tanto - The Phillosoph Blog

About 20 to 25 minutes into the movie “The Omega Man”, the protagonist (Dr. Neville aka Charlton Heston) is seen searching for the mutant nest.

He apparently combines this activity with his cardiovascular exercise, so we see him with both a tracksuit and a submachine gun.

This allows him to move fast and light, with significant firepower to draw on. I have seen much less practical loadouts for a reconnaissance mission!

Neville wears a belt carrying his iconic flashlight, additional magazines, and a tape-recorder (for exposition purposes). Also on his person he carries a map.

What else he carries on this belt is hard to make out in this sequence.

There may be a holstered handgun.

No sign of a water bottle, although this would be a logical thing to have for “reconnaissance jogging”, as would some binoculars/field glasses.

Watching the movie a few months ago, I fancied I caught a glimpse of a knife on the belt, possibly a Ka-Bar. Rewatching the scenes, I am not so sure. A knife would, however, be a logical thing to take with you on such a mission, and operating as Neville does, you would not want anything too heavy or two bulky.

Bulk is always something to consider when selecting equipment. If I was planning to travel light, would I trade my kukri for a Ka-Bar or my Buck 119?

On the scales, the kukri is heavier. On the belt, the difference in length, bulk and mass seems less significant. It is the hilt you notice most, and that of all these examples is similar in size. And the ten inch kukri is a far better choice for, say, chopping through a door than a six or seven inch bowie blade.

This line of thought got me thinking about what I might carry if for some reason I was not carrying the Scrapboard Survivor. I realized that many of the “other” fixed blade knives I owned would also probably be too bulky for many such scenarios. In many cases, the limiting factor was the handle.

In contrast to most of these knives, I remembered that when I was visiting some friends on the West Coast, I had treated myself to a Hibben throwing knife.

Like most throwing knives, the grip section is of similar thickness to the blade so as not to offer too much aerodynamic resistance.

Unusually for a throwing knife, this model came with a nylon belt sheath and the grip section was wrapped in polyester thread.

It was quite possible (and not unknown) for me to take a nap and remain perfectly comfortable while still wearing that knife. Not a property that many of my other knives had!

So, I have been thinking about knives with low-bulk grips.

A notable example was the Buckmaster LT/Buck model 185. This was the Buckmaster blade fitted with a flatter grip rather than the then obligatory cylindrical hollow-handle of most survival designs.

Buckmaster LT/Buck 185 slimline survival knife

I like that the LT used a plastic coating on the grip. I once (unintentionally!) sawed through a live electrical circuit and was very grateful the saw I was using was the only brand of Gigli saw with insulating plastic tubing over the end loops. Although that incident involed a saw, since that lucky escape, the conductivity of tool handles has been a consideration for me.

Bare metal handles are not much fun in sub-zero conditions either, particularly if you do not have time to put on your gloves when you need the tool in a hurry.

On the downside side, the shape of the Buckmaster LT grip and guard looked pretty dorky.

I am wary of pronounced finger grooves. They are as likely to not suit your hand as they are. A grip that may fit your hand perfectly may not if you put on gloves.

The Buckmaster LT is no longer in production, and I am not aware of anything similar on offer.

My friend Ed once sent me sketches of a “throwing kukri” which had a simple flat grip. He suggested it might actually be a fairly useful lightweight camp tool too.

Closest I have to this is a flat version of the Alphamega knife, a gift from a friend.

Alphamega were based on a knife I saw in a Macedonian museum, itself probably influenced by the Greek kopis, so this resembles a small kukri to many people, although the blade is actually straighter. This Alphamega is, however, a one of a kind. The Alphamega will be discussed further in a later blog.

It is debatable as to how much need there is for a seven to twelve inch blade with a flat, low profile grip. Such blades may be put to heavy uses, and such a grip configuration may be hard on the hands.

Boot Knives

A field where flatter grip designs would be more welcome would be for boot knives.

Flatter grips would make them more concealable, which is a priority for this category of knife.

There are some boot knife designs with skeletonized handles. Some of these look to be a little too narrow to give a good grip, or are fitted with deep finger grooves that may, or may not suit your fingers.

It would be nice to see some of the other models of boot knife offered with the option of covered but low-bulk grips. If a flatter grip needs to be wider to fill the hand better, so be it.

Comfort and concealability should be priorities.

Quillons should be no more than is needed to keep the fingers off the edge. .

A friend had asked me for some thoughts on boot knives:

Shape-wise, the hilt of the AG Russel Sting is hard to beat. Very comfortable and practical, yet only 0.36" in thickness. (figures from a website, I haven’t measured my own example).

The blade and hilt of the Sting is made from a single piece of steel. It is obviously possible that blade and tang be constructed from a thinner piece of steel and thin scales of some other material then added. This would allow for a greater variety, and improve thermal and electrical insulation.

Decades back, I sketched some designs for a range of boot knife type knives with ring pommels. I figured this feature might assist in drawing the knives from concealed positions.

I have cooled to that feature, thinking a more solid pommel may be more practical. I do regard a cord channel in the butt of a boot knife and essential, however.

A short loop of cord can assist in drawing the knife. Once drawn, the same loop may aid knife retention. About 40 cm tied into an 18 cm loop is good for my skinny hands. If you have big paws, start with a longer piece.

I would also like to see such boot knives offered in a choice of blade lengths and styles.

If I have one criticism of the Sting, it would be that there is not a commonly available variant with a longer blade available.

I rather like the one and a half edge/M3-style of my Smith & Wesson SW820 boot knife, and this configuration makes good business sense, allowing sales in backward places that consider double-edged blades to be “evil”.

A tanto- or modified tanto-style blade would doubtless appeal to many buyers. A kanmuri-otoshi or kissaki-moroha style might prove to be both versatile and practical.

Some users would probably prefer a clip-point or sabre-point utility-orientated blade instead. A low profile, Mora-style bladed boot knife sounds like a very useful option.

Mora and puukkot blades are available as unhilted “blanks”, although these sometimes cost more than a finished knife! Adding your own thinner grip to one is a feasible home project.

Other Knives

Boot knives are not the only knives that it would be desirable to see in flatter, low-bulk options. We have already touched on the subject of thinner field and utility knives.

The picture above shows a pair of CRKT Stiff KISS knives, along with a neck knife and A.G. Russel Sting copy (for scale) by the same company.

The Stiff KISSes were a useful low-bulk fixed blade. Typically, they are no longer in production! The point of the drop-point (“MDP”) was a little too acute to my mind. A point with more belly would have been more versatile. Similarly, the tanto's point could have been less angular.

My main purpose for showing these Stiff KISSes is they illustrate two ways a bare tang design may be modified.

The tanto has a wrap of black kangaroo leather (given to me by whip-maker Joe Strain).

The MDP has scales of teakwood added (admittedly due for a clean and oil). The scales are deliberately different, the one on the private side being thinner and flatter than the public side scale.

I have seen it suggested that the narrow hilt of the bare model, with a finger notch rather than a guard, is not ideal for “serious” use, which is probably a fair comment.

The MDP or tanto easily fits in the thigh pocket of cargo trousers. This allowed me to have a useful fixed blade available while camping at a crowded “civilized” site.

Pec-Knives

The Gerber Strongarm was not the first knife I brought as a pec-knife!

Those of you who have read “Survival Weapons” will know that my first pec-knife was a Mantis MF-1. Appropriately for its more general role, this is a thicker and larger knife than a typical boot knife. It is still a good choice.

The Gerber is good for overt wear. If concealment is more of an issue, I might be inclined to carry the flatter MF-1 instead.

Even without a cord-wrap, the grip is quite hand filling. The knife was “engineered for use with paracord wrap”. Without a wrap, the balance point is a bit more forward, although this has little practical effect.

As may be seen, my MF-1 has a wrap of paracord. If bulk was more of an issue, a wrap of tape could be used instead. Alternatively, a thin pair of wooden, plywood or plastic scales could be constructed and bolted together over the tang.

Bootknives and Pec-knives could be flatter

Photo above: CRKT/A.G.Russel Sting, SW820, Gerber Strongarm, Mantis MF-1, Gil HIbben throwing knife. Note how the Gerber and Mantis have much wider and thicker blades than the boot knives.

