Originally posted by Vulthoom
Is it only me that finds the tanto tip ... useless in the real world?
It may be a strong design and great on a combat weapon but as a utility knife I still can't get used to it after six months.
Vulthoom
I'm with you, brother Vulthoom.
My first tanto was a Benchmade 975 CQC7. Had to see what the fuss was about. That was early in my modern production folder "career", right after my AFCK 812 purchase. I had it for about a month, couldn't figure out how people tolerated the tanto grind for daily/utility use. Sold it.
I will say there are two tanto's I own and like well enough to keep:
1. Spyderco Lum
2. Greg Lightfoot Millenium Magnum Tanto (because it's not really a tanto).
Why do those stay in the collection.... neither are extreme grinds/designs to my eye, and both have a rounded transition from main to tanto edge, and both are symmetrically ground (hollow on both sides).
Anything chisel or even final-edge ground on the left/logo side is on the
wrong freakin' side for righties. Period. But, let me quote from Ernie Emerson on why he, in particular, leaves these chisel ground on the wrong side for 95% of the population, when he could offer this as an option if he so chose:
from EKI's home page
"...we are often asked; Why do you put the grind on the opposite side of a traditional Japanese Chef's knife? The answer is simple....We are not making chef's knives. Our knives are hard knives meant for hard users [sic]. We do not cut many tomatoes. Our tests and those of a major government agency determined that there was no difference between right and left side grinds for use as a tool or weapon. The left side was chosen for purposes of visual cue and reference."
There you have it. Read that carefully. There is a lot revealed and implied by the answer, the semantics, and the tone.
EKI completely ignores the fact that right-handers find the grind on left side awkward for many tasks ("tool" type tasks). And he left the chisel grind on left side for aesthetics... "visual cue"... that means for photographing and marketing purposes, the grind is on the same side as the logo and is easy to "see" when you open and handle the knife as a right hander.
I had a good fit/finish BM Stryker for a while. Good handle design, but I took the Lansky to that sharp transition from flat primary edge to the tanto edge and rounded it off, and that kept me satisfied...for a few months, then sold it. It lasted that long because it too was symmetrically ground.
The tanto is good for stabbing things... it is one way, not the only way, to grind a knife to possess a stout tip. That is about the end of the tanto's benefits best I can figure. Most of the other "attributes" are detriments for daily utility usage.
Looks more like a way to salvage a sword with a broken tip.