Why not a tanto?

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rowen

Full Member
Jul 8, 2004
344
42
51
Derbyshire
Pretty much as the title says, how pratical would a scandi grind tanto style blade be for bushcraft? What would be the pros / cons ?
 

weaver

Settler
Jul 9, 2006
792
7
67
North Carolina, USA
A Tanto blade has one purpose, to stab. The shape is very inconvenient for anything else.

I had one for a while and could do nothing with it. I finally reground the blade to a more rounded point and it was much more useful then. You need the continuous curve in the blade to make long smooth cuts. And the offset point is hard to control, you need a more centered point.

It might be useful for chip carving where you push the point into the wood like a chisel but there are far better tools for that.
 

rowen

Full Member
Jul 8, 2004
344
42
51
Derbyshire
The only negative reason i could think of was skinning of animals where you would need a curved edge but for wood working and ease of sharpening thought the shape may be quite usefull. Thanks for your reply
 

Pignut

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jun 9, 2005
4,096
12
44
Lincolnshire
Have used a tanto for skinning etc, not that great! hard to control and not good for carving
 

Squidders

Full Member
Aug 3, 2004
3,853
15
48
Harrow, Middlesex
Tantos aren't all that bad... many people have problems because they aren't used to working with a particular knife shape or design.

Someone may have skill while using a spear point scandi woodlore type knife but have never come across a tanto - american or otherwise.

It's been said before that the best knife is the one you have with you... also that one persons perfection is another persons unusable stinking steaming dog poo :D
 

Pignut

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jun 9, 2005
4,096
12
44
Lincolnshire
Tantos aren't all that bad... many people have problems because they aren't used to working with a particular knife shape or design.

Someone may have skill while using a spear point scandi woodlore type knife but have never come across a tanto - american or otherwise.

It's been said before that the best knife is the one you have with you... also that one persons perfection is another persons unusable stinking steaming dog poo :D

Well put!:beerchug: :nana:
 

8thsinner

Nomad
Dec 12, 2005
395
1
44
London
If your interest is more in the traditional japanese blade styles then an aikuchi would be a much better choice. As for scanid/sabre flat ground blades I doubt you would be able to buy one not custom, most all japanese blades are convex.
But heres a couple of good examples of blades I mean.

http://www.jarodkearney.com/id10.html
I am not paticularily fond of the kosharie of these but the blades look good enough.

http://www.knifeco.ppg.br/petean.jpg
The horn lip might get on some peoples nerves here but a decent looking blade.

there are others but generally speaking the aikuchi is the smaller of the samurai blades. In the crossover to woodland use the smaller the better probably. But speaking of blades I am just of to watch azumi 2
 
C

chipstick

Guest
I have a tanto that is OK - the shape of the blade makes it just perfect for cutting up food in small mess tins. Useless for everything else though.
 

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