Should I go TANTO?

That CRK tanto doesn't look like it would make for great penetration compared to the regular drop point or even Insingo. The angle formed from the tip with the cutting edge seems something like 45 to 50 degrees. Will it penetrate? Yes, of course, provided you have enough force behind the knife, but a drop point or any point that comes to a more acute tip will penetrate easier. And really, how much of a reinforced tip to do you really need unless your day to day activities include stabbing lots of heavy medium like sheet metal? If my job consisted of that, then yes, I probably would pick something that looks like it has a much more beefed up tip.

Then again I probably wouldn't pick a knife as a first choice to penetrate something like sheet metal. I'd find a pick axe.
 
Spear Point are generally better than Tanto on most aspect and people should know which are better at stabbing just from looking at shape, its commonsense.
 
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I'd say in most cases, the only reason to get a tanto of that design is for aesthetic reasons. I like tantos, but more of the curved pointed variety and not the wedge shaped kind so prominent in US made tanto designs.

My custom is a recurve tanto, but it has plenty of belly and a much more acute point that in itself also has some belly.
 
I think all knife enthusists should at least try them. I got my first one when I traded into an Emerson CQC-7V several months back because I wanted to see and feel the Emerson MOJO first hand. Although I have grown fond of that knife and still have it for the time being, I found that the Emerson MOJO doesn't exist IMHO.

But I also found that I like the Tanto blade just fine. I will probably never have more than one or two in my rotation at one time but I personally think all knife enthusiasts should try a Tanto at least once to see how they feel about that blade profile. What I found is that they sharpen easily and work just fine for EDC tasks.

In fact, I will be receiving my second Tanto blade in the form of a 4" Hogue EX-01 Tanto in black G-Mascus from BladeHQ tomorrow. Firstly, I regret selling my last Hogue, a 4" G-Mascus drop point and that is why I chose Hogue. But secondly, I chose the Tanto on purpose too because I like it. The tip most straight edge also works really well for fine scraping duty if you ever need such a thing..

The only question I have left to answer now is if I will sell or trade the Emerson CQC-7V or keep it. The blade seems small for the handle on the CQC-7V IMO.

As for Tanto's, one or two are nice to have around IMHO . . .
 
Thanks a lot all. In this one thread, we now have more information than there is on google about it. And since I already have reg CRK, I will go for tanto. It just looks tougher) Thank you all again for sharing your experiences. Cheers
 
Dorito Monk said:
I am curious - why do you guys seem to think that the tanto sebenza will be 'good for stabbing' or 'made for penetration'? The idea that tantos are 'good at stabbing' or allow for 'easy penetration' seem to get tossed around a lot, but it seems that people are mostly just parroting something they heard in a Cold Steel marketing video without actually understanding the mechanics behind it.

IIRC, what we think of as the 'tanto point' was designed to improve the strength of a sword's tip (my understanding was that this innovation was necessary to compensate for metallurgical limitations of the time which resulted in brittle, fragile swords that couldn't stand up to striking armour or bone). The tanto tip might be stronger than other similar designs and be better suited to withstand damage, but it's not going to penetrate or stab better - if anything, having a thicker tip with more material immediately behind the edge would put the tanto at a disadvantage in that regard. A lot of designs, like spear points, stilettos, and any design with a thinner profile and less material near the tip will be much better suited to penetrating than a tanto.
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The function of the (correctly made) tanto tip is not only to make the tip stronger, but also to make it more prone to penetrate armour. The idea of this is for the blade not to become any wider after the tip, so that once the short, stout taper of the tip smashes through the armored surface through the momentum of the impact, you've already opened up a hole which is more or less as wide than the rest of the blade, making it easy to push the whole blade through the armor and into the softer tissue beyond the armor (I hope I'm making myself clear enough). This is why these knives are so great at stabbing through car hoods, as seen in Lynn Thompson's videos.
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With a blade with a longer taper, the Fairbairn/Sykes dagger being the perfect example (the very opposite of the tanto tip), you can't take advantage of the impact force in the same way since you still have to open up the hole in the armored surface gradually, as you push the knife in all the way until you've reached the point where the blade stops tapering (which on the Fairbairn/Sykes is almost all the way to the hilt).
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I also fail to see why this would make a tanto better for stabbing in general though (no matter what they say in the Cold Steel videos). A gradually tapered dagger blade like the F/S may not be as good at penetrating a hard surface, but better and faster at penetrating soft, unprotected tissue with less resistance.
 
