Spyderco, Cold Steel, Benchmade

[Mors Profundis]

That "reverse Tanto" point referred to above is actually called a slant point, and a much better point than the tanto point will ever be.
Tanto point is really not correct, as the tanto was the shortest of the three Japanese swords(a better translation would be dirk)and most often had a trailing point.
That armor piercing point was common on a special dagger called a metazashi, which was used (you guessed it!) to pierce armor, and was worn at the back of the warrior's belt.
Otherwise, such points were simply cheap and easy to make, and like single bevel blades, were the result of quick manufacture.
Tanto points are difficult to sharpen, and even though they are quite strong, the need for such points is not clear to me.
The slant point, however, neglected though it may be, is every bit as strong, and easily sharpened, as it is part of the edge of the knife.
I hope to see a revival of it some day, as the Wharncliffe point is making a comeback.
In thousands of years, pretty much all the variations on the theme of a blade have been tried, yet so many are forgotten for years.
Each has it's special place, and it's special area of use, it's weakness and strength.

[Vagrant]

The TRUE Stiletto [fixed blade] is the original "armor piercing" knife. It was designed to penetrate "chain mail" armor but a [very] well made one would go through sheet armor also. Slant point, Sheepsfoot and Wharncliffe are all great cutting tools and should be more popular but not looking very "tactical" they don't lure would-be Rambo types.There is hope, "hawkbills" with VERY limited tactical use [but lots of practical use] are quite "trendy".

[mrbigg]

i happen to like wharncliffe style blades, but can't say i actually owm one!
i always wanted one of those protech wharncliff sidekicks...nice practical auto!

[Pushbutton]

I know where their is a Case split backspring whittler in stag with a wharncliff blade. Manual of course
PB

[Vagrant]

Sources have told me that traditionally the Tanto was [mainly] reserved for Sepuku. Supposedly everything possible has been done to obscure that tidbit due to their immense popularity. .

[Milu]

I have a hazy recollection (possibly from a 70s kung fu film ) that a special knife was usually used for sepuku. Quite possibly with a tanto point. And that the "tanto", smallest of the three typical "samurai" blades, was essentially a utility knife. Pretty much like the Scottish skean dhu sock knife.

[Vagrant]

The story told to me was that when entering someone elses house, all blades were removed EXCEPT the Tanto. The Tanto was retained so that if they shamed themselves they could "to the right thing". Elsewhere it may have had more uses, and elsewhere a special knife for Sepuku may have been used. But in someone elses house the Tanto had ONE purpose.
Like I say I can't find any documentation. .

[Mors Profundis]

Sadly, there's been too much samuri jive spread around, and you got confused.
The wakizashi was retained in the houses of others.
The tanto was worn in armor, as a rule, a partner to the tachi, not the katana.
The metazashi was strictly for battle carry, as it was for going through armor, and Japanese armor was tough stuff indeed.
It was an auxillery weapon, much like the daito, the huge two-handed sword carried by very large samuri, as a third blade.
The wakizasi was sometimes used for seppuku, other times, the katana, the blade wrapped in paper to protect the palm.
A tanto, aiguchi or other blade might be used, at need, and there was a special, very plain knife that was used in other times.
That point was "discovered" by Lynn Thompson at Cold Steel, and has been used for ruining car door ever since.
Frankly, I've no use for that chisel point, it's to hard to sharpen(sharpening chisels is a specialised task, not too many guys can do it well, and most shops will have a guide clamp to restore their chisels and planes to sharpness, if they don't send them out.)
But if you like them, it's your money, your choice.
As for myself, I prefer just about any sort of point to the chisel.
The one-sided chisel ground edge much seen from the oriental makers is a different story.
Once you learn how to sharpen it, you can restore a fine edge by hand, and quickly.
The edge must be stropped sharp by drawing it back over the whetstone, then finished with a light stroke to the other side to remove the wire edge.
Agricultural tools in Asia are almost always ground this way, and the country folk know well how to keep them sharp.
They serve left handed users poorly, though, and there are angles where they become awkward to use.
See Stone's glossary for more on Japanese military lore, and a mighty lot of good information on the kris.