Another potential low bulk utility knife was the United Cutlery S.O.A. Navy SEAL knife. (If you can find one! All my searches today are giving “out of stock” and “discontinued” messages).

I am kicking myself that I never got around to getting one of these! When I first saw the design I assumed a ridiculously high price tag. Quite the opposite, in fact!

The “BlackField Integral pocket knife” appears to be a copy with an increased price tag. Steel is listed as “440” rather the AUS-6 of the UC version

Something like the Mantis MF-1 or UC SEAL might be the sort of low-bulk, lightweight, versatile knife suitable for the Omega Man’s jogging kit.

In a recent blog, I had a wander into the field of fighting knives.

Today I would like to share some additional musings.

Firstly, it is valuable to recognize that names such as “fighting knife”, “combat knife”or “tactical knife” are in actuality rather euphemistic, particularly in modern applications.

A knife vs knife duel is unlikely.

There is an adage that if you find yourself in a fair fight you did not plan properly, and this should be remembered when considering knife use.

Knives are generally used either as weapons of desperation or advantage.

One of the points I made in the previous post is that probability of use did not justify carrying a large combat design.

A multi-role survival blade is a far better encumbrance, and most such designs usually serve well in a defensive or offensive role.

It is no secret that I regard the kukri as superior to most fighting knives on the market.

If a dedicated fighting weapon is needed, it should be a small to medium-sized design that compliments the large and small survival designs likely to be carried as well.

That said, what are useful features to have in the hypothetical situation where carrying a large combat blade is prudent? Something for you time-travellers and trans-dimensional trippers to consider 🙂 Some of these comments may be relevant to medium combat knives too.

Firstly, we will ignore the field of swords and stick to knives and daggers, not anything longer than a cubit.

A point ignored by many manuals on knife use is that even relatively light clothing can provide a surprising amount of protection from a knife cut. The garment may be shredded. but very little damage may reach beneath the skin.

Even if you are using a knife defensively with the intention of “cutting and running” it is important to use the point first against any clothed area.

Pesh Kabz

The second consideration for a fighting knife is with respect to whether the opposition will be utilizing armour.

One of the most useful designs for use against armour is that of the pesh kabz.

Mechanically a knife is a wedge. The pesh kabz blade tapers in both width and thickness, and has a T-shaped cross section. In effect the blade is an isosceles triangle in all three planes.

The blade is narrow enough to find its way through openings in the armour, yet retains a useful cutting edge if needed.

Some time back there was a vogue for non-metallic knives, including those in a tanto configuration.

A pesh kabz configuration would have been far superior.

As stated in “A Glossary Of the Construction, Decoration and Use Of Arms and Armor In All Countries and In All Times” by George Cameron Stone, “The knife is obviously intended for forcing an opening in mail; and as a piece of engineering design could hardly be improved upon for the purpose.” (p.494)

Pesh kabz are either straight, or have a recurve that brings the point closer to the axis of the hand. The latter are often very attractive in form.

I have an example of each, and I would not complain if issued one of these instead of a Fairbairn-Sykes. A modern pesh kabz has a useful potential as a knife among modern medium fighting knives.

Bagwell and Bowies

Shortly after writing the recent blog, I came across some references to Bill Bagwell, who claimed to have identified the features that were most desirable on a combat bowie.

This list of features included a distal taper, convex profile and edge and a sharpened false edge. The false edge is often quite long, creating an acute point. The blade is over nine-inches long, and over an inch or more wide.

Pugio

If you are going to have a long, sharpened false edge, an obvious question is why not have a double-edged cut and thrust blade?

Historically, one of the cut and thrust weapons par excellence was the Roman gladius. The gladius was a sword, but if you shorten the blade you have what is effectively the Roman pugio.

I have seen it claimed that a Roman soldier who lost his gladius could still fight effectively with his pugio. The width and length of pugiones give some credibility to this claim.

Supposedly the Gerber MkII was inspired by the Mainz-pattern gladius.

Pugiones seem to have retained the more attractive, wasp-waisted leaf-shape of blade long after the gladius had become straighter-edged and more utilitarian looking.

