Tanto Blades?

Hal said:
Many pro points - mostly centered on strength.

My biggest con - - any Tanto style knife I ever picked up was/is a chisel grind, with the flat on the right.
Since I'm right handed & hold things I slice with my left hand, that's right hand flat is useless - - worse than useless really since it slices everything all katty-whampass..

I guess a fella could hunt one down with a flat on the left - but - why bother when there are so many other knives out there to spend my money on.
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The Cold Steel tantos are usually hollow ground and I love mine. The Spyderco PM2 tanto looks promising too (although my first reaction to that knife was honestly, “why?”).
 
Arathol said:
I think that all depends on the length of the blade and what you are using to sharpen with. I've done my Recon 1, both primary edge and tip, on a Lansky with no issues. The primary is 20°, the tip is 25°, no need to change the clamp position at all.
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Maybe but its also two different angles. Im not saying its impossible, and there are certainly those that make it sound like an impossible task which it isnt, but they are more complicated to sharpen because of the dual angles, and the need to watch very closely to how close to get to that second tip.
 
I don't really have a need for stabbing through hard things where the increases in tip strength are worth the grind complexities.

They do look cool though, and they do make good scraping edges if that's useful to you.

I avoid them, I own none. I did try a knife with one when I was much younger. I found the additional effort in use and sharpening to not be worth it.
 
tueller tueller I don't know what knife you are looking at, but perhaps the MFR offers the same knife in a different blade profile?

Sharpening doesn't bother me, mostly because I use the main edge like 99% of the time, so that's the only edge needing sharpened.

The tip gets used so little that even if I have to sharpen it, it doesn't take much.

@Arathol that Benchmade 970 was a phenomenon. It was far better than the Emerson built CQC7. It's one of those I wish I had back.

@Bigfattyt you had the unmitigated gall to cast shadow on Ernie's miracle creations? Yeah... frothing, wailing and gnashing of teeth soon follows.

Lately I have found that the lowly, inexpensive Cold Steel Kobun is very fun to have around. I think I'll get some more of them.

I feel that any knife afficianado should at least get ahold of a couple examples of tanto blades and give them a chance to show the awesome.
 
I love them so I'll get the potential cons out of the way first:
  • Blade stock tends to maintain thickness all the way to the point. This can also be a pro depending on your needs.
  • They're not good at all when it comes to things like skinning game or slicing your food.
Now if you're like me and don't hunt or give two craps about how well your pocket knife cuts food, pretty much every other aspect of them is a pro. I use my knives pretty abundantly every day and tantos are the easily the best work knife I've ever used. I have completely replaced razor utility knives at work with conventional bladed knives and use them like any other tool in my pouch. I've had a couple larger fixed blade tantos for years but they were more for fiddling around with outside. I was always hesitant to adopt one as a pocket knife for actual everyday use precisely because of the things you read about in threads like this. But then I decided make the jump and try one. After a only few weeks I could safely say they became my favorite blade shape. Something I never saw coming.

They are like having two wharncliffe blades, each at two different angles and interfering very little with each other. The point is also far more durable than the rather delicate ones you tend to find on wharncliffes but far more useful that what is on a sheepsfoot. I can make great draw cuts in any direction while holding the knife at whatever angle is most convenient because of the two edges and two points. Difficulty sharpening them is another thing people often throw out there but honestly I don't have that much of a problem with them. It's two almost straight edges. I tape off the forward edge at the secondary point (like in the first picture below) then sharpen the main edge on my Sharpmaker then I take the tape off and freehand the forward edge. It takes a little longer but I wouldn't call it hard.

So if you don't use your knife in the kitchen or process animals and slice apples with it and use it more strictly for utility, I dare you to try a tanto. You may be very pleasantly surprised.

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Arathol said:
Yes, single bevel on the left side. The RJ Martin blade is the opposite, flat on the left side, beveled on the right. Many of these "American tantos" were made in both left and right chisel grinds.
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Funny you should mention Japanese cooking knives though....this so called chisel grind "American tanto" is a Japanese pattern known as Edosaki, a form of Unagisaki, single bevel with the flat on the left, that is used for filleting live unagi eels.....o_O
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I owned a Ti bladed cqc7 just like that once upon a time.
 
Speaking mostly of the Cold Steel "Americanized Tanto " and similar , the extended length of the forward edge and prominent secondary point make for many uses but not best for everything .

For fighting / SD , this shape blade is ideal for the "snap cut" .

Makes a great scraper , chisel , wedge and pry bar for hard use work / survival situations .

Not so great for fine point work like splinter removal , fruit paring , etc .

You can see my old Carbon V Recon Tanto vs new CPM 3-V Warcraft , the front edge even more exaggerated :







 
J85909266 said:
I can make the observation that snobbish knife enthusiasts often unfairly disparage tanto grinds for incorrect and unfair reasons without it being a "personal" matter.
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Well, since that unfairly inserted into that statement is a matter of opinion, you are open to disagreement to which I took my option to disagree.

J85909266 said:
The myth that tantos are hard to sharpen is perpetuated by people that think knife sharpening is just swiping on a Sharpmaker for 20 minutes and then wondering why the edge is so dull...
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There is no myth. As I replied. it just is more work.

J85909266 said:
I hope that you are able to holster your little internet six guns and realize that a hobby-based disagreement is no grounds for a mental showdown.
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You said that I was manufacturing the personal side of your butthurt. This statement absolutely shows how personal it is with you. I am wondering why you are getting insulting here if we're just discussing the pros and cons of sharpening tantos.
 
TRIAL BY COMBAT!!!!
We will let the gods decide which of you is right! :D

Seriously tho, folks - YES, a tanto IS more work to sharpen. That is a not prejudice opinion, it is a matter of physics (i didn't make those laws, I don't even enforce 'em, they generally enforce themselves).

and - YES, tantos get some unfair stigma. It is a useful blade style that gets lumped in to the "mall ninja" category and over looked for all its positive attributes.

You're both right (wonder what the gods would do, if we went with plan 1)
 
J85909266 said:
I fail to find how just adjusting for the front edge is any harder than sharpening something with a belly. The tip is always harder to get apexed. So is the heel near the sharpening choil.

Tantos did nothing wrong. I'm sick of the oppression.
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its just more edges to sharpen is all. 4 vs. 2. I dont care for sharpening tantos myself, but I do like them, and more nowadays than in the past.
 
I like the Cold Steel tantos. They may not be the best choice for everything, but they really excel at what they are good at, and they can still perform the other tasks passably. I had no problem gutting a deer this past fall with my Master Tanto.

Generally I prefer some sort of clip point for most tasks in the outdoors, even though I take my tantos to the woods occasionally. But for a dedicated self-protection knife I prefer the tanto.
 
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