Tantos: What's the Draw?

C

Confederate

Joined
Sep 5, 2005
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Lots of people like tantos and carry them. Cold Steel helped make them a sensation and other knife companies followed suit. But what are the advantages of that blade? Or is it merely hype? I find myself liking it without knowing exactly why. Does a flat, wide profile extending almost to the point offer a substantially stronger blade than a Bowie? What has made it so popular in the CS and CRKT offerings?
 
Only reason I like them is the tip works like an angle chisel for scraping stuff and sort of like an xacto and wharncliff combo for marking and trace cutting. Pretty good box openers too.
 
Do you mean americanized tantos, or traditional? I like the more traditional tanto shapes that dont have a sharp transition.
 
I guess the strength of the point for thrusting is thei main advantage. I like them a lot as well.
 
I like them too, but for thrusting, I think a sharper point might penetrate more. Like RF, I also don't care for the sharp transition, but like a curved edge uniformly sharpened. Again, I love the looks; I like the strength all the way to the point. I don't like serrations, unless they're the smaller type found on Cold Steel edges with the sharp, tiny teeth. I also like CRKT's titanium 4-inch tanto and the Cold Steel Recon Tanto is growing on me.
 
I HEARD at one point (well before 9/11) that the all tanto style blades had been banned from commercial flights due to the potential to stab entirely through the planes hull directly to the outside. I don't know if it was bull or who would have tested but I can see how the reinforced thick blade may have more penetration power.
 
HEADHUNTER1976 said:
I HEARD at one point (well before 9/11) that the all tanto style blades had been banned from commercial flights due to the potential to stab entirely through the planes hull directly to the outside. I don't know if it was bull or who would have tested but I can see how the reinforced thick blade may have more penetration power.
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um... I think it's been quite a while since ANY blades were allowed on planes. As in twenty or more years.
 
In the US it wasn't a problem before 9/11, I always used to fly with a delica in my pocket. There were some vague rules -- blade less than 4", and not threatening looking (which was commonly interpreted as "no serrations" or anything else scary).

Joe
 
Joe Talmadge said:
In the US it wasn't a problem before 9/11, I always used to fly with a delica in my pocket. There were some vague rules -- blade less than 4", and not threatening looking (which was commonly interpreted as "no serrations" or anything else scary).
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The rules also said, "no locking blades", but the rules were not vigorously enforced.

As to the tanto shape, I seem to remember from the days of my misspent youth and attempts at Kendo practice that the endings on both the long and shorter blades were "sort-of" tanto, but a bit less sharp in transition.

For personal use, I haven't really found a compelling reason to use it. The lower point would be problematic for skinning (I know, it's not a skinning knife), and by widening the end it would make certain kitchen tasks more difficult. Overall the drop point is my favorite, although it is certainly not perfect for all tasks either (is there a perfect blade for everything?).
 
hwyhobo said:
The rules also said, "no locking blades", but the rules were not vigorously enforced.
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Indeed not--I used to carry a Buck 110 with me everywhere, planes included. Ah, they were happier times...

Welcome to Bladeforums, by the way! :)
 
They just look cool, there is some advantage in dueling scenarios with snap cuts off the corner, but then that is one of many non-existant uses we love to consider. I don't find them as useful as normal blades.
 
The 'american' tanto had advantages and disadvantages just as any other blade style has. I have acrried a CRKT M-16 for two or three years now. The point on the top angle seems to have a penetration advantage over most other shapes, the 'point' at the intersection of the two angles works alot like a single serration as it starts a cut more easily than a curved blade. If you have access to a good tanto blade (for this a new blade would serve the best) a couple of tomatoes and try sticking the tomatoes with the point and starting a slice with the second point. Take the second tomato and try with any other knife and you will see a difference. This is my opinion it works for me.

Stan
 
I have started to like the tanto blade the more i see one. I think it looks better than a lot of blades, not sure about performance though.
 
The reason I have a couple tantos is thus: the first part of the blade works like a wharncliffe and an xacto knife, great for fine cutting on a flat surface. The second big reason is that it has a very useful forward tip, unlike (in my opinion) most wharncliffes.

Lastly, I think it looks cool.
 
I love tantos and I have two of them, one is a CS mini Tanto it's 10 years old and made in Japan very good quality no problems so far, the other one is a
k-bar impact tanto in 1095 steel I am very impressed with the quality of
ka-bar and it's cheap to buy I find tantos very useful they are my EDC knife and I also use them in the bush a lot.
 
I could be wrong, but I think Cold Steel's ads with the knife sticking through the car door are really the only reason they became popular. If not for those ads, most of us would be saying "What's a tanto?" There isn't enough of an advantage over the drop point to explain their popularity, at least in my opinion.
 
Well, now Cold Steel is hammering its Night Force through car doors (or ceilings) and my brother recently admitted the early Cold Steel ads are what made him want one. So I gave him a Recon fixed knife and told him he'd have to supply his own hammer and car. (I was surprised to hear someone on this board talk about breaking his Recon while hitting a lot with it.) What good is hammering it through a car if it can't take a few whacks against a log?

Still, it is a beautiful knife to behold with that polished edge.
 
Confederate said:
Well, now Cold Steel is hammering its Night Force through car doors (or ceilings) and my brother recently admitted the early Cold Steel ads are what made him want one....
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I have a Night Force with a fully serated clip point blade. It's one of the easiest knives I've ever owned to open and close with one hand. Fits securely in my hand as well. Great ergonomics. But I think it's a little too lightly constructed to be described as a tactical folder (I don't think it can take much lateral stress). Great knife to carry when your working out in the barn.
 
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