Tanto vs. drop point

The answer, of course, would depend on how the blades were made so there isn't a definitive answer. I consider the tanto blade fashionable but less practical than the drop point. The tanto has some advantages for stabbing but, since most people don't use a knife for stabbing, this isn't very meaningful to most knife users in terms of utility. Basically, if you want the better blade profile, the drop point is most likely it. If you want high fashion, then the tanto would probably get the nod these days. Take care.

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Fred
Knife Outlet
http://www.knifeoutlet.com
 
The tanto has the stronger TIP (not blade), usually. It was made for punching through armor. For purposes other than this, despite its' strength, the tanto is less versatile and utilitarian than the drop point.

Walt
 
I would say the Tanto Point. It is a much
stronger design in my eyes.
I could be wrong!

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"ALWAYS WATCH YOUR SIX"
 
like it's been said it''s all about getting your cake and not being able to eat it too.. stabing versus slashing.. but I must say althogh fashionable I tend to be part of the masses who dont liek the look of the geometric tanto.

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<A HREF="http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~soo/balisong/balisong.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~soo/balisong/balisong.html
</A> If you play with love you will be heartbroken; if you play with knives you will [bleed]


 
tantos look cool but a drop point with a nice taper will penetrate much better. it will also be more suitable for everyday tasks. tantos are not very good for anything but stabbing and not very good at theat
 
First of all, realize that for 95% of the edge length, the tanto is not necessarily any different than a drop point. Other than the tip, which is stronger depends strictly on the grind.

When people talk about the tip of the tanto, they usually are talking about the secondary grind, which puts a lot of metal up front. Generally speaking, more metal at the tip means more strength, but less penetration. It's a myth that the dual-ground tanto is great at penetration -- in actuality, it is one of the worst penetrators you could possibly design. What the dual-ground tip buys you is tip strength, so if you're trying to penetrate through something very hard, a dual-ground tanto's tip might stay intact where a standard drop-point tip might get damaged. But through anything softer, less metal up front penetrates more easily.

But of course, there's no law against taking a standard drop point blade, and dual-grinding the tip, tanto-style. At least, I hope there's no law against it, since I have a folder that Allen Elishewitz ground for me with exactly that style, at my request
smile.gif
. It is a drop point blade, with the secondary tip grind. There is no reason for me to think that my dual-ground drop point has a weaker point than any tanto. But the dual-ground tanto has the typical drop point advantages -- a dropped point for tip control, and a belly.

In the end, I found that the extra tip strength in my dual-ground drop point was unnecessary. Furthermore, it hampered penetration, and I decided that I'd rather have better tip penetration than bad penetration plus an unnecessarily strong tip (that's for my uses, yours might differ).

Anyway, my advice is not to get too hung up on the tanto shape itself and concentrate on the grind. I mean, if the tanto shape and grind is exactly what you want, then by all means go for it. But if you want a more utilitarian shape, like a drop-point, but you simply must have a bad-penetrating but extra-strong tip, I'm sure you can find a custom maker who will grind you exactly what you want.

Another strategy you might take is to look at different materials. If you want a utilitarian drop point shape, and you want good tip penetration, but within those constraints you want the absolute strongest or toughest tip you can get, consider upgrading the steel. If you were going to go with ATS-34, you can keep the exact same design and upgrade to A-2 for a stronger tip, or (apparently) 3V and a stronger tip still.

The moral of the story: Consider going with the most utilitarian blade shape, and modifying the grind or materials to get you where you want to be.

Joe

[This message has been edited by Joe Talmadge (edited 06-10-2000).]
 
Originally posted by ILoveknives:
tantos look cool but a drop point with a nice taper will penetrate much better. it will also be more suitable for everyday tasks. tantos are not very good for anything but stabbing and not very good at theat
Click to expand...

Also, what Walt Wench said.

There are, however, a couple designs that have gotten somewhat around my primary complaint with Tanto's, that being chisel grinds (!?) and the abrupt transition from the straight section to the section leading to the tip.

