To use a tanto or not.

I don't know how they do it in Iceland however a very common approach to "clubbing" seals, is that the club has a spike in it.
The spike penetrates into the brain and if you know what you are doing death is instantaneous.
It does look very brutal, however most sealers club the animal more than once to ensure that it is dead quickly.
I do not know of anyone that uses a blunt club when sealing.

Question for the original poster, are you eating the seals or is this just for the pelts?
 
Here in Alaska varmint rifles are the preffered method of seal dispatch often coupled with snow machines. The native alaskans are the only ones allowed to kill seals. Seal clubbing did happen in parts of russia and else where, itwas a population control method by the equivilant of the fishand game I believe. IF you want a good knife for bleeding out an animal I would not use a tanto. With the proper technique a thin blade could be used for this purpose and will give you better results than the often thick tantos wich often have thick grinds to give them that tough look. Also I would want more length to make a easy long cut across teh area instead of having to continue the cut myself. Check out the knives used by Kosher butchers, they kill animals in this way and the blades are well designed for the purpose.
 
Some of you obviously should do some research about slaughtering animals ! An animal is knocked out , not killed , then the throat is cut so the animal bleeds out .Otherwise you will effect the quality of the meat. I've always just used a typical 4" hunting knife . The blood can be used for things like 'blood pudding' .
 
We hunt them just for the meat. The pelts we do use but they have no money value and almost no demand. And even the meat is desired only within a small group, there is no market for the meat any more, even though it is absolutaly delicious. We hardly eat whale meat anymore. We are on a super highway to pizza and hamburgerland.
 
My thoughts did not come true to paper, my english is just so and so. It is absolutely right that the clubbing does not kill them, as I stated earlier, but bleeding does. I took one quote to mean that we ran after them and just cut their throat which is not the case. Clubb to knock out, bleed to kill.
But enough of seal killing, wich was not the original reason for posting. The tanto blade! Why tanto? Is there some original purpose for the design? The samurai blades do not have, I'm no expert, the steep angle to them, it is more of a gradual curve. So where does this come from?
 
the tanto is not a utility blade. original tantos (Japanese, Chinese, Korean...tanto simply means short blade) did not have the abrupt change in angle. In Japan, the tanto evolved into a single edged "dagger" or stabbing tool, the kodzukas were the utility blades.

in modern western knifestyles, the American tanto bladeshape was really more for the looks and thicker tip. Actually, traditional tantos had a thicker tip too (diamond shape kissakis), without the need for the abrupt change in angles.
 
The Americanized Tanto has devolved into a stabbing weapon. The straight edge lacks a belly like any conventional hunters, and the tip comes to a sharp point, which is useless for anything other than puncturing. I like tantos soley for the looks, because they're terrible as a tool.
 
mete said:
Some of you obviously should do some research about slaughtering animals ! An animal is knocked out , not killed , then the throat is cut so the animal bleeds out .Otherwise you will effect the quality of the meat. I've always just used a typical 4" hunting knife . The blood can be used for things like 'blood pudding' .
Click to expand...

I don;t think the animal is knocked out, usually, as much as it is stunned. Normally, the animals I've bled are sluggishly trying to move about...trying to figure out where they are. They're disoriented and dazed when they're bled. I suppose though that it's likely that sometimes they are knocked out completely, but this takes a helluva blow or three to do unless, by chance, you just happened to hit them perfectly on the first blow.

lorise said:
...............The tanto blade! Why tanto? Is there some original purpose for the design? The samurai blades do not have, I'm no expert, the steep angle to them, it is more of a gradual curve. So where does this come from?
Click to expand...

Like the others said, the Tanto is for stabbing. If you look closely at the grind of the blade, you'll see how shallow the angle is leading to the tip. This leaves much more steel for support in stabbing than a drop-point or other standard grind. If the blade hits bone, it's less likely to bend the tip like it might on another knife.
 
I think a tanto is more for prying stuff, the blade geometry really doesn't make it a great cutter.
 
mete said:
Some of you obviously should do some research about slaughtering animals ! An animal is knocked out , not killed , then the throat is cut so the animal bleeds out .Otherwise you will effect the quality of the meat. I've always just used a typical 4" hunting knife . The blood can be used for things like 'blood pudding' .
Click to expand...

Maybe thats my problem, I tend to hunt instead of slaughter. My information on Alaskan seal hunting is quite correct. The seal are shot dead and bled out soon after. While this may not be the best for industrial meat hervesting I think it is ethical hunting. I have never had a problem with seal meat taken in this fashion and the 17-22 calibre bullet doesnt do much pelt dammage with proper shot placement. Also seal clubbing has been used on large groups of seals to thin out there numbers, but I guess it is also a form of hunting them. :eek: The knife my best friend takes seal hunting is liek a slightly thick fillet knife of about 5", still thin compared to a tanto blade.
 
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