wally Hayes, Don Polzien, and Bob Lum. These makers produce tantos of both the traditional Japanese blade shape where the edge sweeps up to the tip in a smooth arc, or the "American tanto, popularized by Bob Lum, where the tip is a sharply geometric and angular.
At least the existence and occasional availability of CRK tanto knives gives us yet another variation from which to choose, and choice is always good!
