When did Tantos become popular ??

Several years ago 2005'ish I praised my Cold Steel voyager which I carried for over 3 years one of them in Iraq OIF 1 I used the knife for everything from cutting c4 to opening Soviet Spam cans and US MREs.

I was berated for praising the TANTO blade which was suppose useless hard to sharpen easier to break, and quicker to dull...

I've never stopped preferring a tanto blade but I looked through the blade forum today and see dozens of post praising tanto blades, and no one bashing them

What happened?

Thanks

The Punisher maybe lol. I think a lot of people are seeing the benefits for a Tanto. Ive been carrying a tanto Ka-Bar since 2008 when i first saw them from Ka-bar. Plus i hate to say it but i think TV/Movies are also making a push on them

Huh? Tanto's have been popular since the 90's. Got my Emerson/Benchmade Super CQC-7 back in like '95 or so, and I know Tanto's were showing up in "modern" non Japanese/repro knives before that...

I agree they have a lot of just "different", and "Tacti-Cool" to them, which is just flash and marketing. However, the design has started to stand the test of time when people using knives in hard field-use and in improvised real-world ways started realizing that for probing, prying, stabbing, and poking, the tip strength, and the thicker edge is a lot tougher and less prone to breakage or chipping that can't be fixed by mere sharpening.

If you want to whittle or dress game, a Tanto is almost useless.

If you're just as likely to be stabbing open a wooden crate as you are slashing a seatbelt, a Tanto makes good sense.

I'm sure they have their place. The engineering of the blade makes for an extremely stout tip. My problem is that the design takes away a lot of the blade. The upward angle of the tip makes sharpening the "corner" of the edge a pain, basically you end up with 2 differant blades and angles. The "little" edge is too small and too odd of an angle to use. The "bigger" edge is smaller because of the angle. I see their place, just I think many people buy them for the image they have rather than the usefulness of the blade. Your example of opening the sov spam cans show a prime example of the strength of the tip.

Tantos hit the scene in the 80s during when the ninja nonsense started. There was a lot of fascination with Samurai and Ninja crap at the time.

Exactly.

That's why my pigsticker is still that Emerson CQC-7, where I'm either using it for non knife improv, or I'm slashing/chopping at something (someone?) fast enough blade profile doesn't even matter... but I've got drop points on my Leatherman for finer work, and even a Gerber "EAB" folding thingy that holds a Stanley disposable utility blade.

I carried a tanto on my LBE all through the late 80's and early 90's. Best blade I ever had.

I don't know but I've had my Benchmade tanto Stryker since 99' or 2000. I don't recall any negativity towards them.
This BM Rift 950 reverse tanto solves the issue of sharpening. Although so far I haven't needed to sharpen it.

1987

and let's not forget the Rutger Hauer flick, "Wanted: Dead or Alive" when he whips out his CS tanto from underneath his leather trenchcoat (pre-Columbine approved).

Many americanized tanto shapes are less useful than the actual original shapes they were taken from.

My dad gave me a tanto-style fixed blade in 1988.

I think the tanto became popular in the US after Lynn Thompson put it through a carhood and showed everyone the video. One could argue that from a commercial stand point, Cold Steel was the tanto pioneer.

Unless you stab a lot of guys wearing samurai armor it's a pointless design. Er-perhaps "too pointy"?

I've liked tantos since the 80's. I've only owned a few. I have noticed more knives are tantos now days.

Edit: i agree, they are harder to sharpen and they are pointier. They don't make a good work knife, imho. I like my SOG trident for SD. I prefer all of my other knives to be either drop point or clip point, especially hunters.

Is it true a tanto can go through body armour? That was all the hype back in the '90s, IIRC. I've only ever bought one tanto, a small boot knife, really never found a use for it. Sure, if it is strictly for a weapon, or a prying tool, I guess? I want every knife I carry to be capable of cutting baling twine on hay bales, cutting a steak for dinner, skinning a deer and clipping coupons from the paper. My tanto really couldn't do any, it seemed like it needed majer sharpening just to cut paper, much like the boot-daggers I've had, not realy designed for anything but stabbing.

I like tanto blades.

I got a Mini Griptilion with a tanto blade on sale. I started carrying it while my Mini Barrage was back at Benchmade getting a tune up.

I like the tanto blade so much I ordered the Warn Mini Barrage with the tanto blade from BladePlay.

As someone else said, it's like having two blades. But that's what I like about it. I like the smaller tip blade for opening things and I really like the larger flat blade for cutting. I also like serrations too.

1986ish

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