Tanto versus drop point

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kth

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Jul 21, 2024
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...so my kid tells me if swapped my bugout for his bailout for a week I would be a tanto convert. Maybe I'm old and set in my ways, but I don't like the look of them. He says their versatility would win me over.
 
I hate tantos personally. I find them to be a less useful blade shape for my personal uses, and the look doesn’t appeal to me either. But mainly I simply just don’t find them useful. Cutting an apple or really any kind of slicing where the whole blade is involved heavily favors a drop point over a tanto.
 
Wasn't about them and considered it a purpose driven design, for a purpose that didn't apply to my use. Even, embarrassingly, stated such here a time or two.

Then I got a few and discovered, that when done well, they can excell as an edc. Especially in a longer blade, 3.75" plus. Might take a few days to really sort the best approach for some cutting.

Worth a try.
 
IMO, the american tanto really excel at scraping and light prying. Think of it as being two different blades on a single knife. The tanto tip can be ground like a chisel and allow you do things you wouldn’t be able to do with a more traditional knife grind. I don’t using folding knives for skinning or food prep, so the lack of belly isn’t really a drawback.
 
Tanto tips add more versatility and better hand positions for more tasks. For example when I need a lower hand position for precise cuts the secondary tip solves that problem where almost all other blade shapes require holding the knife at an extreme angle to get the tip into position. Also having the shorter blade section makes for a great chisel type use which isn't available on most other blade shapes. Add to this a drop point style tanto and it's the best of all worlds. Others will argue this but in practice it really cannot be argued.
 
David Mary said:
They don't really have this over any other blade shape. What they do have is some abilities other blade shapes don't do as well, such as scraping, and peeling off stickers.
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I think having worn a toolbelt every day for the last 40 years with my preferred selection of specialized Klein tools made me realize I might not view a knife as a multi tool and appreciate different blade geometry.... since I often have a relatively appropriate tool for most tasks.
 
kth said:
I think having worn a toolbelt every day for the last 40 years with my preferred selection of specialized Klein tools made me realize I might not view a knife as a multi tool and appreciate different blade geometry.... since I often have a relatively appropriate tool for most tasks.
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I would say knife is indeed a multitool, in that it serves many purposes. However, there are some purpose it is not meant for and that would be better served with the right tool. But some minor scraping tasks, and sticker peeling can certainly be appropriate to be handled by an edc knife.
 
I've never had a drop point and thought, "Dang, if I only had a tanto!" Conversely, I've also never had a tanto and thought, "Dang, if I only had a drop point!"

Both are fine if they're well executed, both suck if they aren't. And looking at what I just typed, this answer is probably entirely unhelpful.
 
kth said:
...so my kid tells me if swapped my bugout for his bailout for a week I would be a tanto convert. Maybe I'm old and set in my ways, but I don't like the look of them. He says their versatility would win me over.
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The Bailout might have the best size/weight to utility ratio in the world but I don't love it for the modified tanto blade shape.
 
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