Quasi "tanto" wilderness blades????

I was trying to be nice, but if you want to call me a backyard survivalist and mall ninja. I think you need to do your homework on the origin of the American Tanto especially if you think they were invented a "long time ago." Furthermore, what's your bushcraft and survival experince? I've been outside my backyard in swamps, oceans, and mountains for nearly 20 years, survived near hypothermia, walked out of the Appalacian mountains with an ankle swolen the size of a soft ball which was a two day hike and eating the inner bark of a white pine, spent hours with native americans learning medicinal plants and flint knapping, you name it. I don't have military experience so I'm not gonna sit here and say what they do and do not use. But, I'm curious. What's your military experience?
 
Back to the point (ha ha, a pun!), I could see it working as a skew chisel with the appropriate bevel. Course, a knife with a good belly could do about the same.

There are a *lot* of knives on the market. If you don't like a certain design, buy (or make) something else.
 
Ha ! Odlicno. Jesi li na glavni grad - koji dio? Zivio tamo cetri godine ali je sam iz America. Hocu Zeljo cevap (ili iz mesnica na Hotonju) !!!
 
Kic - Not yet. At some point I'm gonna play around with them, and using the tip as a skew chisel is how I envision them being useful in an outdoors, non-combat role. A buddy of mine who does woodworking likes the Americanized tantos for scoring wood. There are other things I want to try more, though.

And thanks for the compliment. That's what I aim at: functional and beautiful. :)
 
I've been using the Hawke Hellion for 2 years now, it's a great knife, no complaints at all. Apart from the weight perhaps, it's a beast! The surv-tac-whatever its called is a straight rip off of the Hellion. Just out and just copied as far as I can see. I guess some folk aren't sharp enough to come up with an original design.
 
I carried a CS Master Tanto into the woods thru the 80s. I took a bit of getting used to but it worked very well for me. The primary difference that I had difficulty in adjusting to was using the tip. With it sitting as high as it does above the center of grip makes it challenging to bore holes or any task that would require a straight thrust. Other than that it performed extremely well. I prefer drop points now but certainly wouldnt feel bad if I had to take a tanto.
 
jw2n said:
I carried a CS Master Tanto into the woods thru the 80s. I took a bit of getting used to but it worked very well for me. The primary difference that I had difficulty in adjusting to was using the tip. With it sitting as high as it does above the center of grip makes it challenging to bore holes or any task that would require a straight thrust. Other than that it performed extremely well. I prefer drop points now but certainly wouldnt feel bad if I had to take a tanto.
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I generally find the ''tactical'' mind set to be disinteresting. But we are all a little different with at times differing tastes. I have found American Tanto style blades to be usefull outdoors. The strong chisel like end has helped me to pry dried tree sap and bark off for fires. And I simply enjoy their asthetics on certain blades.
 
CCMI said:
What is an example of one you like or that has worked well for you? Just out of curiosity.
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I've used a Strider DB-L to good effect for survival tasks. Sold it when I began to advance in bushcraft and wanted something thinner. I see they had a 3/16" 3V version some time ago that I'd like to try, but haven't seen them lately... haven't looked either



I carried an "American Tanto" Strider BN in combat in Iraq. I guess I should get my money back ;-)
 
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