BM's tanto...
I think the benchmade version of the tanto grind looks pretty cool(like the 940), but I wonder what the original design intent was. I've heard the blade refered to as a reverse tanto, modified tanto and just plain tanto, which I think it's probably not.
Anyone know or have any thoughts on that? I think this is a blade desiged for stabbing.
Anyone know or have any thoughts on that? I think this is a blade desiged for stabbing.
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quote:Originally posted by Dave:
I think this is a blade desiged for stabbing.
Basically extra strength for piercing and stabbing. Boils down to greater strength in the tip for armor piercing results.. I havnt had my user 760 chip on me yet, and same with the 940's0 -
I don't know who coined "reverse tanto" but it has more in commom w/ a sheepsfoot-- tip strength. 0 -
I have always secretly liked this one in M4.
One of the if not the 1st BM in M4.
This one may have been ahead of its time in both material and design.
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Tanto is a marketing gimmick in the knife world to capitalize on the ninja/samurai/bushido mystique, by the way samurai swords were disgned for slashing and cutting, not so much stabbing.
Tanto somehow worked it's way into the "tactical" aspect of marketing gimmicks, IMHO it has no practical use, is a pain to sharpen and when talking about stabbing and "tactical", flesh and internal organs will be penetrated easy enough with any kind of sharpened point.
One last note, if we keep knife designes domestic and practical, one of the most famous "Tactical" knives in history, the Marine Ka-bar never used a tanto point and fared pretty well through it's bloody history.0 -
quote:Originally posted by archer:
Tanto is a marketing gimmick in the knife world to capitalize on the ninja/samurai/bushido mystique, by the way samurai swords were disgned for slashing and cutting, not so much stabbing.
Tanto somehow worked it's way into the "tactical" aspect of marketing gimmicks, IMHO it has no practical use, is a pain to sharpen and when talking about stabbing and "tactical", flesh and internal organs will be penetrated easy enough with any kind of sharpened point.
One last note, if we keep knife designes domestic and practical, one of the most famous "Tactical" knives in history, the Marine Ka-bar never used a tanto point and fared pretty well through it's bloody history.
Well said
The only semi-tanto esq blade I have is the 760..
Great knife, a pain to sharpen. The tip is super strong though0 -
The tanto we know traces its root back to Bob Lum, and then to the marketing of Lynn Thompson in the 1980's. The problem with the hype about the Americanized Tanto is not that it can't do what it says it can do, but that other knives could have done the same.
The Americanized Tanto is drastically different than what is seen on historical Japanese cutlery. There is no steep angle or sharp corner to the cutting edge/tip. The word "tanto" simply means "knife." to see a more historic type blade profile on a modern knife, check out James Williams' stuff done for CRKT. I do like most of the ones Benchmade has done as the angle of the forward edge is not too steep. IMHO the CRKT stuff stabs like a needle.
It is difficult to generalize the Japanese sword as there are many flavors over its long history. There are long curved blades from eras of fighting from horseback (Tachi). There were straight swords, often double edged (Ken). The most common style we see today, the Katana. The Ninja Ken (Ninjato) would have been a shorter and straighter version of the Katana, however the history of this style is a bit murky.
Most of us afe familiar with the cutting demos with mats. This might give the allusion that the Japanese sword is mainly a cutting weapon and not suitable for a thrust. This is not the case. As the Katana is mainly used with two hands (but not always) it can generate a powerful cut. This cut takes skill to learn as it is not a hack, but more of a pulling and cutting motion. These demos are to show and test this skill. However I can assure you that sword kata from the era contains a fair amount of thrusting (inline attacks), often to exploit weaknesses in armor. Over the years I have had a fair amount of thrusts to the throat with a Boken.
Back to the question at hand. The tanto blade profile is visually appealing, the angles of the blade are attractive. It will cut, it will stab. The point is strong, but so are others. Not my first choice to skill game, and it does add a challenge to sharpen, however if you mess up sharpening a tanto, don't worry, you will round out the angle between the forward and primary edges and in time you will end up with something that looks like a true Japanese edge.
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Several in my collection has this non standard tip. I really like some of the grinds myself. 
One of my favorite beater work knives has it as well. The old cold steel 4" voyager is a steller worker for dirty construction type jobs.
Also a good mechanics knife when used for scraping flat surfaces.
A few folders
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quote:Originally posted by MCM:
LOLOL0 -
[IMG:left] [/IMG]
Full tanto?0 -
Personally, I would call that a chisel point and not a tanto... 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Lightning:
Personally, I would call that a chisel point and not a tanto...
+1 my first thought.0 -
I lied... 0 -
[QUOTE]Originally posted by MCM:
I lied...
...at least you're truthful about it.0
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