Primal/tactical o-tanto

Storm Crow

Storm Crow

Joined
Apr 12, 2006
Messages
2,506
Although nothing I do is particularly traditional, this falls closest under the shobu-zukuri tanto style, with a ridgeline below the spine and no yokote line. With a forge finish, a choil, and a secondary bevel, this isn't a typical tanto, though.

The steel is 5160. There was quite a bit more curvature prior to the quench, but the canola oil quench and the blade's cross section gave a fair amount of negative sori. I wish I had taken a picture before the hardening process to show it, but a couple of other knifemakers who saw it before and after noted how much it had straightened. The blade length, including the choil, is 12 1/2" and the overall length is 19 3/4". The handle wrap is coyote brown paracord for the underlay, black paracord for the overlay and three-strand Turk's head knot, all impregnated in Minwax Wood Hardener.

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The sheath is black Kydex, with a coyote brown Kydex belt loop set up for edge-up horizontal carry. More coyote brown paracord is stored on the sheath and helps break up the visual impression of the black.

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And it's ambidextrous!

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What I like about this is that it's a practical size for actual use in a worst case urban scenario.
 
Lycosa - I can e-mail you the original pics if you'd like.

Godot - That's kind of the idea. This was inspired by James Williams' Hisshou design, which was supposedly built upon request from troops in Iraq and Afghanistan as a backup blade to use in house-clearing operations, so definitely close-quarters fighting in what has to be the worst-case scenario urban situation. This blade was not commissioned by anyone, but a member of our armed forces has bought it, whether as a working blade to strap onto his battle rattle or as a fun blade for his time off, I'm not sure.

I like the idea of something like this for a zombie killer blade too, with the idea that you can generally avoid zombies. When you would need to engage would be when they surprise you or you get accidentally trapped in, say, the corner of a fence. In such a situation, something that is light, fast, easily deployed, big enough to be quickly lethal but small enough to be out of the way. :)
 
What is the intended method of use? It can clearly thrust, but I'm less sure about cuts/slashes. The "worst-cased urban scenario" concept seems, to me, to dictate a fairly specialized cutter or stabber, but I'm no knife fighter. Wouldn't mind learning though.
 
Slashing and cutting, yes. Short, powerful chops in a confined space work well. My buddy and I were talking about a bedside blade for him last night and we tried out some moves (very carefully) with this and some other blades in about the same length for cuts in the amount of space you'd have between a bed and the wall in a small bedroom. I think that lopping off an arm through the forearm would be very do-able with a short, powerful chop with this kind of blade.
 
Huh. I'd have never figured this as a chopper but I'm happy to stand corrected! The Celtic you made seems more in line with this goal and is roughly the same size. I've got much to learn, so much to learn...

(Unrelated note, but your recurved bush sword is damned sexy.)
 
Not so much a chopper as my other stuff (since I grew up clearing brush a lot, that's where my mind tends to go when thinkning of blades), but against flesh and blood, should do major damage.

The design we decided on for him is a variation of an as-yet-unposted (waiting on the sheath) blade that is around the same length with a recurved blade and a raised clip that on his will be fully sharpened for over half the length of the blade. Aside from a nice Mossberg with a long magazine tube, I think that would be a nice choice of bumping back the things that go bump in the night. :)
 
Missed this the first time 'round. I love it. I like the waisted handle. Some traditional lines with your unmistakeable style. Nice!
 
Thanks, Stuart! Compliments from someone of your skill is high praise indeed! :)

The waist in the handle was something I was hoping to achieve on this. I was pleased to see how it turned out.
 
I have to admit, you seem to be coming up with some very interesting ideas. I dig the heck out of this one
 
I got to handle this in person and it is sweeeet.

So was every other piece of his I got my mitts on, awesome work all around!

These pics don't even come close to doing it justice. The contrast between the forge finish and clean grinds is very cool.

Almost makes me wanna try some forging. Almost :)
 
Thanks, Joe!

Except the "grinds" are all filed. I like the timeless look of the forge finish, and file marks seem to compliment them, to me at least.

You'll have to post your big blades when you get 'em finished up. :)
 
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