Tanto style blades, what's everyone's feelings?

[Bill1170]

I've never owned an American tanto blade, but can see applications where that shape would shine. I may need to try one.

 

[insta9ves]

I think tanto works fine. It's just a straight edge razor with a tip.

 

[Czechmate]

Ah yes, a great post backed up with little information to support your opinion:thumbup:
Tantos are great, because it gives you a tip like an exacto knife, and a nice solid cutting edge down low. Drop point tantos are the best imo.

Exactly...


I love them, both traditional and the more modern "Americanized" versions. They're great and both work just fine IMHO. Also not difficult to sharpen; again just my humble opinion... :thumbup:

Some of mine:

 

[rustyrazor]

great paint scrapers and for removing stickers from your windshield... other than that, not much use for them. most other blade shapes are way more practical for the everyday user.

 

[link2derek]

I carry a CS Large Voyager Tanto quite often (the Kobun sometimes, too), but I never have just the tanto with me - I always have at least one other blade with me that has either a drop point or clip point. Here's an example - A BM/HK Dispatch tanto with an Izula:

 

[Czechmate]

great paint scrapers and for removing stickers from your windshield... other than that, not much use for them. most other blade shapes are way more practical for the everyday user.

That's opinion and not fact though FWIW...

I carry my Cold Steel Gunsite I regularly and have done so for years; it has handled every and all "EDC" worthy task with ease and does not require different technique to do so. The serrations are long gone; chipped off or bent over the years I've owned it. I ground them flat into a modified straight edge and the plain edge has been sharpened numerous times; it's now convex. :thumbup:

If anything I've found this knife to be more useful than a regular blade shape like a spearpoint/droppoint because of the scraper tip as you mentioned... :thumbup:

 

[mjpgolf1]

great paint scrapers and for removing stickers from your windshield... other than that, not much use for them. most other blade shapes are way more practical for the everyday user.

So which blade shapes would you consider more practical and why?

I used to think the same thing until I actually received these knives and played around with them. I can now see that the Tanto style blade actually has many MORE uses than most other blade shapes. From an aesthetic standpoint the jury is still out, but something about the grind lines on these Benchmade Stryker Tanto blades that is just flat out sexy.

 

[EricV]

Very easy to sharpen, and make for good scrapers but I haven't bought one in years. A knife with a belly is far more useful for me.

 

[Charlie Mike]

Marfione can grind a sexy tanto...

 

[Insipid Moniker]

I've gone the opposite way on the American tanto over the years. Initially, I thought they looked great, but offered limited utility. Now I don't like the look, but find them to be one of the more useful bladeshapes when done well.

 

[JR88FAN]

So which blade shapes would you consider more practical and why?

I used to think the same thing until I actually received these knives and played around with them. I can now see that the Tanto style blade actually has many MORE uses than most other blade shapes. From an aesthetic standpoint the jury is still out, but something about the grind lines on these Benchmade Stryker Tanto blades that is just flat out sexy.

It's great that you are seperating fact from opinion, you will notice that they get blurred together sometimes....

As far as aesthetics goes, I hate to do this but "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"....what I think is a cool looking car, girl, dog, taco, house, pen, rock, knife (I can keep going...forever) is based on my tastes and therefor will differ from person to person, and there really will be no consensus on something like "looks of a Tanto blade"

 

[RX-79G]

I honestly can't see any difference between some of these tantos in terms of use and sharpening from a clip points. They are essentially round.

Other tantos have two edges connected by a short radius. More challenging to sharpen, but pretty useful.

The third kind has two edges connected with a sharp, somewhat delicate point. These are pretty easy to sharpen because you just sharpen the two sections separately. I don't find this profile particularly useful or sensible.


But talking about "tantos" doesn't get very far considering it just doesn't mean much.

 

[Herlock]

Hi! I remember we talked about this in depth elsewhere here. I think tanto blade shape can have a meaning as EDC in a urban/ working scenario, like a construction site, a scrap yard, a warehouse, a packaging material storage, etc. I have only one tanto folder (the ER BF2) and I find it very good for cutting cardboard materials, cabling, carpet, insulation materials, plastic materials, sheeting, for scraping, even digging , and so on. I find it very useful when cutting various materials which lay out flat. It cuts straight lines very well and basically I have a knife that behaves like a very robust box-cutter. In general, I also find the tanto acute point is good for the initial piercing of thicker materials (like HDPE tanks) :thumbup:. So I consider tanto a useful blade shape for some specific tasks. However, I would personally rather not carry a knife with such a blade profile in the woods. For bushcraft/hiking/camping activities it’s definitely not suitable for me. Carving and whittling becomes not very easy and “natural” (which is, for me, when I work with a drop point blade), skinning, filletting and food prep in general becomes a chore. I also don’t find tanto very difficult to sharpen compared to other profiles and I’m far from being a pro .

