whats your favorite tang design?

[Siberianfury]

so, what is your favorite style of tang, personaly for general work i like a good stick tang, its light, traditional and can stand up to pretty much anything bushcraft has to throw at it.
so whats your favorite?

i dont know how to add a poll, so if somone could tell me how i would be mot greatful,

ATB
josh

 

[Hoodoo]

I don't have an overall favorite. Which one I prefer depends on the context. For instance, I like a stick tang for neck carry, because it's generally lighter.

 

[brancho]

Josh
I am with you on the stick tang but we will be in a minority I can assure you.

 

[Dave Budd]

I prefer stick tangs too

plenty strong enough, can be simpler to make, offer a huge choice of designs, light in the hand, always warm in the hand (no cold pins/tang), light on the belt (my edc 4" blade weighs less than the small sak that I carry in 'civilisation')

In fact I don't have any fulltang knives that i actually use, thinking about it. I only make them becasue people want them and they offer different design options for me (such as my own micarta, mosaic pins, fileworked tangs, etc)

To anybody who comes along and tries the 'fulltangs are stronger' BS I have three words for them:

Swords
Billhooks
Kukri

 

[robin wood]

I am never likely to be lost in the wilderness in need of a tool which will fulfill the role of axe, knife and crowbar all in one. All the knives that are made with the blade shapes I like for carving are stick tangs. I also have a sort of irrational affection for traditional forged blades or cheap Scandinavian factory blades rather than stock removal, the former tend to be stick tang and the latter tend to be full tang.

 

[Siberianfury]

To anybody who comes along and tries the 'fulltangs are stronger' BS I have three words for them:

Swords
Billhooks
Kukri

well said,
i think a full tang in a bushknife i a bit overkill, i do have a full tang knife that i use but thats because of the knife itself not the tang.
stick tangs have been used for centuarys, if there was anything wrong with them they wouldnt be here today. 9/10 times when a stick tang knife breaks it will be down to the blade snapping rather than the handle breaking.
i think full tangs are a security thing more than anything else, people like a knife they can rely on no matter what and when you look at a full tang its easy to see its going to be very strong. i can understand this a i perfer to use a stick tang knife with a rivet at the pommel just to give me that extra asurance that i have a full length tang.
josh

 

[Big Geordie]

I think that you guys are broadly correct. Most people here will have gone for a full tang in the belief that you can use and abuse it rather more than a stick tang. Which is true.
Much of that will have come from their introduction as newbies and receiving that advice from older members.

Interestingly , Dave, you may find that full tang Kukris are as popular as stick. It depends on their use. In Nepal it is common for a farmer to use full tang construction, whereas a cook or occasional camper would not. It is tradition ( & religious ) that almost every home has a kukri. Again these are stick but not used much. It is often the case that the issue kukris are stick and used in training but not taken into combat as choices are made about the theatre and conditions before they pack their kit.

I like full and stick tangs, but always opt for full if I am off on my own and it is my only proper sharp.

ATB
G

 

[Siberianfury]

for who ever added the poll, thankyou very much

 

[brancho]

. Most people here will have gone for a full tang in the belief that you can use and abuse it rather more than a stick tang. Which is true.

This is more a matter of following Ray Mears into the fulltang buy my knife route (or as many do copy it).

As apposed to Mors Kochanksi and Nessmuk who show that a sticktang is up to the job in every sense of the word.

 

[Siberianfury]

This is more a matter of following Ray Mears into the fulltang buy my knife route (or as many do copy it).

As apposed to Mors Kochanksi and Nessmuk who show that a sticktang is up to the job in every sense of the word.

its a comon mistake usualy made by people new to bushcraft, i certinatly was the same, i thought the best knife out there was the woodlore, and in reading the knife choosing section in ray mears "bushcraft" there was a paragraph which strongly suggested that the woodlore knife was the only suitable knife for bushcraft, scince ive got more heavily into the subject i have scince used a woodlore and discovered that its not quite right for me and that i prefer a traditional scandi type knife insted.
josh

 

[Shinken]

Stick tang, stick tang, stick tang, stick tang, stick tang, stick tang, stick tang, stick tang, stick tang, stick tang, stick tang, stick tang, stick tang, stick tang, stick tang, stick tang, No advantages to a full tang over a well made stick tang, only disadvantages. Why choose a full tang

 

[Shinken]

And i am adamant that a well made stick tang is more durable and less prone to fail than a full tang

This is from experience of taking them apart. Full tangs come apart much much much much much easier than a well made stick tang.

 

[Tony]

whatever one feels good in my hand, I've no real preference, I use a frost wooden handled knife most of the time (with a lovely sheath thanks Leon ) and it's stick tang, but i've also got other full tang knives that i use.

A skeletonised full tang can be light as well as a stick tang.

So, I don't care, whatever fits the job and is comfortable (although i do use my stick tang to hang around my neck ;D

 

[baggins]

Just to be bloody awkward, i prefer a semi-full tang, this is a full length tang but only 2/3rds depth, so the handle material wraps around the bottom of the handle. I like the feel of this way and reckon it's just as strong.
Sorry to be different

Baggins

 

[John Fenna]

For most jobs a stick tang...but it depends on the knife, what I want to do with it and how pretty it is...you get some knives with beaut file work on the handle part of the tang...

 

[Klenchblaize]

Josh
I am with you on the stick tang but we will be in a minority I can assure you.

Difficult to stack leather washers on anything else!

I suspect the full-tang preference alluded to is a male thing and in my case closely linked to an obsession for over-engineering everything including perfectly serviceable kit that I should have let be!

Now there's an idea for a thread: "Share Your Kit Customizing Tips"

Cheers

 

[oetzi]

I think that you guys are broadly correct. Most people here will have gone for a full tang in the belief that you can use and abuse it rather more than a stick tang. Which is true.
G

Which leads to the question, whether you want a knife or a crowbar.
As klenchblaize said.
Many people think that they need the latter for an eventually materialising emergency situation (typical male whishful thinking, thats why you see so many SUVs in the city) when all they need in 99% of the time is a tool with a decent edge.
If done right any of these designs will work.

 

[Dave Budd]

Just to be bloody awkward, i prefer a semi-full tang, this is a full length tang but only 2/3rds depth, so the handle material wraps around the bottom of the handle. I like the feel of this way and reckon it's just as strong.
Sorry to be different

Baggins

that's pretty much how all of my 'fulltang' knives are made these days It's kinder on the fingers than a bare metal one (especially if the wood isn't stabilized and moves with moisture). It also allows for a contrasting colour to be applied on the underside Plus it's a lot easier for me to forge a fulltang blade that way

will stick to my stick tangs by preference though

 

[HillBill]

I like full tang. Broke a couple of stick tangs through battoning, well by broke i mean cracked the handle where the blade enters it..

A lot of the use i have for knives is heavier stuff, I do not do much carving so my main type of knife would be "camp" style knife. A bit bigger than the normal bushie say a 5 or 6" blade is a good compromise for my needs.

I'll be putting some pics up soon of a fallkniven A1 with a kind of stick tang and leather stacked handle with brass pommel and bolster. It used to have a factory fitted handle and it will be very difficult to fix scales like a full tang because of the way the steel is.

I'm going to thin the handle down straight slide a bolster over it, stack the leather then fix more brass with the 2 holes that will be left at the rear of the handle.

 

[Siberianfury]

what kind of stick tangs were they? did they have a ferral?