For urban purpose I prefer the american tanto because the secondary point is quite convenient to score carboard boxes and the like. The flat portion is useful to scrape things like a chisel. Think of of it as a wharncliffe (a very useful utility pattern) with added cutting section and an extra tip.
For camping obviously the traditional belly design is better because it's used for skinning game, food prep, and stuff.
These are my thoughts exactly. I had 5.11 First responder Tanto
It is a very good utility knife. Its a frame lock. And the thing is built like a tank. I ended up trading it away because it was partially serrated and the cutting edge was really short. Which basically rendered the knife useless for what I needed it. However it is a very versatile tool that offers a lot, and each part of the knife is well thought out.
I now have same knife in spearpoint, because it suits my needs more.
As far hand to hand combat goes, knifes are your back up. Primary use of a knife in todays warfare has been shifted from a weapon to a tool. That is not to say that it has completely lost its function as a weapon. However as many medics will tell you dealing with a stab wound from a screwdriver or an icepick will be often considerably harder then dealing with a wound from a knife.
However with recent trends tactical is cool. Hell I own a knife that is primarily designed as a weapon. It has always actually been cool. Look at the tactilol thread. The buckmaster was cool in the past before the dork ops came about.
Tanto is similar, it gets into our collections not because we need it, but because we can have one. And sometimes we say we need one knife for every task. So you might have a large camping knife, a small camping knife, a fighter knife, a dive knife, a dress folder, a utility folder, a back up folder. You want all your bases to be covered, to have the completed toolbox. So if you think tanto is the best combat design then why not have a tanto as your one combat knife. After all it looks modern, the sharp straight lines sometimes make it look more slick.
I love this one , I think it looks beautiful
My thing about tanto's is that usually they look too provocative for my taste. But some may find them appealing. I personally love the recurved blades, but some here find them disturbingly ugly, and will say the same thing I say about tantos.
What it comes down to is who likes what, and the tanto is not going anywhere any time soon.
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