Tanto blades look just plain dangerous, all angles and points and edges. They remind me a little bit of shark’s teeth. It’s a cultural thing, a remnant of old Japan in the blade style. An American fighting blade is nearly always a modern version of the Bowie style, part short sword and part skinning tool, but Tanto blades aren’t designed for butchering game. Tanto blades penetrate armour.
Combine that with the Ka-Bar insistence on rugged quality and you have a knife that says yes to most modern challenges. Need to smash a car window? The butt doubles as a hammer. Need to open up a steel drum? This tanto will go right through it. The American style would do that as well, but with more chance of damage to the point.
The overall length of 12 7/8″ of full tang high carbon steel, 8″ of that a thick combo edged blade coated with non-reflective black epoxy, is plenty of knife for both tactical and survival purposes. Knife enthusiasts will appreciate the old style carbon steel for its superior edge holding qualities.
No brass in this knife–even the cross guard is high carbon steel. Construction is so simple, the full length of it forged from one blank, that there’s very little to go wrong. The black Kraton handle offers a secure grip under all conditions, in theory more durable than the classic stacked leather disc style.
Criticism comes down to the combo edge versus plain edge blade choice. If you’ve spent years thinking of nicks in a blade as being a bad thing you’ll be happier with the plain version.
Find this Ka-Bar Black Tanto Knife:
