Tanto Edge… Practical, or Just Tacti-cool?

Cold Steel GI Tanto Knife

Yes, I am a sucker for tanto blades and I’m sure many others are as well.  That sexy triangular shaped blade can make a knife look quite awesome and deadly. However, there are some benefits to having a tanto shaped blade over say, a spear-point or drop-point edged knife. Unfortunately, due to that triangular shape, tanto blades have some disadvantages as well. While there are more than six advantages and disadvantages, I am going to hit the big three points for each.

Tanto Blade Advantages

1. Tip Strength – This one should be pretty obvious, but due to the triangular shape leading to the tip, the tip has much more reinforcement behind it than a drop-point or spear-point. Unless you plan on regularly stabbing through car doors or using your knife as a shovel, this really shouldn’t play a huge factor.

2. Japanese Design – Alright, I have to give a shout out to the Japanese when it comes to knives. Japan manufactures some of the coolest looking knives that I have ever seen. Don’t believe me? Check out this knife and be amazed.

3. In The Field Serviceability – Since Tanto blades tend to have two flat edges without much curve, it is easier to sharpen a ‘workable’ edge if you are in the field and don’t have sharpening equipment with you. However, this definitely doesn’t mean that sharpening a tanto edged knife is easy as you will see in the disadvantages below.

Tanto Blade Disadvantages

1. Sharpening is a pain – Since you have two separate bevels, instead of just sharpening one continuous edge, it feels like you are sharpening two knives since you have to switch between which bevel you are sharpening from time to time.

2. Slicing Tasks Can Be More Difficult – Due to the fact that a tanto has two flat edges and almost no “belly” if you are slicing through a rough material then you probably aren’t going to have as easy of a time as you would with a drop-point or spear-point.

3. Tanto Blades are Impractical – This goes back to point number one on the tanto blade advantages. If you aren’t planning on stabbing anything or anyone, a different style of blade with better slicing capabilities is much more practical for every day uses. While stabbing into your daily orange at lunch may be fun, slicing it with a drop point knife at the same sharpness would be much easier.

Bottomline

Tanto blades are awesome, but they aren’t very practical for every day uses. However, if you just like showing your knife off to friends while you do little daily tasks like opening letters, cutting meat, or slicing fruit, then a tanto blade will easily manage to complete these tasks.

Below Are Some 3 Tanto Style Knives That I Personally Dig

^Kabar Black Tanto Knife^

^Kershaw Brawler Speedsafe Folding Knife^

^Cold Steel Chaos (So Awesome)^