Why people hate on tantos?

[Grumpy Old Man]

All my favorite fixed blade knives are tanto.....

 

[beeinak]

Damn. I'm a pretty cool uncle with great stories, no tattoos, and rode a Honda. Some people just don't like, or can't handle that energy.

I had a meet up with the Outlaws (1 %er group) down in South Fl with my spanking new ST1100 back in 1994...and when one of them walked up to check out my bike I thought, "here we go", but he ended up admiring the bike and wishing me good luck with it. I guess he appreciated another brother of the road. (And I didn't volunteer that I was a "Fed".)

I sold a BMW CS100 to a Bandido. Super nice guy who wanted it for hill country rides. He tossed me a roll of $100 bills with rubber band around them prior to asking if he could take it for a test ride. Just because he rode a Harley didn’t mean he couldn’t appreciate other makes.

I truly think some people view certain shapes/styles of things with pre-conceived notions with no real thoughts. If someone only sees tacticool/fantasy tanto knives in some cheap brochure, or a cheesy video- that may be the only reference for that knife. If they actually give one a chance they might appreciate the usefulness.

 

[nighthawk86]

Back in the 80's I frequently saw the ads for Cold Steel Tantos in catalogs and martial arts mags. While I never hated them, I wasn't a fan of them. I just didn't understand them. It was obvious they were good for slashing & cutting, but I just didn't see how they could be effective at thrusting (this was long before I saw any of the famous Cold Steel videos). In the early 90's, I ordered a Taiwan copy of the CS Tanto, 5 3/4 blade, 440 something steel, with a nylon sheath from some catalog, don't remember which for sure. I put together a target from cardboard, and did a few slashes & thrusts, and then understood them, and grew to really like the American Tanto design. A few years later I got rid of it, and a few years later I bought a Tanto folder, and have bought other Tanto fixed blades. Overall it's my favorite blade style, though I like clip points, drop points, spear points, and even wharncliffes, which I wasn't too keen on till I bought a couple used folders, and came to appreciate that design as well.

I think that one of the reasons (among others stated in this thread) is that sometimes people just don't understand them. The Tanto just doesn't make sense to them. They are so used to the other long used designs, they just don't know what to make of it.

I would say if a person doesn't like the Tanto, get one, try it out, carry it for a while. If they still don't like it, fair enough.

 

[ElementalBreakdown]

I'm sure this was said, but it's because they are a relatively useless design.

Ask yourself why almost every other blade shape was independently invented and reinvented time and time again or adopted by dozens of cultures throughout time and space independently from each other worldwide, yet the American style tanto doesn't appear in its current form until 1980s USA.

It's not that they are terrible, they just don't do anything that another blade shape can also do PLUS other things.

But hey, if you like the way they look you aren't alone and not everyone buys knives to use as tools, I would say there are now more collectors than users and sadder still if I had to lay down a bet, I would say not one knife in ten purchased on this forum gets used enough to need to be sharpened even once a month.

 

[El Jay]

Bob Lum made the best tantos
His Spyderco collabs are awesome too!

 

[Insipid Moniker]

I like them.

Though you have to be careful with bananas.

 

[Booba1000]

So what is it about them that's harder to sharpen? I find them easier since the blade profile is straighter than the average. no belly or changing line like a bolo etc.

If you want to keep secondary point you have to sharpen two different edges. So basically like doing 2 knives in one

 

[jux t]

I like them just fine. A utilitarian design, good for scraping and a little prying. On a bench stone, I find them easy to sharpen because I don’t have to adjust for a curve. Pretty straightforward, like sharpening a chisel. Yeah, you have to sharpen the tip separately, but it’s so easy to maintain a consistent angle because the edges aren’t curved.

 

[kobold]

I can think of a few reasons. As said before, people have no idea what it's good for.
Aesthetically it looks like the blade is broken/truncated. "why would you pay full price for a broken/less usable blade"
Others think its just marketing, a fad.
Sharpening issues..

Personally I never had a tanto, don't think i need one, but i really like the looks of the Inkosi tanto.