[Vagrant]

My knowledge of Japnese cutlery [and culture] is limited. And I'm sure many poeple such as yourselfe know much more than I do know I do know several Custom makers were playing around with the Tanto when Lynn "discovered" it. I don't care much for the Tanto but if you have to sharpen one treat the point and edge as two different items and where they meet [what many worry about] will work itself out.

[Mors Profundis]

I don't know diddly about switchblades, which is why I come here to learn from you guys.
Stone is the go to guy for Oriental knives, but his knowledge of western weapons has some pretty big holes in it,still, the book is a good reference.
For European blades(old ones) see the late Ewart Oakshotte(God rest his soul)who wrote several books on such things.
Except for laughs, stay clear of Raymond Thorpe and Richard Burton(the explorer and general rakehell, not the actor and general rakehell who married Liz Taylor)
Thorpe seems to have made most of his information up out of thin air and doubtful sources, Burton's work is nearly impenetrable.
Reliable books on knives are quite scarce,but much has been revealed in recent years because the internet makes research so much faster.
Happy New Year, bunkie, may it be a good one for you and yours.
Finally, the armor piercing knife you may be thinking of is the misericorde, a long, narrow dagger used to slip into the eyeslits of helmets, or the many joints of a harness(which is what knights called a suit of armor).
The name-it means mercy-was derived from not delivering a wounded man from his pain, though it may have been used for that.
The story goes that you showed it to a fallen foe so he would yell uncle, and you could collect his ransom.
Probably worked pretty well-and ransom was where the profit was in those days-knights were ruthless moneygrubbers, about on the level of Enron or MCI.

[kct6]

I'm back I must of missed something LOL

[Milu]

Mors, your explanation of the use of the misericordia makes a lot more sense than the usual one of it being used for the coup de grace (friends as well as foes). Which always seemed out of character with my understanding of medieval/renaissance mores.

[Mors Profundis]

Knife history is the most unreliable information there is-and sources are thin on the ground.
Many items in those times had joke names-like Holy Water Sprinkler and Morning Star for spiked clubs, and Cat-Gutter for one type of sword, and the misericorde may well have been one of those.
Some of these names were thought up long after the weapon in question was no longer in wide use-like the Arkansas Toothpick, which was slang for a big Bowie knife, until that charlatan and jabbernowl Thorpe decided to use the name for what was called a dirk-knife or dagger.
Experimental archeology is exploding some of the more far-fetched myths about old weapons, but remember, many written accounts rely on a single source, usually an aged person with recollections clouded by time.
Many mysteries have been explained-such as what the original Bowie Knife looked like.
Rezin Bowie, James' older brother, had many copies of his siblings famous blade run up by Searles, a New Orleans cutler, and gave them away to business and political friends.
A few pictures survive, but no knives are known-they were good blades from a master craftsman, and as such were likely used up, or lost in the attrition of time.
See Dixie Gun Works catalogue, they used to sell a replica in kit form.
Jim Bowie also had a knife he designed made up by Geo. Rogers of Sheffield, and one of these resides in my personal collection.
Fifteen inches long,3/8" thick, 1/3/4" wide, with five inches of jigged bone slabs and a narrow, double guard, it's hollow ground with a blunt swedge of about two inches at the point.
The blade has a deep choil, and is ten inches from guard to point.
Would this knife hurt you? Great googly-moogly, yes, it would be capable of cutting off a limb or a head with a single hard blow.
In the hands of a hardened ruffian like Jim Bowie, it would be one of the most ghastly edged weapons imaginable.
Bowie was big, strong and mean, and in his hands a wooden club would be a serious threat, as he seemed to be capable of fighting while wounded, and not likely to give up while concious.
Knives of this sort were common on the frontier, even before the revolution, a modification of the Scottish dirk or German Hauswhere, but Bowie's apparent adoption of the overhand grip for fighting seems to have been fairly new.
Knife fighting had a grisly bloom in those early days, then disappeared with the Colt revolver's appearance, as did the sword and tomahawk.
Not all at once, and not completely(warriors cling to a blade to this day, if only as a lucky piece) but repeating handguns have pretty much put the kibosh to the arme blanche, and even the bayonet.
Sic transit gloria mundi.