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North American Bison

L

Larry Turko

Joined
Oct 4, 2007
Messages
1,007
I'm pretty sure the Sioux referred to a Buffalo as a Tatanka long before Europeans ever got to North America so the word Tatanka seemly means Bison not "American" Bison or "North American" Bison, which would be more palpable to Canadians.
Anyway I just bought one last week and the name definitely suits the knife. It's a very solid feeling and heavy knife, it actually feels heavier to me than most, if not all, of my XL Cold Steel folders and those models all have 5.5" blades. Before I bought the knife I thought it would be the size and weight of my discontinued Sog spec-elite II which has a 5" blade [and is the coolest folder Sog ever made in my opinion] but the Tatanka is both longer and heavier.
So Spyderco didn't hold back and made a true badass XL folder.
A few months ago I watched a Nut'n fancy review of the CS Talwar [ you better believe I've got one] in which he mentions that he talked to the representative of a major unnamed knife company about that company making XL folders. The representative responded that his company regarded XL folders as a fad and would never make any.
Obviously, with the production of the Szabo, Tatanka and Farid , that company was not Spyderco. Of course I hope Spyderco will add more truly large folders to it's line as time goes on.
 
owning all three of the big ones you mention, about all I can say, is just plain chunks of metal, not much to look at. And I will never by into the point of the lockup sticking on the Farid by design, REALLY ?? Sending one off now to be Anodized , hoping the dress makes her look better ?? Owning 2 Harsey Rangers, no one can say I don't like large folders, I like the mentioned ones, they are however no buttons, no frills..
 
Yup, good knife. Got one in my pocket right now.

 
The Tatanka has been referred to by Spyderco for years as the "Bison". It must have been at least 7-8 years ago that I can remember when I saw an already existing discussion on the matter. So yes, Bison = Tatanka.
 
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Bison, buffalo, dinosaur...whatever it means, I must have it! :D
Still working on finding the cash though...

The eternal search for more money...for knives. ;)

(if only there were a way to quickly establish oneself as a sought after knife reviewer; that would kick ass :thumbup:)
 
The original Bison design is about 10 years old. It's a 5" blade folder with a Compression Lock and multi hold postions. It's a bit far out and we made a variety of prototypes by never went into production. I designed the Tatanka to be more of a traditional large folder. Strong tip blade with an ergonomic handle that fits the blade. The lock is the departure (other than size). With the Szabo, and the Farid as well as the Tatanka, we're watching reaction.

We have had requests for large folders, but at times, requests don't necessarily mean the market is large enough to supprt production.

sal
 
RevDevil said:
The Tatanka has been referred to by Spyderco for years as the "Bison". It must have been at least 7-8 years ago that I can remember when I saw an already existing discussion on the matter. So yes, Bison = Tatanka.
Click to expand...

In Spyderco's description of the Tatanka they claim the word tatanka means "American" Bison. It's no big deal really but I couldn't resist pointing out that the word "American" would have been unknown to the Sioux.
 
Dances With Wolves
 
Larry Turko said:
I'm pretty sure the Sioux referred to a Buffalo as a Tatanka long before Europeans ever got to North America so the word Tatanka seemly means Bison not "American" Bison or "North American" Bison, which would be more palpable to Canadians.
Click to expand...
And possibly to Mexicans as well. The only problem is that, no matter how much more geographically correct "North American bison" might be, given that the bison never ventured further south than Northern Mexico, there's no such animal. The correct term, like it or not, is "American Bison", even though it implies a range that could extend into Central and South America as well. And, while American Bison is the only Bison a Sioux may have seen before the arrival of the white man, it's not the only bison that ever existed. You might want to read this Wikipedia disambiguation of the word Tatanka, and this entry on the American Bison.
 
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