DeltaActual said:
Thanks a lot all. In this one thread, we now have more information than there is on google about it. And since I already have reg CRK, I will go for tanto. It just looks tougher) Thank you all again for sharing your experiences. Cheers
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This is good. You went with your own decision. It should only matter how you feel in the end after all. Enjoy your new knife! :thumbup:
 
Dr Heelhook said:
The function of the (correctly made) tanto tip is not only to make the tip stronger, but also to make it more prone to penetrate armour. The idea of this is for the blade not to become any wider after the tip, so that once the short, stout taper of the tip smashes through the armored surface through the momentum of the impact, you've already opened up a hole which is more or less as wide than the rest of the blade, making it easy to push the whole blade through the armor and into the softer tissue beyond the armor (I hope I'm making myself clear enough). This is why these knives are so great at stabbing through car hoods, as seen in Lynn Thompson's videos.
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This is my understanding as well. The other advantage is that you can have two grinds on the same knife. A thick flat or convex grind for the tip for all that strength, and a high hollow/flat for a very thin tip

Dr Heelhook said:
A gradually tapered dagger blade like the F/S may not be as good at penetrating a hard surface, but better and faster at penetrating soft, unprotected tissue with less resistance.
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Quite honestly, what does it matter? I bet I could stick a butterknife through a steak if I was really mad at it.
 
Dr Heelhook said:
The function of the (correctly made) tanto tip is not only to make the tip stronger, but also to make it more prone to penetrate armour. The idea of this is for the blade not to become any wider after the tip, so that once the short, stout taper of the tip smashes through the armored surface through the momentum of the impact, you've already opened up a hole which is more or less as wide than the rest of the blade, making it easy to push the whole blade through the armor and into the softer tissue beyond the armor (I hope I'm making myself clear enough). This is why these knives are so great at stabbing through car hoods, as seen in Lynn Thompson's videos.

With a blade with a longer taper, the Fairbairn/Sykes dagger being the perfect example (the very opposite of the tanto tip), you can't take advantage of the impact force in the same way since you still have to open up the hole in the armored surface gradually, as you push the knife in all the way until you've reached the point where the blade stops tapering (which on the Fairbairn/Sykes is almost all the way to the hilt).

I also fail to see why this would make a tanto better for stabbing in general though (no matter what they say in the Cold Steel videos). A gradually tapered dagger blade like the F/S may not be as good at penetrating a hard surface, but better and faster at penetrating soft, unprotected tissue with less resistance.
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I think I understand what you mean there, and it is very interesting. If I understand you correctly, you mean that the design penetrates hard armour well because once the tip has defeated the surface of the armour, there is no longer anything to prevent the rest of the blade from sliding in and doing harm. Thus, once the tip has breached a piece of armour or a hard surface, the rest of the knife can follow in without any resistance from the armour or hard surface.

Still, it would seem to me that these qualities only come into play after the knife has already defeated a given piece of armour or hard surface. Doesn't the main factor affecting whether the knife will be able to penetrate a piece of armour remain the shape of the tip? If the thicker, stouter tip of the tanto means that the force behind the stab will be spread out over a greater area than with a slimmer, pointier tip, doesn't that still mean that it will be harder to get the Tanto tip to get past the initial surface of the armour in the first place, before the rest of the knife ever comes into play?

I'm going to take a break and think this over. All this talk about penetration is making me dizzy. :p
 
res1cue said:
Quite honestly, what does it matter? I bet I could stick a butterknife through a steak if I was really mad at it.
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Well, the difference is that it becomes more like sticking a steak knife through butter :). But I see your point, a knife is a knife.
 