 

[eveled]

American style Tanto's arnt really my thing...

Now a proper Japanese tanto on the other hand.... gimme!

They are very different. One thing worse than cultural appropriation is poorly executed cultural appropriation. Lol.

 

[Cobalt]

If you want to keep secondary point you have to sharpen two different edges. So basically like doing 2 knives in one

Yes, but the forward edge is easy because I sharpen it like a chisel. I find it simple.

 

[The Grendels]

I went to woods in the wild with friend and some people my friend usually goes with, and I took my Recon Tanto instead of AK47 field knife, to give that thing some use.

And long story short, I had several guys asking me why am I having a tanto or why not SRK? I was even suggested to get a garberg like some other guy, or at least that black/orange companion knife.

The biggest irony is, nobody of us even needed to use a knife for anything (even the meat was pre-cut and spiced). Everyone who did use a knife did so just to use a knife. And to make it better - you can do all of that shit with a tanto too.

Tanto knife is still a knife and cuts like a knife should. So why so much hate?

Different blades and grinds are just better for different things, but there are just some knifes that cry out for a tanto blade. When I bought my Cold Steel Recon 1 it had to be a tanto blade. The same for my Cold Steel Code 4.

 

[BlindMouse2of3]

Different blades and grinds are just better for different things, but there are just some knifes that cry out for a tanto blade. When I bought my Cold Steel Recon 1 it had to be a tanto blade. The same for my Cold Steel Code 4.

I love my recon 1 tanto but I gave my code 4 tanto to a friend because the scales were too slick for my taste and was afraid I'd loose a finger. But loved the knife otherwise.

 

[Lesknife]

Sharpening a tanto is like having to sharpen two different knife blades. Not only that but after a while it gets worn til it’s more like a deep bellied skinner blade. I don’t like recurve blades either because they’re more difficult to sharpen. So there’s that!

 

[HexY3co]

But I guess what you said doesn't apply to traditional tanto because it only has one tip and one cutting edge.

Indeed so but I was referencing the CS the OP was referring to.

 

[HexY3co]

I can think of a few reasons. As said before, people have no idea what it's good for.
Aesthetically it looks like the blade is broken/truncated. "why would you pay full price for a broken/less usable blade"
Others think its just marketing, a fad.
Sharpening issues..

Personally I never had a tanto, don't think i need one, but i really like the looks of the Inkosi tanto.

I have one and trust me you want one.

 

[Danke42]

I like them.

Though you have to be careful with bananas.

 

[The Zieg]

Bananas, that's a helluva callback!

My first CS folder was a large Voyager "tanto" half serrated in 1994. I used it hard till I lost it and never looked back. I hated the "tanto" point for just about every task. I hated the AUS-8 steel for its lack of edge holding and tendency to roll. I hated the CS micro serrations for their difficulty sharpening. I hated how the pocket clip caught on everything around me and sometimes pulled the knife right out of my pocket.

I bought an Opinel N°8 Carbone and never had another problem. To this day I use only knives without pocket clips and never a "tanto" point, bananas be damned.

But if you like 'em, s'ok by me. I get more done with a puukko, Mora, Buck 110, Victorinox, Opinel, SRK, and so on than I ever did with that CS "tanto" thing.

Zieg

 

[Chronovore]

Like many other styles, they can do lots of stuff. In a regular EDC context, I don't recall a day when I said either "dag, I wish I'd brought the tanto" or "gosh, I sure wish I wasn't carrying a tanto". That's not to say one blade shape isn't better at one thing or worse at another. It's just not enough of an issue to make my choice any deeper than what looked or felt good to me that morning.

That said, some knives feel better as a tanto to me. The Bradford Guardian 3.5 is one of them. Some of it is the size ratio and some is the chunky blade stock. It's the difference between okay and just right in how I feel about this knife.

On the other end of the spectrum, the thinner blade of this little Kubey folder feels just right ro me as a tanto. The non-tanto version just strikes me as "meh".

 

[KenCaz]

I thought I wanted a Tanto once... Then I got one... I have not bought one since... they really just suck all around and are hard to sharpen...!