 

[Czechmate]

What about spanto's?... :thumbup:

Those are fun too IMHO.

 

[Charlie Mike]

What about spanto's?... :thumbup:

Those are fun too IMHO.

Yes, and fun to grind too.

 

[o4tg]

So many invalid assumptions here sometimes.

This is simple science. Why do recurves cut so well? PSI. When you cut with one, you have less cutting edge making contact. This means the cutting force is more focused, and has more pressure behind a smaller area.

Now if you consider the American tanto is a VERY similar concept, and you apply that same logic, the tanto is the most focused sweeping cutter you can get. The apex acts as a precision tip that cuts with out snagging up like the actual tip of a knife will do. So in one area that's at the most natural angle for cutting, you have the combined cutting force of a recurve combined with the precision of a knife tip.

This whole pry bar myth is bogus as well. Tip strength is about the grind geometry just like it is with any knife. My Kershaw Zing would break in half if you look at it wrong. My Utilitac will punch holes in cans all day and still smile. Same thing for piercing power. My Utilitac won't go very deep in a phone book, but my Zing will. Just like any knife, it's all geometry.

Also, pro tip. If you're trying to sharpen an American tanto on most sharpening systems, you're not going to have a good experience. You have an apex and two different angles. Sharpen each one individually with a stone and it's the easiest knife you'll ever sharpen. I sharpen the tip first, followed by the belly since most apex cuts are sweeping.

 

[rustyrazor]

So which blade shapes would you consider more practical and why?

I used to think the same thing until I actually received these knives and played around with them. I can now see that the Tanto style blade actually has many MORE uses than most other blade shapes. From an aesthetic standpoint the jury is still out, but something about the grind lines on these Benchmade Stryker Tanto blades that is just flat out sexy.

Don't get me wrong... i don't mean they are useless all together, just less useful than drop or spear points and clip points when it comes to the myriad of tasks a knife will be asked to perform if it's your main tool. YES YOU CAN DO EVERYTHING WITH A TANTO... and i agree there are a few instances that the american tanto is better suited to... same could be said for the karambit, sheepsfoot, hook knife and i suppose trailing point, but in a lot of cases the drop or spear point in particular will give you an advantage over the particular american tanto design we are discussing here. I did carry a cold steel voyager and KOBUN for a long while when i first joined the military and thought they looked cool, and they did everything i needed them to do... but when you get into bushcraft, trap making, survival, fire making skinning and gutting animals, the beauty of the tanto tip fades somewhat in comparison to the less glamourous drop point... but there's a reason most of the top bushcraft knives don't have tanto points, and it just boils down to utility.

caveat: all of this is solely my opinion and not a peer reviewed fact, however if you take the bushcraft and hunting crowds into consideration... perhaps those are my peers?

 

[d762nato]

I would only carry a Tanto blade along with a Lone Ranger revolver.

HI! OLE! SILVER! More Tanto from Tonto King Mosabi!

 

[sharp_edge]

So many invalid assumptions here sometimes.

This is simple science. Why do recurves cut so well? PSI. When you cut with one, you have less cutting edge making contact. This means the cutting force is more focused, and has more pressure behind a smaller area.

Now if you consider the American tanto is a VERY similar concept, and you apply that same logic, the tanto is the most focused sweeping cutter you can get. The apex acts as a precision tip that cuts with out snagging up like the actual tip of a knife will do. So in one area that's at the most natural angle for cutting, you have the combined cutting force of a recurve combined with the precision of a knife tip.

This whole pry bar myth is bogus as well. Tip strength is about the grind geometry just like it is with any knife. My Kershaw Zing would break in half if you look at it wrong. My Utilitac will punch holes in cans all day and still smile. Same thing for piercing power. My Utilitac won't go very deep in a phone book, but my Zing will. Just like any knife, it's all geometry.

Also, pro tip. If you're trying to sharpen an American tanto on most sharpening systems, you're not going to have a good experience. You have an apex and two different angles. Sharpen each one individually with a stone and it's the easiest knife you'll ever sharpen. I sharpen the tip first, followed by the belly since most apex cuts are sweeping.

Not sure if I agree. So following your logic, a needle will cut better than any knife?

 

[POCEH KOCEB]

Not sure if I agree. So following your logic, a needle will cut better than any knife?

o4tg is exactly right, but your example isn't really apply the logic if we are talking about blade. Needle's design is the way it is, in order to penetrate, applying the logic to edge of a blade designed to cut will give you exactly this: less surface with same force applied to it. Same logic is behind the serrations, of course with different variations when you are targeting cutting different materials - bunch of small blades, applying the force with their tips, no difference if you are cutting with the tip of the knife. If you have a needle, thick at the tip, as thick is the very edge of a blade, yes, the tip will cut in the same way but will bend because there is no material in line to support it.

And btw - I love tanto blades...

Haters gonna hate anyway...