Knotguard Hand Forged High Carbon Tanto Knife with Stacked Leather Handle | Knotwork Engraved Steel Guard | Fullered Blade and Leather Sheath | Everyday Carry Gift | RK-2180

A tanto point fixed blade in 1095 high carbon, polished bright, with a wide fuller running most of the length and a stacked leather handle in dark brown separated by thin red spacers. The guard is polished steel with a panel of Celtic knotwork cut into the face where it meets the ricasso, and the pommel is a plain mirror cap.

The tanto point on this knife is the western interpretation of the shape rather than the Japanese one. Where a traditional Japanese tanto carries a curved and continuous edge, this style meets the point in two distinct straight planes, giving a chisel like tip with an enormous amount of steel directly behind it. That geometry came out of American knife making in the late twentieth century and it has one real advantage. There is very little to break at the tip. Made by hand in the Czech Republic, imported and checked by Ransack Viking, shipped from our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse with a fitted leather sheath.

The flat grind and the angled point are what make this a tanto, and what a tanto is covers the older form and the modern one. Interlace of this kind was the standard decorative language of the period, and the symbols guide covers the patterns that keep coming back. At sword length the same lines turn up in the short swords.

Specifications

Why the point is built this way

Look at where the edge changes direction, roughly a third of the way back from the tip. Instead of curving smoothly to a point the way a drop point or a clip point does, this blade runs a straight primary edge, breaks at an angle, then runs a second straight edge to the tip. The corner where they meet is often called the belly break.

The effect is that the tip is not a fine taper. It is a short, thick, well supported wedge with the full spine thickness carried almost all the way forward. That is exactly what you want in a knife that will be pushed through tough material, and it is the reason the shape became a standard on hard use knives. The trade is real too. A tanto point is poor at anything that needs a rolling cut, so skinning and food preparation are not what it is for. It also gives you two edges to sharpen and a corner that needs care on the stone, since it is easy to round the break by accident.

Plain carbon steel and stacked leather

1095 at 54 to 58 HRC. That range keeps the blade tough rather than glass hard, which matters more on a tanto than on most patterns, because the whole point of the geometry is that the tip survives abuse. A very hard tip is a brittle tip. It sharpens quickly on a stone and gives an edge back easily, which suits a knife meant to be used rather than admired.

The handle is punched leather discs threaded onto the tang, compressed under the pommel and then turned and sanded as one solid piece. The thin red spacers between groups of washers are dyed leather, added for the line rather than for structure. Stacked leather grips well in wet hands, takes shock out of a hard cut and warms to the hand in a way steel and synthetic scales do not. It also darkens with handling, so the knife looks better after a few seasons than it does new. Because there is no chromium in 1095, the bright polish will develop a grey patina, which protects rather than harms.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel, the leather or the wood. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. On this knife the mirror flat above the fuller is a clean panel for a rune line, and the plain pommel cap will take a small mark. If you want to keep the knotwork on the guard, say so when you order. Engraving is done here in the United States after the piece arrives. See the engraving page.

Handling and balance

The steel guard and the pommel cap between them keep the balance close to the hand, so the knife feels light and controllable despite the mass in the tip. Take a normal grip with the guard across the base of the fingers for heavy work. For fine work, put a thumb on the spine above the fuller and use the straight primary edge like a small draw knife.

Do not use the tip for prying. It is strong for a tip but it is still a blade, and a tanto point breaks in exactly the same way any other point does if you use it as a lever. The knotwork panel on the guard sits where a thumb naturally rests, so it will polish itself smooth over time from handling.

Care

Dry the blade after use and lay a film of oil over the whole flat, including inside the fuller where a cloth tends to bridge the hollow. Mineral oil, camellia oil or a light gun oil all work. Sharpen the two edge planes separately and keep the belly break crisp, since rounding it off changes the character of the point. Keep the stacked leather handle from getting saturated, and if it dries out work in a small amount of neutral leather cream and buff it off. Do not store the knife in the sheath for long periods, because vegetable tanned leather holds moisture against steel. More detail is in steel care.

When the edge goes dull, sharpening on a whetstone covers the angle and the pressure.

Made in the Czech Republic

Made by hand in the Czech Republic. The blade is forged, ground, fullered and polished, the guard cut and engraved, the leather washers stacked and turned, and the sheath cut and stitched by the people who make it. Nothing here is drop shipped from an importer catalogue. Ransack Viking imports them into the United States, checks each edge, each handle for tightness and each sheath for fit, and holds stock in our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse so orders leave from a shelf rather than a factory queue. Processing runs one to two weeks and sits at the longer end when an engraving is ordered, because the cut is done after the knife arrives. Shipping across the United States is free, returns run seven days, and the lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings has no end date and needs no receipt.

A note on handmade variation

Hand made, not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The stacked handle varies most. The exact spacing of the red spacers, the depth of tone in the brown washers and the tightness of the banding depend on which hides the discs came from and the order they went on the tang. The knotwork panel on the guard is cut individually, so line weight and depth differ. Hand polishing means the mirror finish on one blade will catch light a little differently from the next. The steel, the hardness, the geometry and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is this a Japanese tanto

No. It is the western interpretation, with two straight edge planes meeting at an angled break. A traditional Japanese tanto carries a continuous curved edge and is made very differently.

Is it sharp out of the box

Yes, both edge planes arrive with a working edge. Sharpen them separately when the time comes and keep the corner where they meet crisp.

What is the groove down the blade for

It is a fuller, a stiffening rib that lets the blade lose weight without losing rigidity. It is not a blood groove, which is a name with no historical basis.

Is it good for hunting or food prep

Not really. A tanto point is poor at rolling cuts, so skinning and kitchen work are better served by a drop point or a clip point. This shape is for pushing through tough material.

Will the bright blade rust

It can if it is left wet, because 1095 contains no chromium. A wipe and a light oil after use prevents it. A grey patina forming over time is normal and protective.

Is the sheath included

Yes, a fitted brown leather belt sheath comes with the knife, cut for this blade rather than supplied as a generic pouch.

What is in the box

• One 1095 high carbon tanto knife with a stacked leather handle and steel fittings
• One fitted brown leather belt sheath
• Your Elder Futhark rune line or chosen Viking design, if ordered
• Lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings
• Hand made in the Czech Republic, shipped from our Memphis, Tennessee warehouse

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