I reprofiled my BM Stryker to round off that transition. I like it better. I still like a dropped point better.

Greg Lightfoot has a tanto with a rounded (belly like) transition that looks nice, one of his Millenium Tanto designs. And the Spyderco Bob Lum is nice (and new to me). Spydie did a neat convex grind on the edge near the tip, very strong, deceptively sharp (it doesn't feel that sharp, yet rolls hair, probably the angle of the convex edge that makes it feel less sharp to the finger). Main edge is hollow ground. Super sharp out of the box. ATS-55 is very good so far, can't detect a compromise from ATS-34.


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rdangerer@home.com

[This message has been edited by rdangerer (edited 06-17-2000).]
 
I personally prefer tanto over drp point, and as for strength the tanto is usually stronger at the tip . However Knife Outlet is correct. if a blade is not designed correctly for its size and thickness, then its not worth anything.

Dark Nemesis


[This message has been edited by Dark Nemesis (edited 06-17-2000).]
 
Again, to re-emphasize, tantos are stronger at the tip mostly because of the secondary tip grind. There aren't many (any?) production drop points with this type of grind. But if you must have a super strong tip, and you're going custom, you can always have the maker do a tanto grind on a drop point blade -- so you get all the advantages of a drop point blade, plus tanto-like tip strength. In summary, if you don't like the tanto shape but want loads of tip strength, you can have a maker play around with things like the grind, the steel used, and the heat treat to get exactly what you want.

Joe
 
Hi.

I agree that tanto point is stronger.
Also i think that for fighting knives tanto
point is unpractical. In my opinion blades
with tanto points are more practical in
everyday using ( knives using as a pry bar or
chisel ).
That was my 2 cents.

Bye. Greetings from Poland.
Sorry for my bad English.

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Dont get mad,
get EVEN
 
What type of tanto-point? The angular, Americanized tanto, or a tradtional curve shaped point? The term "tanto" refers to a type of Japanese combat sword, not a tip design.

On the other hand, the angular tip (popularized by Cold Steel, and somewhat by Ernie's CQC-6) is not well suited to piercing, but has good strength, and radical looks, which sells knives. The chisel grind has relatively little performance advantage, but are cheaper to make, due to only one side of the blade is ground (that is why the Benchmade CQC-7 was ground for left handed people, but had a right handed handle; to show-off the BM logo, and make the knife look better to the consumer).

--dan
 
As far as I can figure out, the only property that might make tanto tip, or chisel-tip as I prefer to call a geometric tip profile, stronger, is the large angle at which the edge intersects with the spine. The larger the angle, the more steel will be supporting the tip. This same thing can be accomplished with a drop point, vis-a-vis Darrel Ralph's Apogee fighter blade.

timapog.jpg


By the way, an unexpected feature of this blade shape is exceptional penetration as well.
 
Why use either? I prefer a blade that is almost straight backed with a curved belly. The unsharpened dropped back on a drop point interfears with penetration in a fighting knife and is less utilitarian for most other purposes. It is just a style inflicted on us by Loveless.
 
Mmmmm, I don't know. Dropping the point brings it in line with the median line of the knife, making point control more intuitive. It really makes a difference in accuracy for me. If one is worried about drag on the spine, you can always sharpen it.
smile.gif
 
Function over form, in that stronger would be relative to blade construction and intended use.

I personally don't see a use for a Tanto blade if you are not going to punch the knife through things.

Oh and Hey Suppressor, what's wrong with your English? You should hear my Polish if you want to hear something really bad
smile.gif
.

Brandon



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I've got the schizophrenic blues
No I don't
Yes I do...
 
Alot of good points made in this thread. When I first got into knives, I liked tantos the best. Just because I liked the looks of them. A knife with a good belly is hard to beat. I really like the Spyderco Wegner. Plenty of belly and the spine is thick right to the point, aiding in strength. Tim Wegner did a great job designing it. A knife that excels at utility and defense.

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Dennis Bible
 
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