This may have been that swords were issued while daggers were commonly a private purchase.

In other words, a pugio-type design offers a broad blade, acute point and the cutting advantage of curved edges.

A central rib was a common feature, increasing the capability against bone or body armour.

A flat blade with a rib is effectively a pair of pesh kabz back-to-back.

Fullers might also be included in a modern design, and some use of them was made in ancient pugiones.

Jambiya

Another good design for a large or medium combat knife is the jambiya.

Indian/Middle Eastern designs such as the jambiya and pesh kabz tend to be neglected in the west, but have much to offer.

The interest in kerambits/ karambits shows knife-users are open to the potential of curved blade designs.

Fairbairn himself experimented after the war with a jambiya-like knife he called the “cobra”.

Like the pugio, the design of a large tactical jambiya could include fullers and a central rib.

A slightly curved blade can create an initially wider wound than a straight blade of similar dimensions. This is illustrated in the figures taken from Richard Burton’s “Book of the Sword”.

The very curved blade cuts a wide channel, but needs considerable force to penetrate sufficiently.

Incidentally, the primary cutting edge of a jambiya is the concave edge. You will commonly see it held or photographed upside down.

Examples with a false edge, and the geometry of some grips make it clear that the main edge is the concave.

The jambiya is held like a claw or hook. This has the tendency to drive the point into a target rather than causing it to glance off. The blade can also reach over and hook limbs. The curved edges give a cutting advantage.

The Russian/Caucasian/Georgian khanjali/kindjals/qama have straight or curved blades that resemble gladius, pugiones and jambiya, but some are long enough to be considered short swords.

Some decades ago, a knife called the “Hobbit” gained some attention.

The Hobbit was effectively an inverted jambiya.

The main edge should have been concave and the serrations would have been more useful on the convex side.

A modern, medium tactical jambiya would also be a welcome addition to the market.

Many years ago I attempted to sketch what one might look like

Length

Around 1922-24, the British Army conducted an extensive series of experiments.

The 17" sword bayonets then in use had proved to be unwieldy and too heavy for trench warfare. Their reach against cavalry was no longer needed and they were poor multi-purpose implements.

On October 2nd, 1924, a report by the Small Arms School stated:

“ (a) It has been conclusively proved during the war, and since, with our present system of training in the bayonet, that ‘reach’ is not a main factor but that ‘handiness’ is. A man with a short handy weapon will beat an equally skilled man with a longer cumbrous weapon practically every time. As regards length of blade for killing purposes, the Physical Training Staff went into this in considerable detail during the war, and came to the conclusion that a 6-in. blade was sufficiently long to deal with the most thickly clad of our enemies—potential or otherwise. The most thickly clad was taken as being a Russian in winter clothing.

…(c) The bayonet suggested for future adoption on the Mark VI rifle is one of about 8 inches in length, cruciform in section, and without the useless handle and cross-piece”

reproduced in The Lee-Enfield Rifle (p.135). Maj. E.G.B. Reynolds.

Also found in “The Bayonet Book” by Johm Watts and Peter White, quoted p.8 (“Short and Sharp”) of The Times Literary Supplement Oct 17 1975.

The Roman Vegetius famously declared “…a stab, though it penetrates but two inches, is generally fatal”.

He was talking of a stab from a broad gladius blade, rather than a narrow bayonet or knife, however.

Many authors clarify “two inches, in the right place”, the latter condition not always possible to achieve in combat!

Some of the criteria for a primary fighting knife are different to those for a bayonet.

A blade of between nine and eleven inches seems to be the optimum, and was the size of most pugiones.

The blade should be at least one and a half inches at its widest.

Specialist fighting designs, such as main gauche, may need to be longer.

Grips

If we look at pugiones, kindjals and jambiya we find something of a consensus on grip form.

Most examples feature a relatively slim grip with a broad, flattened butt.

A narrow grip between two wider areas often gives a good grip for a single hand.

If you hold the knife or sword with the blade flat and level and the knuckles upwards you will find the pressure of the palm on the butt nicely counterbalances the weight of the blade.

The pugio usually had an expanded section in the middle of the hilt which improved grip, functionally similar to the ridge on a kukri handle.

