School Me on Knife Points

[Stephanie B]

First off, why would you want any of these? Is there something you are looking for a fixed blade for?

Actually, I'm not buying any of them. I've got a fixed-blade Buck knife and a Bowie, both from the 1980s. And I was gifted with a K-bar. All of them are in drawers, someplace.

My question was more of curiosity. The tanto point always seemed kind of off to me.

[Stephanie B]

Regarding Cold Steel, they provide a very good product at a good price.

I have one of their Russian entrenching tools in my car for emergency purposes.

[BobM]

I have one of their Russian entrenching tools in my car for emergency purposes.

I keep a GI tri-fold in my car but I’ve given the Cold Steel shovels as gifts for the same reason

[Duelist]

All three of these are fighting/defense blade designs, being miniaturized into 3.5” blades. 3.5” Bowies (this clip point) seem ... pointless. And the chisel point tanto is of limited utility. Hollow ground blades annoy me, especially sabre grinds as on the Bowie.

The only one of those I would buy would be the dagger (spear point with two full edges), because the handle and guard are dumb for the other two blade designs, especially with blades this short. Maybe “awkwardly designed” is a more eloquent way to put that. A small dagger has some utility, but otherwise, a single edge leaf blade or drop point with a small single guard are much more useful in a small, 3-4” blade sheath knife. Historical traditional knife designs from cultures around the world seem to support that concept.

This forged custom is what I carried every time I deployed or went overseas somewhere not in Europe:

[Wondering Beard]

My question was more of curiosity. The tanto point always seemed kind of off to me.

And you'd be right. It's the American Tanto point and doesn't correspond to what the Japanese created:




It is my understanding that the American Tanto point is derivative of the point of the Katana (Yokote is, I think, the proper word)



It is designed that way to reinforce the point of the sword when trying to penetrate through hard stuff so that it doesn't break. Or at least, that's what was explained to me.


I'm not sure who, on these shores, started making blades with that American derivation of the point. The earliest one I know is Emerson with his CQC6:



West coast SEALs supposedly liked the design a lot and bought a bunch, so the design did something right for them, but I don't know what that was.


The above is what I've gotten to understand, over the years, about the development of the American tanto. If someone with more knowledge knows better, don't hesitate to correct me.



P.S: all the photos are off the internet.

[Joe in PNG]

Maybe it's because I'm a child of the 80's who read too much Soldier of Fortune, but I was really into tanto for a while, even buying a CS Recon Tanto from a magazine ad.
Years later, I bought my first CRKT M16 tanto folder as my regular carry knife, and... yeah. Use kind of killed it for me. Not exactly useful for most things, really. I've since switched to the CRKT Ken Onion with it's more traditional blade shape, and like it a ton better.

[That Guy]

Due to all these negative opinions on Americanized tanto points, the former bachelor me would like to point out that those work really well as pizza cutters. (I used to have this pretty big, quite cheap CRKT fixed blade... fighting knife, I suppose? that I used specifically for that purpose. Because I sure wasn't using it for anything else.)

[314159]

Warning: PF Thread drift.

School me on why so few "fighting" knives lack any kind of hand guard, even if only on the bottom. Duelist's obviously being not included.

The act of thrusting against a potentially impenetrable obstacle with your bare fingers ready to slide forward gives me the willies. Yet many many tactical-ish knives have a vestigial hand guard or none at all, particularly folders. Since I haven't carried a survival knife since I left the Navy when we still had 15 carriers... Is there something in the way "real" knife fighting technique rarely requires a thrust I'm missing?

[blues]

I'll be in my bunker if anyone needs me...

[Clusterfrack]

I'll admit to liking modified Tanto blades better than drop points. I also like Wharncliffes. They are both good shapes for cutting things and poking things. The modified Tanto is just a little more durable at the point.