Tanto vs. Point blade

T

The Knife Seller

Joined
Jan 5, 2007
Messages
15
Greetings, I'm new to this forum and decided to pick your brains on my first thread.
The general question is; be it folder or fixed blade knife, what is your preference, a tanto or a ...point blade? Why?
I appreciate any help you can give...Thanks
 
What are you going to be using it for, generally?

Also when you say "point blade", do you mean "anything other
than a tanto"? Because there are several blade shapes other
than tanto such as clip point, drop point, spear point, trailing point...
 
I don't really care for the tanto profile, at least in an EDC knife. A drop point or other "pointy" profile makes it much easier to open boxes and envelopes, and just generally to weasel the blade underneath tie-downs and straps and so forth. A tanto might be well-suited for making holes in a 55 gallon drum, but thats not something I do with regularity. :thumbup:

04.jpg

Tanto Griptilian and Mini-Manix.

cheers
 
What I meant was anything other than a tanto. I will narrow it down to tacticals and the question is geared toward buying and selling. I have had a great deal of trouble selling knives with a tanto blade, so I wanted to hear some pros and cons from the general buying public.
 
In heavy thick blades I like the Tanto style, in thin blades the pointed I prefer drop point and spear point. Each knife though has its own nature and the blade shape is part of what makes up the feel use and personality of each knife. Its hard to say there is an overall rule because when you do the next knife comes along and breaks the rule.
 
Azis said:
Each knife though has its own nature and the blade shape is part of what makes up the feel use and personality of each knife. Its hard to say there is an overall rule[...]
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What he said :thumbup:

________________________________________________

The tanto has tremendous strength through the blade for
piercing...things like 50 gallon drums and otherwise...

My personal preference is the drop point.

Probably the most generally useful shape is the classic clip point.
 
I bought a BM Mini-Grip last year in a tanto point, more for curiosity than anything else. What I found was that it wasn't that it wasn't useful, it could be be used for my EDC things, just a little different. As mentioned, though, it wasn't as convenient either. On thing that I do quite consistently is cut zip ties whether its at work on network wiring bundling, etc. or at home and a drop point/spear point shape simply worked better. Mind you, a hawkbill like on the Spydie Tasman Salts was even better still:) That tanto was nice for scraping/light prying where you needed to get under something, but that's not something that I can't accomplish with anything else either. Depends on what you plan to do with it.

- gord
 
Messersmith said:
Tanto blades look cool but I don't find them very practicle in every day use.
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How so?
Could you be more specific as to how and why a "normal" blade would have worked better for you, when you were using the tanto. And were the tanto an American tanto or did it have more of a curve to it ?
 
Hawkings said:
How so?
Could you be more specific as to how and why a "normal" blade would have worked better for you, when you were using the tanto. And were the tanto an American tanto or did it have more of a curve to it ?
Click to expand...

I'll try :confused: Something like slicing through a block of cheese... with a curved blade you simply slice through to the cutting board and rock your hand slightly downward and you have a nice clean cut. With a tanto, you slice through then have to bring the blade down parallel to the cutting board to for a clean cut. Depending on the handle you end up hitting your knuckles on the cutting board. There are also some situations where I'm not sure whether to use the forward edge or bottom edge on a tanto.

Maybe I'm all wrong about this :D
 
I think the tanto profile is next to useless on a short bladed knife for much other than stabbing, which makes it not very utilitarian.

Once the tanto profiled knife gets over about 12" and on into sword territory, some curvature added to the blade over length makes it more of a cutter/slasher. On the short blades even a Wharncliffe is more useful for daily cutting than is a tanto.

I'm not surprised you have trouble selling them. I believe only the dedicated fan, the somewhat curious, and the woefully misinformed, would buy them as prospective EDC blades.
 
Messersmith said:
I'll try :confused: Something like slicing through a block of cheese... with a curved blade you simply slice through to the cutting board and rock your hand slightly downward and you have a nice clean cut. With a tanto, you slice through then have to bring the blade down parallel to the cutting board to for a clean cut. Depending on the handle you end up hitting your knuckles on the cutting board. There are also some situations where I'm not sure whether to use the forward edge or bottom edge on a tanto.

Maybe I'm all wrong about this :D
Click to expand...

So it's not the tanto point thats the problem for you, its the primary straight edge with no belly thats the problem ? Did I read that right ?

I can relate to that ;)

So if you had a tanto that had a nice round belly it would work for you ?

BTW thx for a good and detailed answer:thumbup:
 
My constant EDC is an american tanto bladed folder since 2002. I can't remember even one occasion when I regret to carry it. IMO it does any possible tasks just as good as a a drop point.
 
Hawkings said:
So it's not the tanto point thats the problem for you, its the primary straight edge with no belly thats the problem ? Did I read that right ?

I can relate to that ;)

So if you had a tanto that had a nice round belly it would work for you ?

BTW thx for a good and detailed answer:thumbup:
Click to expand...



Yes, I think a Tanto with a belly would be more useful to me.
 
I used to be obsessed with tantos, and they look cool and definately have the heads up in piercing capability, a spear point or clip point is definately better for daily regular normal use.
 
All other things being equal (thickness of the blade, grind, lenth of the tip, etc...) I have learned that a tanto offers no advantages over a drop-point, clip-point, or spear-point.
 
Another negative for me is that tantos look more aggressive than a drop point. I carry in an office environment. I can carry a 3" Native and use it in public without raised eybrows. OK just a few. But a Tanto looks more intimidating. It looks more like a weapon. So if I were to pull out a 3" tanto, I would run more risk of having to have a long talk with HR.
 
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