Why so many full tang knives?

[Daniel L]

(By full tang I mean knives that have the full thickness of the blade in the tang with handle slabs attached to the sides e.g. Busse Battle Mistress)

Yes, I know it make a knife very strong, but I think that it puts a lot of weight into the handle (and extra weight into the knife) where it does little "good".

I assume tapered tangs are done less often since that is more work? And hidden tang knives (where the handle scales are "hollowed out" for the tang) create even more work to create a perfect fit.

Is it because of an obsession with toughness or ease of manufacture that full tang knives are prevalent?

Personally I find non-full tang knives to offer more lively feel and less "weight in the hand". Some examples would be a HI kukri and a traditional golok. Even kraton / rubber handled knives feel better to me than a full tang knife. Mad Dog knives (I don't own any) have a reputation for "liveliness" in the hand - I can only speculate this is a careful balance between the tang and the blade grind with the handle weight.

So what do you all think?

 

[Cliff Stamp]

There is a lot made about the prying ability of full tang knives, but having broken more than one, partial tang knives rarely break in the tang as the blade is the weak point as it is ground. Full tangs on knives are functional in that they are a part of where the balance lies and this can be critical on a knife. If it is too far back it won't have enough power, and if it is too far ahead the blade will be very hard to use for lighter work. Just simply converting a full tang knife to a partial on an otherwise identical knife could lead it too blade heavy for utility work. I recently got a custom parang made and went with a full tang as I needed the metal in the grip to shift the balance back.

-Cliff

 

[golok]

Cliff, as usual, a concise and precise reply that lights up all the buttons.

Your scientific approach to things sharp sheds much light on those little nooks and corners that would have otherwise escape our fleeting attention.