Any grip should include provision for a wrist loop. It is surprising how many knives costing hundreds of dollars lack this useful feature!

On the subject of grip, how a knife is gripped is a topic that some authors treat in some depth. Fencer grip, hammer grip, sabre grip, ice-pick grip, foil grip, ninja grip and so on.

Only recently, I noticed that the actual orientation of the hand was seldom mentioned.

Elsewhere I have discussed the “paintbrush grip” for double-edged blades. This tends to place the blade with the flat of the blade in a horizontal direction.

When I hold a single-edged knife I place the blade in a similar orientation, although my finger positions will be slightly different.

The reason for holding the knife so is not so the blade will slip between the ribs. Whenever possible, you should avoid thrusting at the ribcage.

If you do have to strike the ribs there are advantages to a horizontal blade angle, however.

I have seen it claimed that a horizontal blade that strikes a rib is more likely to glance past or split the rib than be stopped by it.

The main reason I hold a blade horizontal is that it makes more sense to me to have the edge as well as the point directed towards the threat.

If my hand is pronated (palm down) the blade slopes in. If palm up, it slopes outward. In either case, the main edge is towards the enemy rather than down towards the floor.

Some older sources describe holding the blade edge up, but this limits manoeuvrability.

Guards

The guard of the fighting knife is something that is not usually given sufficient thought.

If the knife has a guard, it is typically a simple crossbar or equivalent.

A simple crossbar works well on a sword. It will usually be wide enough to protect the hand. Enemy blades seldom touch the guard since a sword is long enough to parry attacks a foot or more away from the hand.

Some writers claim the main function of a sword guard was originally to stop the user from hitting his knuckles on an enemy shield.

The crossbar on a knife is seldom wide enough to effectively protect the hand. At best, it acts as an arrest to reduce the chance of penetration beyond the blade and to compress tissue for deeper penetration.

Even when the crossbar is long enough, it only provides protection in one plane.

Suppose, for example, you parry or block an attack with your blade. Since the blade is shorter, the contact point is going to be much closer to your hand than if you were using a sword.

Contact point is most likely to be on the flat of the blade, so the strike is very likely to glance down and hit your thumb or back of your hand. Potentially very nasty

In a Modesty Blaise novel, a character observes that Willie Gavin makes a steel against steel block, and reflects on Gavin’s skill, knowing that this is the most difficult of defensive movies with the knife.

Substitute “bloody dangerous” for “difficult”!

Certain styles of knife-fighting base themselves on sword fighting, so techniques involving parrying may be encountered.

One of the lessons here is to avoid using your knife (or your other hand) to parry, if possible.

Avoid letting your enemy make any contact with your weapon or hand.

If you do make contact, execute a “beat” and strike to the hand and arm beyond.

Keep both hands moving, and keep moving yourself.

Use your ginga and the other techniques in my books to avoid and attack rather than parry and block.

As an aside, the above implies there must be some length of blade over which parrying becomes practical.

Drexel-Biddle taught parrying, but had his students were training with hand-held sword-bayonets.

I would be fairly confident parrying with a ten-inch kukri. Shape and design probably contributes too. The forward curve of a kukri or jambiya increases control and compensates for length.

All that said, if I am designing a primary fighting knife, I would include a guard. Down-curved quillons that can catch a blade would be nice, although how realistic this is is debatable, and such a feature certainly needs to be backed by protection for the hand behind.

An oval or ovaloid guard, such as found on a tanto, might be a good option. The tanto, hamadashi, aikuchi and related designs themselves are good options in addition to the designs already mentioned.

As I understand it, “tanto” actually means (very) short-sword and it is not technically a “to” or sword unless it has a to-type guard and other sword fittings (Cameron Stone, p.604).

Most modern knives sold as tantos would not be classed as such, and the wikipedia article is erroneous [!]

A guard that provides protection in two planes may be problematic to wear.

One option is to offset the disc so less of it is against the body but it still protects the outside of the hand.

Renaissance daggers often combined quillons with a “thumb ring”, the latter a misnomer since it was positioned to defend the outside of the hand rather than involve the thumb.