Tanto Blade

A tanto point puts a second, almost flat grind where most blades taper into a curve. That corner carries a lot of steel behind the tip, so it survives the one thing that kills balisong tips: being dropped, point first, onto a hard floor. If you flip over concrete, this is the geometry that forgives you.

What it is bad at is slicing. The straight belly and the abrupt tip make it clumsy for anything you would peel, skin or draw-cut. Buy a tanto because you want a point that will not roll over, not because you want a better kitchen knife.

Ten knives on this page. Seven are D2 tool steel and three are hand-forged Damascus. Handles run to rosewood, stag horn, black horn and one in mother of pearl, and every one ships with a fitted leather sheath.

One honest note. Search for a tanto butterfly knife and most of what comes back is a plastic trainer with a tanto shape moulded into it. These are ground and heat treated by hand in Batangas, and they are sharp.