Dorito Monk said:
Still, it would seem to me that these qualities only come into play after the knife has already defeated a given piece of armour or hard surface. Doesn't the main factor affecting whether the knife will be able to penetrate a piece of armour remain the shape of the tip? If the thicker, stouter tip of the tanto means that the force behind the stab will be spread out over a greater area than with a slimmer, pointier tip, doesn't that still mean that it will be harder to get the Tanto tip to get past the initial surface of the armour in the first place, before the rest of the knife ever comes into play?
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Yes but given decent strength, you can puncture a screwdriver into something like a car hood, even though it has no point. The greatest force is applied at the initial fraction of a second after impact. If you get the tip through at all, you can slide the rest in easily, whether it is 6" or 15".

If you had a 15" distal tapered blade, you might get a lot of that blade in, but once you have expended the force generated from momentum, you wouldn't be able to force the rest of it through, because it would get harder and harder

I guess some chairborne rangers could look at this and then argue about wound channel sizes since the tanto would be more broad. To me though, I am a fan of a well made tanto primarily for tip strength, as I am hard on my tips
 
I've enjoyed my Benchmade Mini Stryker tanto for several years and find the long edge as functional as my wharncliffe or sheepsfoot blades with the added bonus of using the small edge near the tip for fine cutting of small objects like I'd use an exacto blade or a chisel. The only downside is that if I need precision cutting with the very tip, it's not as easy to do.

It got a bad rap from looking mall-ninja-esque, but mine works well for what I need it for: small everyday cutting tasks.
 
Dorito Monk said:
Still, it would seem to me that these qualities only come into play after the knife has already defeated a given piece of armour or hard surface. Doesn't the main factor affecting whether the knife will be able to penetrate a piece of armour remain the shape of the tip? If the thicker, stouter tip of the tanto means that the force behind the stab will be spread out over a greater area than with a slimmer, pointier tip, doesn't that still mean that it will be harder to get the Tanto tip to get past the initial surface of the armour in the first place, before the rest of the knife ever comes into play?
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Well yes, the fact that the tip is not as slim and pointy does make it a bit harder to get past the initial surface, but like I said, the temporary, added force of the impact as the knife smashes into the target is meant to make up for that.
 
res1cue said:
Yes but given decent strength, you can puncture a screwdriver into something like a car hood, even though it has no point. The greatest force is applied at the initial fraction of a second after impact. If you get the tip through at all, you can slide the rest in easily, whether it is 6" or 15".

If you had a 15" distal tapered blade, you might get a lot of that blade in, but once you have expended the force generated from momentum, you wouldn't be able to force the rest of it through, because it would get harder and harder

I guess some chairborne rangers could look at this and then argue about wound channel sizes since the tanto would be more broad. To me though, I am a fan of a well made tanto primarily for tip strength, as I am hard on my tips
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Yeah, he said it better. :D
 
Man do I feel silly. I just got a nifty Utilitac II tanto, and I love it. I won't ever stab a car hood, probably won't ever worry about a wound channel, and I can bet I'll never try to penetrate someone's armor with it.

I don't stab boxes, people, or anyone else and probably will never have reason to use it as a tactical tool for self defense or survival. I wonder how much all of this information the OP finds useful....

I bought it because I had heard from a friend of mine that they make great work knives in construction. So far, this one is a winner.

The Utilitac has a pretty blunt tanto and all edges were razor sharp and polished. The blunt tip makes a good wood chisel, a good caulk cutter, a good cutting tool in place of a single edge razor blade, and even trims up defects in flat wood surfaces. The flat, sharp part of the blade is a wicked slicer as it is eased back to a really flat angle. This is great for strapping, rope, cutting open boxes, sharpening my pencils, and all other kinds of cutting.

I have been really pleased thus far, and resisted buying a tanto design for the last 30 years as they look like mall ninja gear. What a pleasant surprise this folder turned out to be for me.

Robert
 
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